What is meant by the concept ‘dark underbelly of country
music’? Having used the phrase to open his show at the Kitchen Garden Café,
Hank Wangford set about the task of taking the audience on a gloomy journey of
misery, heartbreak and pain. Whether you left the venue fully versed in Hank’s
graphic and metaphoric description of his music or not, there was no denying
that you had just spent a couple of hours in the company of an evergreen
performer absolutely in tune with the ethos and soul of country music.
Unashamedly regressive and nostalgic in its stance, the show oozed with golden
class and proved to be a faultless presentation of the timeless appeal of
simple, honest and canorous music.
This Birmingham return was almost a year to the date since
Hank first brought his show to the Kitchen Garden Café and this time he upgraded
the line up to a trio with the inclusion of Anna Robinson from London-based
band Hallelujah Trails on guitar and vocals. While not exactly a carbon copy of
last year’s show, the focus was still on Hank’s recent album SAVE ME THE WALTZ
alongside a rich and varied set full of originals and classic covers. The
humour and irony was still in plentiful supply with Hank’s sidekick, Brad
Breath continuing to enthuse about life in Two Boots, Colorado coupled with
plenty of instrumental switches highlighted by some sumptuous sounds from an
Appalachian Dulcimer.
Any country music newbies would now be well educated in the
merits of George Jones, Ernest Tubbs, Tammy Wynette, Floyd Tillman and Willie
Nelson. Knowing a little bit about Hank’s cult status in the alt-country music movement,
there was also little surprise in choosing to cover a Lucinda Williams’ number
and Anna duly excelled on ‘Concrete and
Barbed Wire’. The connection between this song and the general theme of the
evening was Hank’s unconditional love for the waltz with the latest album,
available on the night in appropriate vinyl, being a full blown tribute to a sound
that differentiates between country and rock n’ roll. The title track from this
record was amongst the highlights of a first set blessed with gracious music delivered
in a self-deprecating style.
This modesty was extended to Hank not dwelling too much on
his colourful past and the illustrious musical giants he has more than brushed
shoulders with. The evening was all about his love for real country music and
sharing this passion with an amical audience in his own inimitable manner.
Extending this interaction to mutual participation was a given in this intimate
environment packed to near capacity. The audience was forthcoming when invited, and many lungs were fully active by the time the finale of ‘Simple Pleasures’ was once again
selected as the show closer.
Whether a departing audience were now fully conversant with
the ‘dark underbelly of country music’ is a pure matter of individual conjecture
but an appreciation of the merit of sad songs was one conclusion impossible not
to absorb. The best way to further explore this abstract concept is to take in
a Hank Wangford show and there are plenty of these still in the pipeline for
this much loved and respected artist. One would not bet against Hank, Brad and
Anna making a return to the Kitchen Garden Café with, without doubt, many of the
audience prepared to commit once more to a lesson in why country music is a
special genre.
