Songs That Shaped 2017

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Gig Review: Merry Hell - Katie Fitzgerald's, Stourbridge. Sunday 17th December 2023

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www.merryhell.co.uk From the cotton mills of Wigan to the glassworks of Stourbridge, Merry Hell cherish a distinguished English heritage wrapped in a progressive blanket of unity, while expunging differences at every opportune moment. Blending a fiery fervour with wry humour, this seven-piece band deliver an amenable basket of relatable folk-rock inviting people of all persuasions to join the affray. The key to the appeal is that no previous experience is required to bask in their crafted humility. Accessible lyrics are heartily sung from the floor with minimal instruction and being part of a crusade for justice is an immediate fix. All was in place as they closed a gig year in several quarters with a debut Stourbridge performance that raised the roof of Katie Fitzgerald's cellar venue. For many years my hometown of Stourbridge has been been the departing point for a gig journey, but far too infrequently the destination. Shows that pierce the core of a musical odyssey crop up from ...
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  The sixth staging of The Long Road Festival had an instant different feel to the previous five. Firstly, the main stage known as the Rhinestone was expanded to host acts on the Friday evening, a timely move to align with other events of a similar size. Secondly, the whole lifestyle aspect seemed on another level with an apparent expansion of live-in vehicles leading to a re-organisation of the parking situation for day visitors. Thirdly, there was a pre-festival consensus that the Americana music offering was considerably lighter than the immense levels of previous years. The last point is purely subjective and within the boundaries of the beholder. If you subscribe to a view that Americana is an all-encompassing indescribable concept offering solace to music that doesn’t quite fit then 2025 was teeming with artists trawled by an event with a mission of inclusivity.   The Long Road can be whatever you want it to be, and is a safe and welcoming place. Finding plenty of engagi...
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Gig Review: Lucinda Williams - Town Hall, Birmingham. Thursday 29th January 2026

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Clad in black leather, a socially sharp mind and forever anchored where the spirit meets the bone. Lucinda Williams unites the poetry of folk, the  depth of the blues, the meaning of soul and the verve of rock. The stage presence has been re-invented in recent years and the elaborated drawl is still rinsed in east of the Red River sensibility. An icon schooled in the annals of the classic band, settling as a legend who has never abandoned the roots of righteousness. The band and its leader is a mighty entity. She tapped her heart in praise of Brady Blade’s drumming and passively admired the shredding of Marc Ford. The longstanding relationship with Doug Pettibone is sealed when he played pedal steel while she whimsically dreamt of driving an El Camino with a Texan friend around Lake Charles. David Sutton’s adaptable bass playing kept her ear on track. The ills of the world are given the therapy of Lucinda Williams 2026: refreshed, revitalised, recording and still ‘ Rocking in the F...
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