The talents of Kim Lowings were first discovered around six
months ago when she played a supporting set for Jess Morgan at the very venue
of this evening’s gig. In the interim period since that discovery, Kim has
recorded a brand new EP to follow up her full length debut album THIS LIFE and
her short set at the end of summer Moseley Folk Festival was captured in this
site’s review of that event. However this show hosted by the Stourbridge Folk
Club in the cellar bar of Stourbridge’s Katie Fitzgerald’s pub has long been
planned as her flagship night to showcase the new release amongst a hometown
gathering. The resultant packed room heralded the evening a complete success
and her magical talent to interpret traditional music and seamlessly blend in original
material was there for all those present to witness and thoroughly enjoy.
Kim, a fervent advocator of young performers establishing
themselves in the traditional music scene, uses the collaborative status of her band known simply as the Greenwood
to promote her favoured music style and this evening’s ensemble added considerable value to her own impressive
vocal contribution and traditional instrument playing. Switching between
mountain dulcimer, shruti box and straightforward acoustic guitar, she eased
through a two set performance which drew on a wide range of material from a variety of sources with a nod to songs originating on either side of the
Atlantic.
A beautiful unaccompanied version of ‘The Quiet Joys of Brotherhood’ opened the first half of her twin
sets and the circle was completed around an hour and half later when the band
quietly departed to allow Kim to close with a stunning version of ‘The Parting Glass’. Having experienced
The Wailin Jennies end their show with this classic traditional Celtic song a
few years ago, a comparison to the vocal talents of Ruth Moody is no meagre
analogy. For the rest of the performance, the band played their commendable
part led by the delightful fiddle playing of Ami Oprenova and the co-support of
Andrew Lowings on guitar, bouzouki and bodhran. All good bands need to be kept
in check by a rhythmic engine room and this was successfully steered by Tim
Rogers on Cajon and double bassist Dave Sutherland. Local Birmingham
singer-songwriter Chris Cleverley, who was seen earlier in the year opening for
Cara Luft, provided the evening’s backing vocals on selected tracks like he did
on the video of ‘Annie Laurie’. This Scottish traditional song features on the
new EP titled DEEPEST DARKEST NIGHT and opened the evening’s second set.
Amongst the highlights of Kim’s song writing skills was the
highly enjoyable ‘Off to Sea’, a tale
of a young woman having to endure losing her loved one to the military service
of his country and ‘The Allotment’ dedicated
on the evening to her grandparents. The latter has been available as a free
download from the Fatea website as part of their showcase sessions but at the
time of writing this would be available for just one more week. Although Kim is
deeply rooted in English traditional folk music, there was an occasional nod to
songs across the pond with a version of the much interpreted ‘Shady Grove’ and a cover of The Be Good Tanya’s
‘The Littlest Birds’.
The organiser and host of the Stourbridge Folk Club, Sunjay
Brayne played a short set of high quality finger pickin’ interpretive blues to
open the evening but was humble enough to sideline his own fine skills to allow Kim
the full spotlight on this excellent evening of local roots talent. While it
has to be acknowledged that English traditional music has not often found a
home in this blog, perhaps Kim Lowings and the Greenwood are about to pioneer a
change in providing a catalyst for more coverage of this genre of roots music.
While the live and recorded offerings are both unreservedly recommended perhaps
the biggest compliment to Kim is the temporary diversion she has provided away from this blog's transatlantic inspiration and created an intrigue to investigate
what is happening on your doorstep.
Set list: - The Quiet Joys of Brotherhood (cover): Did You
Ever (original): Drifting Point (original): Deepest Darkest Night (original):
Phoenix (original): This Life (original): Off to Sea (original): The Cruel
Mother (Traditional): Alfrick (Original): The Wonderful Mr Clark (original):
Annie Laurie (traditional): The Blacksmith (traditional): The Allotment (original):
The Devil and the Ploughman (traditional): The Bonny Labouring Boy
(traditional): The Littlest Birds (cover): Shady Grove (traditional): The
Begging Song (traditional): The Parting Glass (traditional)
Kim Lowings & The Greenwood - Annie Laurie from Kim Lowings & The Greenwood on Vimeo.
