Three Chords and the Truth UK

It doesn’t take long at a Secret Sisters’ gig to know where they reside within the 21st Century country music movement and it’s definitely not in the Nashville Music Row community that generates much of the current country radio output. No sooner had main vocalist Lauren Rogers totally dismissed the beer and beach songs, surely a subtle dig at Kenny Chesney, the Sisters were launching themselves into a cover of George Jones’s 1950’s number, ‘Why Baby Why’. However the irony of the situation is that the Sisters are enjoying a meteoric rise via considerable industry backing that has seen them tour extensively across the world and rub shoulders alongside such luminaries as Paul Simon, Willie Nelson and Ray Lamontagne . Yet the Sisters are comfortable with their remit to recreate the traditional sound of their Alabama upbringing by re-interpreting old country and folk songs as well as developing their own song writing skills. The Glee Club in Birmingham caters more for the singer-songwrite...

I suppose it was apt for a singer-songwriter from Winnipeg, Canada to open their UK tour on the coldest evening so far of this mild British winter. However Ruth Moody, who uses the long Canadian winters to inspire aspects of her writing, wasted no time in warming the musical hearts of those who came to her first solo UK show at the Bridge House Theatre in Warwick. Although not strictly a solo show as she was ably accompanied by band members - Adam Dobres, Adrian Dolan and Sam Howard, Ruth was taking the advantage of a Wailin' Jennys hiatus to promote her solo material and showcase her own voice rather than the unison harmonies that have been such a trademark of the Jennys' success over the last ten years. Primarily Ruth was touring to re-launch her 2010 album 'The Garden' which to date has had little promotion in the UK but she chose a Wailin’ Jennys song to open the show,’Asleep At Last’ from their 2011 album 'Bright Morning Stars’. However most of the first ...