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| Woody Fest 2011 Photo Credit: Vicki Farmer |
The name John Fullbright may not be well known in the UK but
this is set to change in the near future as the exposure of this exceptional
singer-songwriter considerably widens. Despite being in his formative artistic years,
the maturity displayed by this Oklahoma based talented performer is incredible
in what has been a relatively short recording career. On the back of a Grammy
nomination for Best Americana album, where sharing the limelight with eventual
winner Bonnie Raitt was no mean feat, John’s UK visit has led to a Jools
Holland Later slot, a session with Bob Harris and a series of well attended
dates.
Established promoters Cosmic American’s decision to schedule
John at the Nottingham Glee club was rewarded with a fairly healthy midweek
turnout and those present were royally entertained with an hour and half of
pure Americana. Accompanied by the widely respected Terry Ware on Telecaster, who
has had a long association with Ray Wylie Hubbard, John effortlessly switched
between guitar and keyboards, with a touch of harmonica, to deliver a luxurious
offering of mainly self penned material.
From the opening two tracks, both new songs that John
performed alone, to the stunning encore version of Roy Orbison’s ‘Crying’, the appreciative and respectful
audience were served an appetising collection of songs that straddled country,
folk, blues and few keyboard led ballads that you could envisage infiltrating
the pop arena. Apart from a sprinkling of new songs and a couple of covers,
unsurprisingly John drew most of his material from aforementioned critically
acclaimed debut release FROM THE GROUND UP. Although the equally adept live album
which was recorded at the Blue Door in Oklahoma City supplied a couple of
numbers including the outstanding ‘High
Road’ which heralded his return to the stage for the encore.
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| Blue Door 2012 Photo Credit: Vicki Farmer |
John admitted that talking between songs wasn’t his strong
point but from an audience perspective there was ample informative banter to
reveal an honest and sincere performer. We were briefly invited into his inner
thoughts and picked up useful snippets such as the contribution of Dustin Welch
on the album opener ‘Gawd Above’
which for me has all the hallmark of a Hayes Carll song. The diversity of
John’s influences are exemplified in his blues rendition of ‘Ain’t Nobody’s Business’ a much recorded
song written by Bessie Smith’s accompanist Porter Grainger and the country
strains of perhaps the stand out song on the evening ‘Blameless’. This fine song can only be found on the live album to
date.
Of the other songs, ‘Satan
and St Paul’ is fast becoming his most scrutinised piece of work and was
the track selected for live performance on the recorded version on the Jools
Holland Later show. The superb ‘Jericho’
was a perfect choice to close the main set, although the crowd were never going
to let John and Terry leave without a little bit more. On John’s live album, he
concludes the show with a fabulous version of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’ and while it was a touch
disappointing that this wasn’t the parting gift tonight, you couldn’t fail to
be impressed with this being replaced by the off mic delivery of ‘Crying’.
London based Sean Taylor opened the evening’s proceedings
with his brand of raw blues that exerted fine picking skills amongst a short
collection of his songs. His brief set was the ideal appetizer prior to the
fantastic evening that John and Terry were about to deliver.
The hidden secret of John Fullbright is now out for all fans of Americana music to savour. His solitary recorded album to date and the brace of live recordings are essential additions to any collection as well as the opportunity to catch one of his shows. The positive reaction John is getting should signal an extended future UK visit and the new songs suggest a follow up album is in the pipeline. Without trying to sound dictatorial, appreciation of John Fullbright is non-negotiable. You won’t be disappointed.
The hidden secret of John Fullbright is now out for all fans of Americana music to savour. His solitary recorded album to date and the brace of live recordings are essential additions to any collection as well as the opportunity to catch one of his shows. The positive reaction John is getting should signal an extended future UK visit and the new songs suggest a follow up album is in the pipeline. Without trying to sound dictatorial, appreciation of John Fullbright is non-negotiable. You won’t be disappointed.
Set List:
Keeping Hope Alive
Didn’t Know
Daydreamer
Satan and St.
Paul
Unlocked Doors
Going Home
Never Cry Again
Me Wanting You
Fat Man
Nowhere to Be Found:
When You’re Here
Ain’t Nobody’s Business
I Only Pray at
Night
Gawd Above
Forgotten Flowers
Blameless
Jericho
High Road
Crying
