Three pondering thoughts and phrases came to mind at the end of this gig: one door closes another opens, jumping on board the train and operating in parallel worlds. All very personal of course, but pertinent to seeing Martha Tilston play live for the first time.
The Kitchen Garden in Birmingham has been a kind venue for Martha over the years. Largely because she repays such kindness with exemplary shows each time it is added to her tour itinerary. This one was no exception as the sold out notice went up a week or so before. The bond between audience and artist was as firm as any witnessed over many years attending shows here, and more importantly, it was easy for newbies to be swept up in the mutual attraction.
This event was a late addition to a decimated start to the gig year. With so many first choice touring artists pulling the plug on their travels, perusing the live music landscape for alternative options became a more determined task. For several years the name Martha Tilston has been been pitched to me, but despite full awareness and appreciation circumstances never aligned. Her dad, Steve Tilston, has crossed my path several times, mainly at festivals, but Martha remained elusive.
So choosing to engage with her music for the first time was very much down to the circumstance of a door closing on several other events in the late January-early February window. Which in turn leads to the question of when is the right time to jump aboard the train. We are often guilty of proudly proclaiming a support for an established artist for many years without realising we are making minor personal choices from a ginormous pool. Sometimes you have to put your hands up and state 'I may be late to someone's party, but I'm going to make up for it and enjoy the experience'. February 2022 is when the Martha Tilston train stopped at my station. The fare was duly paid via We Got Tickets and although there is a near potential twenty years of catching up to do, the first task is complete.
I couldn't help linking the scenario of watching Martha Tilston to that of doing the same with Thea Gilmore three years ago. Even though the former is a lot folkier than the latter, there were a lot of similarities in my book. Mainly on the fact that for well over a decade they have been on my distant periphery. Known, respected but undiscovered. The Thea Gilmore journey powered on to the extent of becoming my gig of the year in 2021. No pressure there Martha. So in my book Thea Gilmore and Martha Tilston have operated in parallel worlds until now where lines have been crossed and bandwagons boarded.
To put a little more flesh on the bones of this show. Martha invited Dietrich Strausse to open the concert with a short thirty-minute set. The uncanny thing is that I actually saw him do the same for Josienne Clark and Ben Walker in 2016. Then he came across as heavily influenced by early 60s Greenwich Village. Now it was more early 70s LA. Either way both times seen have proved entertaining experiences.
It was the Martha Tilston trio format tonight with regular sidekick Matt Tweed on multiple guitars and stringed devices and Flora Curzon on fiddle. Together from just before 9:00 to the stroke of 10:30, they played the superlative supporting role to the hugely impressive songs of Martha Tilston. All but a few were heard for the first time on the evening, but sounding embedded into your mind for years. In a good way not a lazy copy.
Maybe it was the personality, stage persona and grounded graciousness that took the quality songs to another level. Whether taking contemporary themes or dipping into the wonderful world of traditional folk, each song sounded gorgeous and never allowed your mind to wander. The pick of the evening came her latest project with a tribute to Leonard Cohen in the song 'Old Tom Cat'. Although a song from the back catalogue, it also features on the album THE TAPE which is the soundtrack to a film of the same name in 2021 directed and starred in by Martha.
There was a prediction once live music opened up in 2021that the emerging post-pandemic world might engineer a few more homegrown acquaintances. No more will Martha Tilston hover on the periphery.