He may have started out as the chosen opener for the cream of Americana music talent but on the evidence of tonight’s show, it won’t be long until Andrew Combs sheds this tag and joins the elite himself. With acute articulation, shared sensibilities and a touch of bar room dust, Andrew taps into the rich source of folk and country music to display a mature and assured status. Basing himself in Nashville and working alongside the likes of Caitlin Rose, Jason Isbell and Shovels and Rope has helped Andrew develop into a repeat play inducing recording artist and a memorable live performer capable of turning heads.
Andrew is using this inaugural tour as a touring headline
artist to launch his association with UK label Loose Music and share the dual
fruits of his past and future. The first album for his new label in this
country is due out early next year and we were introduced to several of the
songs earmarked for the record when it’s released. This included the title
track ‘All These Dreams’, the
promoted track ‘Rainy Day Song’ and
for me the standout track (on first listen anyway) ‘Suwannee County’. The latter had its origin in meeting a guy in
Florida with a mutual interest in fishing. This simple, honest and
observational approach to song writing aligns Andrew well with his contemporary
peers and pays due respect to the pioneers of the craft.
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| Photo by Melissa Madison Fuller |
WORRIED MAN has been a regular go to album in the months
running up to this tour and on perfect cue Andrew added many of its finest
tracks to the improvised set list. ‘Devil’s
Got My Woman’ was possibly the highlight of the whole evening but closely
followed by the title track, ‘Please, Please
Me’, ‘Heavy’ and the requested ‘Too
Stoned to Cry’. It has been a couple of years since the release of this
album making the upcoming record all the more eagerly anticipated. Around a
year ago Andrew did release the popular sing along single ‘Emily’ and an attentive Hare and Hounds audience responded politely
to invited participation on the chorus.
Of the remaining songs recalled from the set, no
country/folk gig is complete without a gospel number and Andrew duly complied
with his excellent composition ‘Slow Road
to Jesus’. Likewise reference to the Volunteer state is standard song writing
fare and Andrew played the title track of his 2010 EP ‘Tennessee Time’. ‘Foolin’ and ‘Pearl’
were other songs featured and lined up for the new record. Hopefully these
will have a warm familiarity appeal to them when Andrew tours again in 2015.
This gig was brought to Birmingham by promoters Cosmic
American and highlighted once what a grand job they and Loose Music do in
presenting fantastic Americana talent to us small but growing band of insatiable
followers in the UK. Andrew Combs played his part in meeting this appetite and, with a dose of optimistic justice, can continue to flourish in the future.
www.andrewcoms.net
www.cosmicamerican.com
www.loosemsuic.com
www.listentomatt.com