The t-shirt proudly displayed the slogan ‘back in the saddle’, and never have four words meant so much to music fans devoted to the Maverick Festival. A few were there showing support in their 2020 t-shirts, but like so much of live music’s annus horribilis (eventually extended by a few more months) that staging sunk into a void now erased from the memory. For those who attended in 2019 or any previous years going back to 2008, there would have been a welcoming and reassuring feeling of familiarity as the gates of Easton Farm Park once again flung open to both the Maverick faithful and first time tasters alike. These fans, described by one artist as ‘clad in outlaw chic’, are motivated not by conformity but aligned to misfits and mavericks as long as they exude a state of mind and an intuitive instinct for the power of song.
It may have been the first week of September, but the near guaranteed sunshine of the first week of July didn’t mind the wait, give or take the chillier evenings. The Green still throngs with chairs and blankets from late Saturday morning to around six thirty. The Peacock still displays the most amazing of backdrops. The Barn remains the festival’s heartbeat, while the semi-hidden Moonshine lures the curious and continues to throw curve balls. From the first strum of MG Boulter’s guitar at five o’clock on Friday, as one of Maverick’s dual opening acts, to Sara Petite obliging with a dedicated version of ‘Drinkin’ to Remember’ to close things at half two on Sunday, old and new artists rubbed shoulders for attention, while the whole aura and ambience permeated a boutique festival resoundingly announcing its renewal from the abyss.
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| Sara Petite closing to acclaim |
Maverick, like many other small festivals, is a mixture of the shared and personal experience. Personal schedules can take the form of a casual ramble across the site sampling artists or strive to be more prescriptive in soaking up the duration of a whole set. The latter is the preferred approach here and this still allows for a number of new discoveries to mingle alongside those familiar artists earmarked to re-enforce your prior admiration.
Most of the shortened 2021 gig landscape was expected to be dominated by homegrown artists, but the situation easing meant several US acts were able to navigate the pandemic minefield to cross the Atlantic to tour. Maverick booked an artist admired for many years here in Sara Petite but threw up a couple of great new finds in Jerry Jospeh and The Sam Chase Trio. On the UK front, My Darling Clementine and Dean Owens have been enjoyed many times live over the last decade, but impressive debut performances from Our Man in the Field and Forty Elephant Gang added an extra dimension to their current albums.
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| Jerry Joseph in a Moonshine pop up |
Maverick is also about learning, and the genre of swamp pop was diligently researched after seeing 81 year old Louisiana legend Tommy McLain play a late night set with his sidekick CC Adcock in the Moonshine. Likewise it was interesting checking out the pedigree of the stylish Alyssa Bonagura’s background after seeing her play a set on Saturday alongside Tim de Graaw, who in turn impressed as a new artist when playing solo 24 hours later.
Festivals drawing acts from a smallish pool such as Maverick are often good for re-connecting artists with fans. It’s been a long time since Dan Walsh, Dan Raza and Jeni Hankins were seen live, and a lot has happened in the life of the latter over the last decade. Yet 2021 saw all three frequent the Barn for enjoyable sets. On the other hand, Brooks Williams is a continual presence on the gig scene, but sometimes it is good to stand back and absorb a reminder of what a superb operator he is.
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| David Banks in full flow on The Green |
Other familiar acts used Maverick 2021 to further accelerate their latest projects. Southend-on-Sea based singer-songwriter MG Boulter made the relatively short journey to Suffolk to share songs from his excellent new album CLIFFTOWN with a Maverick audience for the first time. David Banks rocked The Green at the early hour of eleven on Saturday morning with a familiar line up of the Clubhouse Tipping twins on accompanying guitars and previous Maverick Green performer Luke Tuchscherer on drums. Simon Stanley Ward was also a returning Maverick Green performer with a new band name in the Shadows of Doubt, but familiar players in the classy Paul Lush on guitar and the ubiquitous Thomas Collinson on keys. At the last count, the 2018 AMA UK instrumentalist of the year also played on sets with the ever dominant Dean Owens (alongside fellow Southerner Jim Maving) , sincere songwriter Kate Ellis and James Riley (the last by anecdote as not seen).
At this point only one artist seen over the weekend has not been named. To fill the gap, The Crux were caught on the Barn stage as the penultimate act on Sunday, and while this American band have played the festival before this was a first time seen. An uplifting and motivating performance to boot.
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| MG Boulter in Leader's Live Lounge |
It wouldn't be a Maverick Festival of recent times without Leader's Live Lounge operating within the confines of the farm's pet section. Recordings of songs by MG Boulter and Dean Owens were seen for future airing to recap Maverick in a different format of which there will be more.
A quick mention to a trio of unfortunate late Maverick absentees. We certainly live in strange times, and a combination of circumstances meant Peter Bruntnell, John Murry and Gwenifer Raymond were unable to grace the grounds of Easton Farm Park in 2021. A further apology is to the other acts booked for the Maverick renewal, In an ideal omnipresent world, every artist would be seen. However until super human powers are acquired, cuts and choices have to be made.
So who and what were the highlights of Maverick 2021 or is it best to quit here and just declare the whole event a winner. To keep things short, the highlight summary is stripped back to four entities.
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| The Sam Chase Trio in the Moonshine |
First up is the Moonshine. The performing area hidden away and one that has a soul of its own. A semi-conscious decision was made to spend more time in this location than on previous visits. In a year when schedule adjustments were forced on the organisers, Moonshine drop in visits were exposed to two barnstorming pop up sets from Jerry Joseph and The Sam Chase Trio. This space was also a great hang out zone and also the site of the Up in Arms tribute that Michael Weston King of My Darling Clementine organised for late Maverick devotee Craig Pickering. A fitting show of respect for a gig organiser from Biddulph in Staffordshire and a fixture in front of Maverick stages for many years.
The Sam Chase Trio were mentioned as a Moonshine pop up and they ventured through the festival as the most watched act including a couple of appearances at this stage on Friday and Saturday evenings. They had just flew in from San Francisco for their first UK tour and were determined to leave a mark. This was aided by a powerful frontman free of inhibitions and possessing an addictive charisma that added complementary nods like picking wild flowers from a luscious meadow.
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| My Darling Clementine in the Peacock |
Jerry Joseph is a strong favourite to be a popular pick for the highlight of 2021. His announcement via an unscheduled slot on the Moonshine was a mere appetiser for what was witnessed during his hour long headline set in the Barn late on Saturday evening tipping into Sunday morning. After forcefully holding court solo for half the set, he duly invited his adopted UK band Our Man in the Field to back him for the second part. In the words of Alex from the band, Jerry Joseph is ‘a pulsating, gyrating, one man wall of sound’. That can only be concurred, and a star of Maverick was born even before an intoxicating extended unorthodox version of Gillian Welch’s ‘Revelator’ steamrolled the set to a comprehensive conclusion.
Just as Jerry Joseph sat pretty to don the Maverick crown, something very personal came from behind to steal the mantle. San Diego country and honky tonk queen Sara Petite glided in from her homeland a couple of days prior for a first UK tour in a few years, and a proper band one for a significant longer period of time. Afforded three slots across the weekend, Friday’s was a tentative start, although admittedly only half was seen due to a schedule clash. This was the only one with a drummer in tow as remaining sets and shows would be in a trio format with Brits Joe Coombs (electric lead) and Scott Warman (electric and stand up bass) backing Sara’s acoustic guitar and lead vocals. Those vocals started to hit the buffers during the second set on Saturday evening ensuring fingers were kept crossed that the effects would subside.
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| Tommy McLain displaying Swamp Pop |
Scroll forward to Sunday lunchtime and the traditional Barn closing set before folks disperse at two thirty. The Sara Petite Band was invited to play this spot and they rose to the challenge with a spell binding performance. Top tune followed top tune as we were treated to material across her long career from ‘Lead the Parade’, ‘Tiger Mountain’ and ‘Bootleggers’ in the 2000s to plenty from this year’s super record RARE BIRD including the title track, ‘Scars’, ‘Runnin’’, ‘The Misfits’ and invited singalong ‘Crash, Boom Bang’. Most importantly, Sara’s voice held up to display a sassy drawl that defines her, and the heart ripped open to bare the soul of a songwriter cutting right to the bone. Ably assisted by the ever impressive Coombs on invited solos and the rhythmically secure Warman keeping impeccable time, this performance was a long time in waiting and set to remain long term in the memory. While watching this in a t-shirt that didn’t live up to the Maverick ideal, it at least conjured up the thought that Miranda Lambert is just really Sara Petite who caught a different bus.
Se there ends a recap of the Maverick renewal. Of course those present will have loads more recollections and memories, but then again a review is only a self-indulgent reflection to supplement the experience. Hopefully all roads lead to Easton Farm Park, Suffolk in 2022 with a July slot slipping into what we all want: a busy and comprehensive festival season. It was an honour to attend the Maverick Festival for an eleventh straight staging, and if time could be turned back 2008 and 2009 would have completed the set. No higher accolade required.
