There could surely not have been a more appropriately
located gig than listening to two stripped back roots artists plying their
trade in a cavernous yet intimate bricked-interior vault venue. Ben Glover and
Angel Snow rotated a bunch of career songs, anecdotes and comments to melt
perfectly into the surroundings and reveal the substantial depths of their song
writing repertoire. Perhaps the word heights would make a better analogy as
both possess an innate talent to make an imprint in more expansive situations.
However life is best lived in the present and the good folk of Shrewsbury had
an indulgent evening feasting on a show housed within The Buttermarket venue,
witnessing two of Nashville’s fast emerging singer- songwriters.
On an evening of contrasts beginning with gender, the most
striking difference is the routes that both artists have taken to Music City
with Ben crossing the Atlantic from the northern counties of the Emerald Isle and
Angel having a shorter hop from Chickamauga, GA. Once marvelling at Angel’s
ability to mix the pristine and the cutting, and connecting with Ben’s more
earthy raspy style, the differences begin to narrow as we delve into their song
writing output. Best described as a pair of performers delivering alternate
songs rather than a duo, they do both share esteemed connections which have
given them major career lifts. Ben’s association as a co-writer and opening act
for Gretchen Peters and Mary Gauthier brought him to the attention of many new
fans followed by the ultimate ‘stepping out the shadows’ record with the
release last year of ATLANTIC. There is certainly no lesser song writing acquaintance
for Angel which led to the good fortune of having three of her tracks cut on
Alison Krauss’s 2011 record PAPER AIRPLANE.
The centrepiece of Angel’s many turns in the spotlight was
undoubtedly a magical version of the beautiful ‘Lie Awake’, one of the co-writes with Alison’s brother Viktor. This
was closely followed by ‘Vienna’, a
song about a dream which meandered its way splendidly through to your heart. Elsewhere
she mixed older tunes like ‘Holiday’
with some new ones yet to be recorded such as ‘Magnetic’. While Angel is in the process of following up her
successful self-titled 2012 album, she did present a couple of tracks from a
newly available EP titled SECRET. The title track saw a rare accompaniment of
Ben on guitar, while the other number played was ‘I Need You’. Both songs sounded great
in this setting and format, although Angel did intimate during the break that
the recorded version had a different rock feel to them. Several post-gig plays
certainly confirm her view as the style is a deviation from the classic female
folk Americana vibe to more indie rock and akin with some of her earlier
influences such as Thom Yorke and Robert Smith. However Angel is an eclectic
performer prepared to experiment and should be commended for following her
heart.
Ben shows no intention of hiding his love of Americana music
and how the ultimate pull of its southern roots meant the Mississippi was a
greater inspiration than the Lagan. The old river lent its name to one of the
best songs on ATLANTIC in ‘The
Mississippi Turns Blue’ and also amongst the highlights this evening. The
other Gretchen Peters co-write served up was ‘Blackbirds’ and on the week before she tours the UK with the album
of the same name, it is a good reminder
to appreciate Ben’s contribution to a magnificent song which, while dark in
content, is luminous in appeal. A personal favourite from the album to feature
in this evening’s pair of roughly 45 minute sets is Ben’s finest hour, or two, with
Mary Gauthier and the resultant emotion sapping spiritual number ‘Oh Soul’. Of course the stories and
quips began to flow as we learned the connection between South America, coke
and ‘Whatever Happens Will’, although
the uplifting ‘Sing a Song Boy’
needed little introduction.
As this evening of symmetrical talent and appreciation drew
to a close, the differences re-emerged in the form of a pair of covers to end
proceedings with a duet version of Dylan’s ‘You’re
Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go’ and Angel leading on U2’s ‘All I Want is You’. For two esteemed
song writers the covers presented a moment of lighter fun as by then the
brickwork would have absorbed any sceptics. It was definitely a good move for
the New Twang promotion to re-locate this gig to a setting absolutely perfect
for Ben Glover and Angel Snow to share the fruits of their gift to entertain.
www.benglover.co.uk
www.angelsnow.net
