Three Chords and the Truth UK

Robert Ellis Americana is one of the most contentious and open to individual interpretation labels attached to music in the second decade of the twenty-first century. However if you can squeeze another stab at personifying the term look no further than Robert Ellis. Too country for rock and too rock for country fits the bill neatly, as does a left field approach to making music. Throw in a stellar band and a rack of songs bulging with imaginative lyrics and you start to build a picture of an artist at the cutting edge of progressive roots music. Amongst an array of dates forming his latest tour to the UK, the eclectic and fiercely independent High and Lonesome Festival in Leeds awarded Robert the headline slot in the Left Bank Saturday evening presentation of this burgeoning event. Together with a three piece band hailed as the Perfect Strangers, Robert set about showing why he is such a respected artist and proved a fitting finale to a successful festival first day. Like any mu...

A couple of years ago Jason Ringenberg paid tribute to those in the teaching profession during one of his UK gigs. This evening Sara Watkins trumped that by dedicating ‘ Tenderhearted’ to teachers, social workers and volunteers before delivering a song epitomising the way she uses her talent to make meaningful music. This extraordinary ability to mix vocal skill, song writing expertise and multi-instrumental virtuosity is reaping rewards in this phase of her career as a flourishing solo artist. Solo was the word tonight as any misguided assumption that she would tour the new album in some kind of band format was laid to rest as she pulled off the one woman show with a stunning performance. You only had to hear the lead track from the new album to grasp that this was a breakout release. Breakthrough wouldn’t be the right word for a highly respected artist at the top of her game for a long time whether as a fledgling member of iconic roots revival pioneers Nickel Creek, part of the ...

Midway through this gig, the penny dropped on what makes The Black Feathers one of the most precious duet harmony acts on the UK folk and acoustic circuit. Apart from the impeccable timing, a sweet sound surrounded by a dark wrapping and dovetailed voices, it is the way they interject the golden moment of anticipated silence so effectively into many of their songs. The dramatic effect leaves the listener hooked on where the piece is heading and is borne out of an inherent talent to harness the beauty of the duet. It took a while for this Gloucestershire based duo to hook up with the Kitchen Garden Café and now sealed, it is a union made for the idealistic music listener. To comment that their debut performance at Birmingham’s premier listening venue was a resounding success is a dramatic understatement and surely a trend set for subsequent visits. Right from the irony of opening track ‘ Goodbye Tomorrow’ through to an inclusive rousing unplugged cover of ‘ Big Yellow Taxi’ to brin...

It’s been a resurgent year for the music of Katy Rose Bennett. Her long awaited new album emerged in April and had a successful launch show at the Kitchen Garden Café in her hometown of Birmingham. To complete the year she re-united her band and headed into the rural confines of Worcestershire to play a headline gig in the emerging musical hotbed of Bewdley. Seriously though, the guys behind the Music in Hall monthly shows have done a grand job bringing a series of international and British artists to a town not particularly noted for its touring scene; all this under the Americana/country/folk banner promoting quality original music itching to get more deserved coverage. In line with their usual schedule, a couple of support artists with a local connection played a pair of sets leading up to the 9:30 slot when the headliner appears. Unfortunately only one of these acts was seen, but it wasn’t too difficult to latch onto the positive vibes radiating from the three-piece combo Son o...

For one night only, Birmingham’s premier listening venue transformed itself into the Kitchen Garden Cantina as Carrie Rodriguez finally brought her sublime vocals, classically trained fiddle playing and sumptuous songs to the city. Previously she had appeared in neighbouring Wolverhampton in the days before she left the Chip Taylor protégé tag. Now fully blossomed into a multi-dimensional performer, Carrie tours with husband Luke Jacobs and together they are entering a rich vein of experimental form designed to give you the rounded ethnic diversity of Texas music. The couple, now a family trio, have made Carrie’s hometown city Austin their home and it is her extended Hispanic roots which have fully inspired her latest record. Thus the wondrous cross border sound exploring the golden age of Mexican music filled the air at the Kitchen Garden this evening with no finer vocalist than Carrie to throw in a mix of Spanish, English and that hybrid language Spanglish. Several songs in this b...

Louisville Kentucky ; Columbia Maryland and London UK: three reasons why Brandi Carlile is the undisputed premier artist of 2016 in these quarters. Just over twelve months ago the Grammy nominated album THE FIREWATCHER’S DAUGHTER featured highly in the annual favourite release list and if this was rolled out as a two year celebration it would be without equals. It has more mileage than a lunar expedition and has really had its credentials exposed within the live arena. The last of these three locations to see Brandi in concert was her triumphant return to Britain, although there is unfinished business around the provinces. On stage at Shepherd’s Bush Empire, and subsequently on social media, she promised to make these transatlantic shows a more frequent occurrence, with the obvious persuasive stance from many of her UK fans to venture outside of the capital. However these suggestions are probably left for another day, amidst the joy of seeing Brandi and the twins actually play a supr...