Occasionally we are presented with a treasured moment when
the various movers in the music industry put on an evening which includes two
artists held in high esteem. So it was a great pleasure when the Kitchen Garden
Café decided to host not one but two artists from the impressive BPA Live
roster for one of its Wednesday evening gigs. There was sufficient diversity in
the style, delivery and content of Amelia Curran and Otis Gibbs but one thing
was for sure, those frequenting this lively, cosy cafe were being exposed to
two of the finest singer-songwriters to cross the Atlantic and bring their own
brand of North American folk music to the cream of UK listening venues.
Technically Amelia adopted the opening role but was granted an
extended slot that certainly had no feel of a support set. Hailing from the
Canadian Maritime province of New Foundland, Amelia possesses an acclaimed back
catalogue with her 20009 HUNTER HUNTER album
the proud owner of a Juno award (Canada’s answer to the Grammys). She has
visited this country on numerous occasions but this was apparently her first
visit to the West Midlands and a positive reaction and feedback suggests this
won’t be her last. Having to overcome that common travelling musician ailment
of the irritating head cold, Amelia was committed to shake off the effects and deliver
a bunch of strong compositions that expertly demonstrated her immense talent to
write and play extremely effective and inspiring songs.
Amelia has twice been featured in this blog before, with a
review of her latest album SPECTATORS and a couple of excellent sets at the
Calgary Folk Festival in July. The recent record which hit these shores at the
turn of the year was represented on the evening by half a dozen tracks
including its standout number ‘San
Andreas Fault’, a candidate for the strongest metaphorically titled song of
the year. From the award winning album, ‘The
Mistress’ is always a well-received song with ‘Bye Bye Montreal’ matching its status of lead off track in being one
of the set’s better moments. Perhaps the song which had its enjoyment elevated
via a live performance the most was the country feeling ‘Strangers’. Amelia’s confidence to interact and provide some
background to her songs grew throughout the set but ultimately she should be
judged on the mere quality of her songs and in my book they are definitely top
notch.
Otis Gibbs needs very little introduction to those who
regularly frequent venues hosting Americana artists in this country and on this
comprehensive evening of high quality music he delivered a pair of informative,
entertaining and ultimately memorable sets of perceptive travelling musician
material. Always conscious that there may be Otis Gibbs novices in the room,
the staple tale of singing old country Jimmy Rodgers songs for a drunken ‘uncle’
never tires after many listens, while the moving memorial to a lost friend
immortalised in the song ‘Something More’
always leaves a poignant mark.
His recent fund raising activity to finance the next record
was an unqualified success though just falling short of reaching the mark to
see a removal of the trademark beard. While never one to give much away, the
first set appeared to possess some new material but the wait for a new release
is likely to extend into the first half of next year. For me, the second set saw Otis move up the gears and deliver what I consider to be some of his finest
material. It was great to see ‘Get Me Out
of Detroit’ restored to the set list especially at the conclusion of an
amusing recollection of getting his first tattoo and an encounter with a
notorious motor cycle gang. No Otis Gibbs concert is complete without the
iconic ‘Small Town Saturday Night’
featuring as well as the beautiful ‘Karlov
Most’ being the crowning song of the evening.
However one Otis Gibbs song which has been a constant grower
was probably the standout song on the evening. ‘Kansas City’ with the fantastic line ‘7 hours in a car, 45 minutes
singing in a bar’ is an anthem to the travelling musician and this track is now
definitely nestled amongst the top echelons of Otis Gibbs excellence.
