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.

Old Crow Medicine Show with Parker Millsap - The Roundhouse, London UK

October 27, 2014 by David Vousden in Country, Alt-Country, Bluegrass

The Roundhouse is best known for a period in the late 1960s when it played host to the likes of Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones and the only UK show by The Doors. Dig a little deeper and the Grade II listed building that features a circular design, hence the name, has a very interesting history that dates back to 1847. The venue has been used for many ventures over the decades as initially it housed a railway turntable before it had a fifty year stretch as a storage facility for a Gin distillery. This sense of history, with its images of railways and alcohol consumption, feels like the perfect setting for tonight’s acts as both Parker Millsap and Old Crow Medicine Show draw on the past for their musical inspiration.