Josh Ritter + Ida Mae - Union Chapel, London 23/07/19

August 01, 2019 by Rich Barnard in Americana, Live Review

It’s a sweltering night in London and the usually cold stone of the Union Chapel offers little in the way of relief: it’s hot everywhere. Chris Turpin, one half Ida Mae, has broken a sweat before their set has even begun. It’s the second of two consecutive headline shows at the venue for Josh Ritter with the Norwich duo in support. Packing not one but two National guitars, the pair are quick to demonstrate their powerful, groove-laden blues. Turpin’s husky gospel passion is augmented by Stephanie Jean Ward’s pin-point harmonies, delivered with all the righteous sass of a true soul diva. Ida Mae have been based in Nashville since cutting their debut ‘Chasing Lights’ with Ethan Johns, and have been honing their craft across the States. As a result, their performance tonight is firmly in the pocket. From the relative smoothness of ‘Released’ through the rowdy stomp of ‘Reaching’ to the brooding of ‘Chasing Lights’ itself, Ida Mae’s tight-knit set goes down a storm with Josh Ritter’s crowd and packs a serious punch; the knockout blow coming in the form of ‘Sick In Love’, a blues so swampy I’m minded to go directly home and shower.

Black Deer Festival 2019 - June 23rd (Day Three)

July 08, 2019 by David Vousden in Acoustic, Americana, Blues, Country, Country Rock, Folk, Live Review, Singer Songwriter

The RGM team doubled in size for day three of Black Deer in an effort to reach into even more of the many nooks and crannies from which live music could be heard floating around the site. On arrival, RGM and Black Deer favourite The Sheepdogs were doing their thing on the main stage (impressive as they’d closed the Supajam tent the previous evening). The Sheepdogs were again going down a storm with ‘Nobody’ a perfect complement to a sunny day with its Paul McCartney & Wings tribute/pastiche breakdown and no less than three guitarists trading musical blows to complete their set. A great start to the day.

Black Deer Festival 2019 - June 22nd (Day Two)

July 03, 2019 by David Vousden in Acoustic, Alt-Country, Alternative Rock, Americana, Country, Country Rock, Folk, Live Review, Singer Songwriter, Soundtrack

Day two at Black Deer broke bright and sunny, which always does wonders for the spirit and rejuvenates a tired mind and body. As usual, where to start our musical journey was a tough choice, but Jessie Buckley won the day, mainly on the strength of positive feedback from the photographers in the pit. This feedback turned out to be a very good tip, as Buckley and her excellent band won over a crowd that didn’t really need to be won over, as she had them in the palm of her hand from the off.

Black Deer Festival 2019 - June 21st (Day One)

July 01, 2019 by David Vousden in Acoustic, Alt-Country, Americana, Blues, Classic Rock, Country Rock, Country, Folk, Hard Rock, Live Review, Singer Songwriter, Southern Rock, Stoner, Psych

For the first day of the annual Black Deer Festival, the gods have been kind and the sun is trying to break through the clouds. The UK is back in love with country music and all things Americana - at least on a musical level. This level of acceptance for the genre has not been seen on our shores since Dolly, Kenny and Tammy topped the charts and the Wembley Country Music festival was a must-see on BBC2. Black Deer is only in its sophomore year but it already feels like a must do on the crowded festival calendar.

Darlingside - Shepherd's Bush Empire, London 01/11/2018

November 16, 2018 by Rich Barnard in Acoustic, Americana, Folk, Live Review

At Shepherd’s Bush Empire, the RGM team reminisce about the range of artists we’ve had the pleasure of seeing on its stage over the years. The very fine grade II listed building was used for nearly forty years as the BBC Television Theatre and, since becoming a music venue in 1994, it really hasn’t changed much. This is something of a comfort, particularly with the bleaching of Soho and the razing of the surrounding areas having deleted some much-loved venues from the capital’s landscape. So, the Empire feels a bit like home. And, in a certain way, Darlingside have made the UK feel a little like home too. They have - deservedly - come a long way since we first featured them in 2016: they’ve appeared at the Cambridge Folk Festival, earned a live session on the BBC Radio 2 Folk show and toured the UK several times over; graduating from London’s Slaughtered Lamb via the Union Chapel to a headline show here at Shepherd’s Bush Empire. Or should I say “Shepherd’s Empire Bush” as chief banterer Harris Paseltiner (guitar/cello) initially refers to it. They’ve been looking forward to the show for a long time but have been syntactically confused about its name until their arrival…

Aaron Lee Tasjan - Omeara, London 02/11/2018

November 05, 2018 by David Vousden in Americana, Folk, Live Review, Singer Songwriter, Rock

A typical Friday night in London and unsurprisingly the streets are full of people with things to do and places to go. The London Bridge area is as good a place as any to experience the hustle and bustle of London life with seemingly every other doorway leading into a coffee shop, restaurant or pub, while the imposing 95-story Shard skyscraper looms overhead. Just up the road from London Bridge tube station, we find Omeara a bijou live venue (capacity 350) which opened in 2016 and is the brainchild of Ben Lovett (Mumford & Sons). After two or three near misses this is my first visit to Omeara and I’m immediately impressed with the venue hidden away in Flat Iron Square, an open courtyard type area with galleries, street food etc. The vibe is cool and hip but not annoyingly so, the door and bar staff proved friendly and the venue itself looks like a decaying regency ballroom as imagined by Universal Studios for ‘Poseidon’s Fury’.

BluesFest - Zac Brown Band + Beth Hart, The O2 London 27/10/2018

October 29, 2018 by David Vousden in Americana, Blues, Country, Live

On what feels like the first cold night of the year your RGM scribe is at the O2 in London for the Zac Brown Band and Beth Hart. Tonight's show is part of the annual BluesFest which has found a home at the O2 and is now in its sixth year. With ticket in hand, airport-style security negotiated and a sharp intake of breath at the beer prices I'm in my seat bright and early for Beth Hart to get things started.

Ruston Kelly + Ferris & Sylvester - The Slaughtered Lamb, London 17/09/2018 (Live Review).

September 19, 2018 by David Vousden in Acoustic, Americana, Country, Folk, Live Review, Singer Songwriter

Singer-somgwriter Ruston Kelly is in London promoting his excellent debut album ‘Dying Star’ with a low key show at the bijou Slaughtered Lamb. Needless to say the gig is sold-out and it’s pretty obvious the crowd are expecting good things long before Kelly ambles on stage.

Mary Chapin Carpenter + Emily Barker - Barbican Theatre, London (15/05/18)

May 17, 2018 by David Vousden in Americana, Country, Live Review, Singer Songwriter

The Barbican complex in London seems to be undergoing something of a renaissance in recent times as people are able to see past the Brutalist 70’s Architecture and enjoy the large open communal areas, the conservatory (a lush tropical garden in the concrete bowels… who knew), cinemas and a wonderfully varied musical palate. Don’t get me wrong, the covered walk from Barbican Station past the car parks is beyond ugly and the convoluted journey down multiple levels to find the correct area of the actual venue could be a little intimidating, but the concert hall is superb with comfy seats, plenty of legroom (I’m 6’ 2”), great sightlines and impressively clear sound. It was also refreshing to find a ban on photography and mobile phones, people actually had to pay attention to the acts which made a welcome change.

Glen Hansard - Royal Festival Hall (09.02.18)

February 19, 2018 by Rich Barnard in Americana, Folk, Live Review, Singer Songwriter

I pride myself on never being late for anything. But unavoidably late I am for Glen Hansard’s show at The Royal Festival Hall (it’s a long and boring story involving a room full of teenage guitarists - I will spare you) and I kick myself as I am ushered by torchlight to my seat and Hansard’s eleven-strong band (3 strings, 3 horns, 2 keys, drums, bass and guitar) promptly leave the stage in order that the man himself can take the piano alone. What?! I’ve arrived in the lull?! Dammit! I discover later than I’ve missed eight whole songs but, luckily for me, there’s plenty still to come.

The Texas Gentlemen + Howard Rose - Bush Hall, London (07.02.18)

February 09, 2018 by David Vousden in Alt-Country, Americana, Classic Rock, Country, Live Review, Singer Songwriter

My introduction to the band of musicians that form the Texas Gentlemen was via Paul Cauthen’s excellent ‘My Gospel’ album. Browsing the credits, which is pretty refreshing to be able to do in this digital age, and the names of Beau Patrick Bedford, for his terrific production work, and guitarist Nik Lee stood out. Bedford is effectively the leader of The Texas Gentlemen a band of session musicians who’ve become go-to players for a host of artists including Joe Ely and Kris Kristofferson, which really tells you all you need to know about how good these guys are. With so many great players on tap, eleven Texas Gentlemen worked on ‘TX Jelly’ their debut album; you’re never quite sure who’ll turn up which is bound to keep things interesting.

The Mavericks - London Palladium (03.02.18)

February 05, 2018 by David Vousden in Americana, Live Review, Country

I'm bright and early for tonight's entertainment, but there's already a really large crowd massed outside the London Palladium and it's not even Sunday (a small in-joke for those of us of a certain age). The Palladium is one of those iconic West End venues that slip in a gig or two to seemingly allow the cast of their latest musical a night off and tonight the 2200+ capacity venue is playing host to The Mavericks, which is an impressive achievement for a band who had their biggest UK hit back in 1998. Tonight's crowd obviously know their stuff as The Mavericks proved to be a hell of a live band, with a ton of cool tunes, and a singer for the ages.

Deer Tick - Islington Assembly Hall (30.01.18)

February 01, 2018 by David Vousden in Americana, Live Review, Rock

Upper Street in Islington on a Tuesday night is pretty busy, the bars are doing decent business and Dionysis Savvopoulos (I'm told) is playing a rare London show at The Union Chapel, but the reason for my visit this evening is the oddly named Deer Tick are in town on their ‘Twice Is Nice’ tour. The Providence, Rhode Island act recently released not one, but two albums that have featured heavily in recent weeks on the RGM stereo. I’m not quite sure what to expect, but I’m looking forward to it all the same.

Kip Moore + Drake White + Jillian Jacqueline - O2 Shepherds Bush Empire, London

October 12, 2017 by David Vousden in Americana, Country, Live Review

A jam packed Country Music Week concluded for yours truly with my second visit of the week to Shepherd's Bush. Following a stunning show from Randy Houser on Monday at Bush Hall, where a great show seems to be guaranteed these days, we’ve moved down the road to the more palatial O2 Empire (capacity 2000) for tonight's proceedings. Needless to say with Kip Moore and Drake White in town I'm expecting things to rock and they sure did.

Randy Houser + Lindsay Ell + Walker McGuire - Bush Hall, London

October 03, 2017 by David Vousden in Acoustic, Americana, Blues, Country, Live Review, Singer Songwriter

London is my usual stomping ground for gigs so the announcement of Country Music Week was most welcome. From October 2nd – 8th some of the best and the brightest artists of the genre are popping up all over town in various musical configurations be it with full bands, acoustic sets or the much loved, and quintessentially Nashville, songwriters circle, CMW had all the bases covered

Chastity Brown + The Black Feathers - The Borderline, London

June 27, 2017 by David Vousden in Acoustic, Americana, Folk, Live Review, Singer Songwriter, Pop

Summer seems to have arrived in London and a trip down to one of my preferred gig venues The Borderline sounded like the ideal thing to do on a Tuesday evening. Well at least I think I'm in The Borderline...the old Mexican Cantina ambience has been replaced with a more upmarket and modern club vibe. We are, most definitely, not in Kansas anymore and it’s so refreshing to see a venue investing in the future with a very cool refit. For those of us who've been visiting the place since the early 90s it might seem a little strange initially but it works for me.

Brent Cobb - Slaughtered Lamb, London UK

January 31, 2017 by David Vousden in Americana, Country, Live Review, Singer Songwriter

For his first shows in the UK the Sold Out signs are up and Brent Cobb finds himself, to his surprise I’m sure, welcomed with open arms for his London debut. The musical grapevine has been working overtime and Brent is playing to full houses two months before the UK release of his debut album ‘Shine On Rainy Day’ (March 24th is the date). A respectful and knowledgeable crowd obviously knows the album, which was released stateside late in 2016, and have an appreciation for good songs well played and sung. Brent Cobb covers all these bases with aplomb which, when coupled with the relaxed Southern charm he demonstrated on the night, ensures artist and audience are on the same page and destined to have a great time.

Deacon Blue + Lewis & Leigh - Royal Festival Hall, London UK

November 22, 2016 by David Vousden in Americana, Live Review, Pop

Lewis & Leigh are a transatlantic duo comprised of Al Lewis from Wales and Mississippi born Alva Leigh and on the day before this show they were nominated for 3 UK Americana awards including Album of the Year for their debut album 'Ghost' and 'The 4.19' had been singled out for Song of the Year. Needless to say, as I'd not been lucky enough to catch the duo live before, I was very much looking forward to their opening slot on the Deacon Blue tour.

Sara Watkins - Bush Hall, London UK

November 15, 2016 by Rich Barnard in Bluegrass, Americana, Country, Folk, Live Review, Singer Songwriter

Having chairs set in rows tends to have a civilising effect on a crowd but tonight at Bush Hall the attendees need no reminders when it comes to audience etiquette. A respectful silence falls over them long before support act Dietrich Strause has got himself comfy behind the mic and we're sat so still and expectant I suspect we're actually starting to freak him out. Undeterred, Strause paddles through his set of deftly fingerpicked and tender folk songs perhaps a little too apologetically but is nonetheless warmly received.

John Paul White - Bush Hall, London UK

November 14, 2016 by David Vousden in Americana, Folk, Live Review, Singer Songwriter, Southern Rock, Country

The opportunity to catch John Paul White in the intimate confines of Bush Hall where the acoustics pretty much guarantee a lovely vocal sound was one not to be missed. Obviously plenty more people were following my line of thinking as the website claimed Sold Out and there was definitely a healthy crowd on the night.