Canadian artist Amanda Rheaume was in a buoyant mood as she
played the penultimate date of her current UK tour at a packed St. George’s
Hall in Bewdley. The aptly named Severn Sessions is fast putting this North
Worcestershire riverside town on the music map for touring artists of a country
and roots persuasion. Amanda was the latest invitee and determined to ensure
the locals had a memorable evening, with her vibrant style of music straddling
the country-folk-pop point of genre convergence. The turnout is beginning to
attract out of towners as well, as word gets around that artists of Amanda’s
level of accomplishment continue to raise spirits on this monthly Friday
evening gathering.
For this latest leg of Amanda’s European excursions, a trio
format is in tow with Anders Drerup (electric guitar/pedal steel guitar) and
Anna Ruddick (bass) providing a valuable role in ensuring the recorded material
gets the best possible live treatment. Songs stretching back across her three
studio albums formed the set list accompanied by a couple of distinguished
covers sharing the breadth of Amanda’s undoubted influences.
The success of the evening revolved around the strength of
the songs and the precision execution which saw Anders playing-expertise
showering a radiant glow on Amanda’s bold mission of sharing her music. Straight
from the opening bars of ‘Get to the Part’
from the latest album HOLDING PATTERNS, a soaring standard of engaging
professionalism was displayed and refused to yield until the closing cover of
Stevie Nicks’ ‘Landslide’ was
concluded. Whilst in more recent times Natalie Maines has put her own stamp on
this song, Amanda’s version, with the able vocal assistance of Anna, ensured
every inch of its elegance was intact.
The current sound of Amanda is more focussed on the country
pop tinge with the pedal steel proving an addition to the last time she was
witnessed live. This was on the very first UK tour back in 2014 when her
previous album KEEP A FIRE was heavily featured in the set. Songs from that
release were kept to a minimum this time, but it was an absolute pleasure to
hear a personal favourite in ‘Passed Down
the Line’ make the cut. Going back even further in time, ‘Better Days Ahead’ from the 2011 album
LIGHT OF ANOTHER DAY proved to be one of the show’s livelier numbers, aided and abetted by
audience participation which needed little Friday evening encouragement.
As earlier mentioned, Amanda has a recent album to feed a majority
of the set list from and the band did a sterling job in ensuring they had a substantial
airing. Amanda was in her usual communicative mood to ensure the audience were
well informed with many song inspirations. By the end of the evening songs from
the record such as ‘Red Dress’, ‘The Day
the Mountain Fell’, and ‘Dead Horse’
left much more of an impression than just a fine tune.
As with an ever increasing bunch of fellow Canadian artists
of a similar ilk, Amanda’s prime strength lies within her song writing capabilities
and perhaps the subliminal message from covering the John Prine classic ‘Angel From Montgomery’ is that she is
prepared to learn from the best. Of course an effervescent stage persona helps
communicate the music which is maybe a more vital component when taking
original music into community settings. Regardless of Amanda’s considerable
strengths, the rapturous reception given at the end sealed the approval and demonstrated
a good time was had by all.
Aligned with the community nature of this Severn Sessions
series of shows, a youth act in the guise of local school girls, Grace Winterburn and Abby Foxall under the name Melody Blue and
rock blues trio, the Mark Leedham Band, provided the support for Amanda. This
continues to ensure that enhanced focus remains on the Bewdley music scene and
goes a long way to help establish a viable structure for artists such as Amanda
Rheaume to successfully play their music thousands of miles from home.
Over the last few years, Amanda has put in a considerable
amount of leg work in realising an ambition of making her career a success
overseas. Having first come across her music at the outset of this adventure,
it is refreshing to see a thriving performer. Canadian artists like Amanda
Rheaume have a valuable role in exporting their art to broaden the horizon of
music lovers around the world. Few folks in Bewdley would disagree after
witnessing this performance.
