The term ‘Ancient Embers’ suggests something flickering at
the end of its existence which is in total contrast to its casual entrance into
this Danni Nicholls’ show during her latest visit to Birmingham’s Kitchen
Garden Café. Whether or not the new song which hosts this title eventually
gravitates to recording status, it was the biggest hint that fresh material is
in the air. The added good news is that the song blossomed on its first public
airing and that augers well for the possibility of a third full length release
in the not too distant future.
There is still plenty of mileage left in the latest record MOCKINGBIRD LANE, despite it being the centrepiece of Danni’s three consecutive Birmingham
shows since making her Kitchen Garden debut two years ago. At the point of the
first show, the album was still in its embryonic stage short of physical
release. Now it has evolved to the extent of being an award nominated album at
this year’s Americana Music Association UK celebrations. This is not a surprise
to those of us who have bought into Danni’s music since the early EP and
Maverick Festival days.
Just like last year’s gig at the venue, Danni was
accompanied by Max Milligan on guitar. Max once again did a sterling job,
putting on a similar performance to that of Will Kimbrough at a nearby gig a
few days earlier. A further connection, apart from Danni showing utmost respect
for both guitarists, is that Will’s ‘Goodnight
Moon’ appeared on her previous album A LITTLE REDEMPTION and duly made the
set list tonight. The selection of songs picked to form a brace of sets
spanning the usual mid-gig break was quite similar to the previous visits, but
there was little point in changing a winning formula. Hopefully in the future a
heap of new songs will make the set selection a trickier choice.
Meanwhile until those days arrive, there is still much joy to derive from listening to superb songs such
as ‘Leaving Tennessee’, ‘Beautifully
Broken’, ‘Back to Memphis’ and ‘Look
Up at the Moon’ in intimate settings. Those songs have been syphoned off as
personal favourite from the evening, but there was not a single poor effort on
show. While ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ and
‘Jolene’ will always go down well
with a country leaning crowd, perhaps the standout cover of the evening was a
version of Randy Newman’s ‘Guilty’.
Like indicated earlier, the song selection didn’t alter much from last time.
This has a win-win effect in thrilling new fans and presenting the returners
with the riches that made them come back.
Opportunities continue to crop up for Danni that intently
rewards her impressive and versatile vocal style which can effortlessly
criss-cross the American songbook-type range. Coupled with the ability to craft memorable compositions
capturing the essence of the country music song writing genre, this makes her a
valuable member of a community which doesn’t seek to sacrifice integrity to a
misguided quick fix.
The countdown is now on for the fourth visit of Danni
Nicholls to the Kitchen Garden Café. Maybe it will be in a year’s time, but the
wait will be worth it, especially if further new songs start to appear. In the
meantime seek out her music if you have been remiss so far. An opportunity to
impress is all she needs.
