I am a fully paid up member of the 'show us-don't tell us' club and Hannah White demonstrated from opening song to finale being a suitable hypothetical candidate for queen of such a brigade. No cowboy hats, sparkles, boots and homages to Dolly were required. The 'C' genre or 'N' city were not mentioned. All that was needed was an artist ripping open their soul to the solace of deep thinking personal music. No fancy playing (that is left to the premium guitar picking of her sidekick and husband Keiron Marshall), just the epitome of that old cliche 'three chords and the truth'. Now that sounds a familiar phrase.
The music of Hannah White first appeared on my horizon during this blog's six month hiatus in the first half of 2020. In fact the eponymous album Hannah White and the Nordic Connections was a standout release from a batch that inspired a return to the saddle as time became more available during the first lockdown. Well over twelve months on, some coverage is long overdue and an inter-connected scene has brought the music closer. 
Delving a little deeper into Hannah's past reveals a string of previous releases, but it was the 2020 effort complete with a weird off-the-wall Norwegian collaboration, though one which sadly had its momentum curtailed, that catapulted the recognition. This was mainly through a nomination for AMA UK British album of the year. Joint runner up to Robert Vincent is not a bad place to be, and while on the topic of Americana, we all know that genre is the current true home of real country music, especially on our shores.
Without sounding disrespectful, vast swathes of this gig had me racking my brains of who Hannah's voice reminded me. Lots of contemporary names cropped up on the right side of the tracks until the image of Margo Price was settled upon. The personal nature of so many of their shared songs likely tipped the balance as well. At one point the guitar was ditched leaving just a voice alongside Keiron's guitar and this worked well. We even had a return to those much loved Kitchen Garden moments at the end when an artist ditches the mic to the ultimate unfiltered effect.
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| Robbie Cavanagh |
For this moment, Hannah and Keiron were joined by Robbie Cavanagh who has been their chosen artist to open for them on this short tour that has jumped ahead in one of the first post-lockdown sorties around the country. He brought his own songwriting skills to the table during a short opening set that was mindful in its role, but informative enough to sow some seeds of what is on the horizon. Robbie Cavanagh, like Hannah White, was a recipient of acclaim at this year's AMA UK awards with the Bob Harris emerging artist pick alongside his partner Demi Marriner. Although it was Hannah's night this evening, there is the potential for Robbie Cavanagh to replicate things when his new material finally reaches its intended audience.
There are so many aspects of a Hannah White show that stay within the intimate arena of the artist-audience sphere. Needless to say, the candid nature of the inspiration clearly fuels the impact of expressing the message. The impact of this expression is dependent on an artist having some sort of innate ability to transmit through the emotive self-penned song and heartfelt delivery. This is clearly in the DNA of Hannah White. It may not always be clear sailing, but when the dice rolls a pair you appreciate the power of music especially in its live capacity. Cracking the code doesn't happen that often, but when it does the treasure trove of a certain type of music showers its wealth.