October
chat between Stephen Simmons and his co-performer Dave Coleman this evening
brought up the topic of some of the Halloween traditions back home, with
Stephen particularly commenting on how he is often touring Europe during this
time of year. In a slight twist of irony, it was October 31st 2014
when I first saw Stephen Simmons play live and thus extending the musical
appreciation that initially surfaced when reviewing the HEARSAY album released
around then.
At the time, he was establishing a fan base in the Staffordshire
area and always pays the county a visit when trips are made from his Tennessee
home to continue a mission of sharing music with European audiences. Since that
Halloween evening four years ago, Stephen has played an annual show in Elford,
either in a house concert or marquee garden format, cementing relationships
formed and frequently bringing new music.
The 2018
renewal saw a couple of innovations. Stephen usually tours the UK alone, although
Molly Jewell, a fellow Nashville musician, joined him a couple of years back.
The time the co-operation expanded into a fuller presentation, with long-term
musical companion Dave Coleman playing electric guitar throughout as well as
chipping in with a few solo songs prior to each of Stephen’s sets commencing.
On the new music
front, Stephen released an album this summer titled GALL. Unfortunately, for
lovers of physical copies mainly, the album is only available digitally, but
quite often artists hamstrung by financial constraints have to make rational
decisions. There is already a considerable Stephen Simmons back catalogue in
place, including many long-term favourite songs frequently making his sets, and
the good news is that further new music is in motion that hopefully will get an
expanded release. You can never restrain a prolific singer-songwriter bursting
with new ideas.
Anyhow, for
those of you open to feasting on digital music the new album is a wise and
valuable investment. A link to the Band Camp site is placed below but it is
also available on the mainstream sites for streaming or downloading on both
sides of the pond. GALL is probably Stephen’s most stripped back and personal
set of songs for a while. The process is purely a one-person operation and the
recording took place in his vacant grandparents’ house away from the big city
in small town Tennessee.
With this
album not really being subject to the big sell, only a couple of songs had an
outing during this evening’s house concert. ‘Burnt Orange & Bruised Purple’ and ‘Death to the Dreamers’ are among the leading songs on the
eleven-track record and sounded good in a live unfiltered setting, akin to what
you get on the album in reality. The location and the family orientated content interweave coherently with perhaps the strongest song to feature being the
title number ‘Gall’. You never know, in the future some of these
songs may re-surface on another album.
Alternatively, this project may always remain self-contained. Either way,
GALL is worth checking out especially if you have come across Stephen’s work
before and are partial to high quality singer-songwriting with a southern flavour.
Back to
this evening’s show and the impact made by the presence of Dave Coleman.
Getting the electric guitar sound spot on in an informal dining room setting is
tricky, but this was accomplished by a player with vast experience as a
producer and founder of the Nashville-based rock ‘n’ roll roots band The Coal
Men. Dave introduced a couple of his songs including the track ‘Singer (In Louisville)’ featured here.
With murder ballads being a theme of the evening, Dave could not resist sharing
a version of ‘Long Black Veil’. When
supporting Stephen, he skillful added the appropriate riffs and required twang,
probably letting loose the most when they covered Springsteen’s ‘Tougher Than the Rest’. The Coal Men’s
records are readily available digitally and can possibly be tracked down on a
CD. Dave had copies of 2016’s PUSHED TO THE SIDE and the 2013 release ESCALATOR
for sale and if you like your roots music with a little tempo and rhythm alongside
some nifty guitar work they will be right up your street.
The
presence of the electric guitar did ensure Stephen had to make some vocal
adjustment to his sound. This smoothly occurred for a bunch of songs stretching
back well over ten years or more to sound as sweet as ever. You never know
quite what you are going to get from a Stephen Simmons set list, but with a
fresh range of stories, the content is normally top notch.
This evening
it was older tracks like ‘Asheville Girl’
(probably the standout moment from the show), ‘Lay on the Tracks’ and ‘Parchcorn
Falls’ that crept up the appreciation scale. It is also good to hear ‘Horse Cave Kentucky’ especially after
visiting this self-generating tourist attraction on a Southern states road trip
in 2016.
Stephen was
his normal unassuming self, grateful that folks turn up to listen to his songs,
and fully embracing the culture of being a word junkie. He is humble enough to
continue to want to write better songs and will probably never cease to until
the guitar, pen and notepad are packed away. A slice of southern culture is
exported around the world when he leaves his Nashville home and whether he is
viewed as country, folk, singer-songwriter or Americana, he simply, as his
compatriots often say, is ‘just a dude who likes to write, play and sing songs’.
The house
concert environment is the perfect setting for Stephen Simmons to hone his
craft. Maintaining this level of intimacy alongside striving to pursue other
live music opportunities is a fulfilling place to be. The blessing is a
combined moment of pleasure. The privilege to listen and to play is
simultaneous. The part Stephen Simmons plays in small corners of the UK live
music scene is not insignificant and likely to be successfully around for a few
years yet.
www.thecoalmen.com