The eighth staging of the world’s greatest micro music
festival was greeted by a house full sign as the ‘legendary’ Tingewick village
hall swung into action for its annual renewal. Putting hyperbole to one side
for a moment, Tingestock does have an exceedingly good knack of fine-tuning its
optimum appeal to a dedicated audience. Five excellent acts under the curating
guidance of Clubhouse Records spanned an identical number of hours to ensure a
sleepy North Buckinghamshire village kept one eye open to a triumvirate of rock
sounds, positioned in the realms of alt-country, folk and wide-encompassing
Americana. Cross colonial collaboration, comradeship and putting music into
perspective were the themes emanating from this year’s staging. Within a tight
remit, balanced offerings were prevalent on the vocal, tempo and instrumental
front, with the sole exception being of original material almost entirely
ruling the roost.From memory, on only three occasions were the works of the greats celebrated including a fitting finale consisting of an artist-packed stage negotiating with a minimum of fuss on who was to sing which verse of ‘The Weight’. Impromptu proved a wonderful thing even if Luke Tuchscherer inevitably gravitated towards the iconic singing drummer role and Don Gallardo stole a march to lead the chorus. Indeed Luke went head to head with multi-talented musician Thomas Collison for the most productive performer on the evening, with both featuring heavily in three of the five sets.
Their frenzied evening of activity began in a semi-relaxed
state as opening act Hannah Rose Platt replicated her Maverick Festival set
list from the previous week with the gradual unveiling of a full band. The
solo-delivered trio of ‘Dancer’, ‘Brooklyn’ and ‘1954’ got Hannah into her storytelling groove especially the latter
which has blossomed to be the signature track from her excellent debut album PORTRAITS.
Thomas joined Hannah initially on keyboards before adding some delectable lap
steel, a welcome addition to the restriction of the Maverick set. Eventually
Luke on drums and Tristan Tipping on bass completed the line-up as Hannah
raised the beat a notch for two new songs set to feature prominently on her
follow up album due out later this year. The recently released single ‘Chanel and Cigarettes’ closed the set,
but it was the preceding song ‘When the
Hurricane Came to Town’ which just gets the edge on early listens to the
new material. While from the evidence of the first album, her vocal approach
and attention to storytelling detail has firmly placed Hannah on the folk edge
of any genre claim, indications are beginning to point to veering more in a straightforward
Americana direction. Thomas has produced the album and a quick delve into his
background through work with The Dreaming Spires, Luke Tuchscherer and Don
Gallardo gives further credence to where the sound will reside. Anyhow, Hannah
remains a bright emerging talent on the UK’s music scene and wholeheartedly
bought into the spirit of Tingestock to become a one of their deserved alumni. 
Luke Tuchscherer followed Hannah’s set fresh on the back of
the release of his outstanding brand new album ALWAYS BE TRUE. This time the
front role beckoned for Luke (the former/forever Whybirds singing drummer) as
his five piece band set out to serenade, impress and ultimately rock out.
Thomas was in action again ramping up the keys element for this set often in soulful
proportions. Right from the off, Luke needed minimal time to settle with ‘Waiting for My Day to Come’ sounding
superb. The set raced along with material from the new album featuring ‘Amanda Jayne’, ‘When the Dream Dies’ and ‘Don’t
Put Me Out’. ‘Easy to Fall’ and ‘Just Like Holden’ from an earlier EP
also provided a platform for Luke, Thomas and the other guitarists to strut
their stuff, plus an admirable debut performance from the drummer, quite literally
new to all the songs. A little bit of indulgence seeped into Luke’s set with a
closing version of Neil Young’s ‘Down by
the River’, but by then his own acoustic guitar had been ditched for the
electric and the whole band was not going to let their momentum go to waste.
Along with Luke, Oxford-based duo Loud Mountains, originally
from South Carolina, have also put out a record on the Clubhouse label,
although this was a debut EP in 2016. Led by brothers Kevin and Sean Duggan,
the duo expanded into a temporary trio for their Tingestock set with the addition
of a pedal steel player. The logistical positioning of the third musician a
whole stage width away from the harmonising brothers impacted a little on fully
utilising the steel, but there was still periodic good use of the twang. Having
seen the duo open for a couple of artists in Oxford gigs put on by Tingestock
guardians Empty Room Promotions, this overall performance was viewed as a significant
step forward. A jam the previous evening with fellow Americans Don Gallardo and
Travis Stock led to them sharing a version of Guy Clark’s ‘Stuff that Works’; a fitting rendition of a song that carries
forward the notion that the works of this legendary songwriter will last
forever. While the pedal steel flickered in and out of their own songs,
mandolin, harmonica and the harmonies fully sealed the appeal with perhaps the
key moments being the songs ‘Lethal
Remedy’ and ‘She’s a Fire’, with
the latter being graced by Hannah Rose Platt on guest backing vocals.
After the roots rock of Luke Tuchscherer and the harmonious
folk of Loud Mountains, who better than Don Gallardo to supremely blend both
styles to give an effortless display of high class Americana. Don was the sole
overseas touring artist on the Tingestock line-up, with perhaps the added
pressure to justify his presence to those with an investment in him. Needless
to say, he was in stylish imperious form. Band prowess, powerful vocal clarity
and the innate ability to pen incredibly catchy tunes have all been
contributing factors to Don Gallardo further establishing himself on the UK
touring circuit over the last couple of years. In fact, this was his second
Tingestock appearance, after impressing immensely in 2015 with a performance
then backed by his Clubhouse colleagues The Rosellys. This time Don and his travelling
partner Travis Stock enlisted – you’ve guessed it -Thomas Collison on keys and
Luke Tuchscherer on drums for his band, and the quartet were bang on the mark right
from the first song to a barnstorming finale of ‘Banks of the Mississippi’. It was fascinating watching the impact
and presence of Travis on bass, effectively driving the sound in terms of
tempo, beat and leadership. While his onstage relationship with Don must be
telepathic, he seemingly played an enormous role in pulling together the
makeshift line-up to provide a thrilling set to the sold out crowd.
While ‘Midnight
Sounds’, ‘Carousel’ and ‘North Dakota Blues’ easily jostled with
the aforementioned concluding song for the set highlight, probably the most ear
catching aspect was the strength of the new material which was particularly
highlighted by the tune ‘Kicking Up the
Pavement’. The name of his co-writer for this piece escapes me but the
recognition of him penning cuts for the latest Miranda Lambert album raised the
ear lobe. The exciting prospect of a new album from Don Gallardo, assumingly to
be released on the Clubhouse label, has proved to be an enticing moment as the
summer music extravaganza kicked into action.
You could say Don Gallardo was the star of Tingestock 2017 –
few would dispute, but stalwart UK alt-country rockers The Redlands Palomino
Company were afforded the headline spot and ensured the evening soared towards it
inevitable crowd pleasing conclusion. Appearing in their usual five-piece unit,
this was classic Redlands. Full of impish wit, there was plenty of ironic interaction
between husband and wife team Alex and Hannah Elton-Wall, with the usual
exchange of vocals and plenty of highly charged tunes. While this band has been
on my horizon for close on a decade, Hannah indicated that they have been
together for eighteen years. The answer to their longevity may be down to not
exerting too much energy on album releases, but more seriously, they seem to be
at perfect ease with what they are trying to do. On their day, you are pushed
to find a better band in this country playing a pumped up brand of pedal steel
driven alt-country rock. Evidence of this continually surfaced during a
headline set which burst into action from the opening bars of ‘Broken Carelessly’ right through to Alex
proclaiming his respect for those in public service in the usual peerless
closing anthem ‘Doin’ it for the Country’.
All the old Redlands favourites were on show, with pedal steel player David
Rothon switching to conventional guitar to add some Byrds-style twang to
classics like ‘Wasted on You’, ‘Coastline’ and ‘Take Me Home’. The added good news from this set was Hannah
revealing that a sixth Redlands record should be on the way. If the evidence of
the last album is a guide, the lengthy wait will be well worth it. However
active or not this band are, it is always good to catch up with them live and
they provided a fitting end to an evening which buzzed from act to act.
Tingestock 2018! Folks will be demanding it. The 2017 exhibition
once again provided a faultless showcase of grass roots music rising to a level
way above its base. Full credit to those involved in the whole set up and
ensuring that splendid soul defining music can flourish within the budget of
common sense. Now, as a footnote, the terms ‘greatest micro festival in the
world’ and the ‘legendary Tingewick village hall’ may not be so exaggerated as
first indicated.
www.clubhouserecords.co.uk
www.empty-rooms.com
www.hannahroseplatt.com
www.luketuchscherer.co.uk
www.loudmountains.com
www.dongallardo.com
www.facebook.com/The-Redlands-Palomino-Company