It’s been a few years since Diana Jones last visited
Birmingham and a fair number of her fans defied the often uninspiring Monday
night slot to catch her return to the city. For this tour, Nottingham based
promoters Cosmic American Music decided to utilise the small room at the Hare
and Hounds pub and were rewarded with a decent turnout. This bodes well for
this relatively new venture of the promoter spreading their wings and enhancing
the Birmingham music scene with a serving of quality Americana which has been
bypassing the area in recent years.
In support of Diana, the services of her fellow US
compatriot, Jarrod Dickenson, were secured and he duly entertained the audience
with the usual high singer-songwriter standard that we have come to expect from
UK PR stable of Geraint Jones. Jarrod has just released an excellent short EP
titled SONGS FROM WILLOW ST with the biggest regret being that funds restricted
the record to four tracks. My personal favourite from this EP is the melodic ‘Misty Eyes and A Troubled Mind’,
although Jarrod chose to feature more of his previous full length album in the
set and limited showcasing the EP to just ‘Your
Heart Belongs To Me’. Jarrod was raised in the infamous town of Waco, Texas
and the now New York based artist definitely possesses the Lone Star State troubadour
genes. He tackled the age old issue of finding employment with ‘No Work For A Working Man’ and added
weight to the theory that tough economic times can be fertile ground for the
travelling folk singer.
One man and his guitar was replaced by one woman for the
evening’s main set, although Diana did have pair of such instruments to aid her
brand of Appalachian storytelling utopia. She has the unique trait of
possessing a voice steeped in the soul of the mountain although her heritage
had to be discovered after a more urban upbringing. Diana’s career continues to
grow since the re-connection with her roots and this has been really in evident
over her last four albums. The latest record released last year titled MUSEUM
OF APPALACHIAN RECORDINGS featured heavily in the set with it both opening
proceedings with ‘Oh Sinner’ and
closing the evening with the evocative a capello track ‘The Other Side’.
This inspirational album recorded at the title’s cabin in
Clinton Tennessee during live sessions is perfectly suited to be shared with
intimate audiences and among its highlights featured during the set were the
twin state tracks ‘Ohio’ and ‘Tennessee’ as well as the snappy ‘Love O Love’ which acted as a prelude to the encore.
Diana turned the spotlight on the audience to select the first track for the
extended set segment and there were few complaints for a rendition of ‘Better Times Will Come’. Prior to this
there was plenty of old favourites sprinkled across the set along with the
usual stories which explain the inspirations for the tracks. The poignant ‘Henry Russell’s Last Words’ never fails
to move while male members of the audience get a little unnerved to the murder
ballad ‘If I Had A Gun’. ‘Pony’, ‘Poverty’ and ‘Cracked and Broken ‘were familiar tracks
from her previous Midlands gigs which have numbered appearances at the Shrewsbury
Folk Festival and the Big Sessions when it was held in Leicester.
Paring Jarrod and Diana together was a masterstroke by the
organisers and the opening Monday night of March was a lot richer from the
experience of listening to two excellent practitioners of contemporary
Americana music with a folk twist. Diana continues to be a popular draw for UK
audiences and Jarrod will surely grow his stock once word gets around about his
talents.
www.jarrod dickenson.com