Three Chords and the Truth UK

This blog was launched on January 15th 2012 with a review of the Ruth Moody gig in Warwick. It then became a tradition to anoint a favourite gig for each calendar year. This has duly been revealed each December since that opening year and one was even extracted from the curtailed shortlist of 2020.  The wait for live music in 2021 ended on May 26th and through a minefield of restrictions including a vast dearth of overseas touring artists, the end of year tally amounted to a credible 31 shows in addition to 7 days spent in those sacred festival fields. This proved a reasonable return in comparison to normal years on a pro rata basis with the main difference being the reduced options of venues to visit and artists to see.  However life is all about grabbing what is on offer and there is no doubt the ten events selected as the personal elite of 2021 would have featured highly in any of the previous years. I am quite fortunate to curate a gig journey where any disappointing event...

For the first time since 2014 there is going to be no album getting that first among equals status. Maybe this is a tilt towards the trend of art not being a competition or that a suitable candidate did not soar to that spot of towering over others in the personal appreciation stakes. Although merit is seen in the first statement, when it comes to a purely personal perspective there is nothing wrong in evaluating music on an objective basis and ranking preference. A proclamation of the best has always been a ludicrous concept here with the term favourite deemed the most appropriate way of defining a certain album of any given period. Therefore it transpires that 2021 is the first year where one doesn't jump out from a shortlist curated by perusing the lengthy parade of releases accruing plenty of listening time. So there is no successor to Brandy Clark's Your Life is a Record. There was a strong contender but in the final shake up it didn't meet the criteria that elevated e...

  www.hannahaldridge.com If you wanted to put a fiver on which American touring artist would be among the first to return to our shores, odds would be considerable short on Hannah Aldridge. True to form it has taken less than a couple of months from the touring green light for dates to materialise and even less surprising that St.George's Hall in Bewdley emerged as one of the venues hosting her. Hiccups are always around the corner though and this evening's show had faced significant challenges starting from two of her original touring partners being stuck back in the States and evolving issues presenting last minute schedule changes to the UK leg of the tour. Yet as resolute as ever, Hannah strolled onto stage at the stroke of 9 and played the ever consummate professional. Ably assisted by Swedish touring partner Gustav Sjodin, it was soon business as usual. In other words an emotive spilling of the guts in front of a room of fleeting strangers. Just like she has done hundreds...

  www.keilyconnell.com CALUMET QUEEN is one of those albums that springs out of nowhere embodying all that is sought in music parading under the left of centre Americana banner. A unique aura surrounds the music of Kiely Connell radiating from a vocal presence aching with vulnerability and a lyrical output ebbing between personal reflection and astute observation. Great music can come from being challenged and the experience of submerging into the musical world of this now Nashville-based artist is one of sharing the truths, doubts and acts of seeking the light.  Originating from Hammond Indiana before heading to Music City to bring the dream to fruition, Connell takes part of the album name from the nearby Calumet River and the rest from whoever wears the crown. The title track is heralded as using the river as a metaphor for a life path. If you are going to get personal you might as well jump right in and go with the flow. From this starting point Connell lures the listener ...

  www.kenpomeroymusic.com Ken Pomeroy is a prodigious singer-songwriter operating out of that seemingly hotbed state of literary music talent: Oklahoma USA. An exemplar of stripped down song delivery sees her as one of Horton Records shared secrets until word gets around that someone with such innate talent is ready to knock on doors of acute listeners to painstakingly emotive acoustic music. CHRISTMAS LIGHTS IN APRIL throws up images of continually searching for some sort of contentment,. This includes doubling up as an eye catching title and the name of the final song concluding this ten-track collection criss crossing the path of highly personalised songwriting output.  Across a spectrum spanning thirty-five minutes you are left with the perception of Pomeroy planting herself in the canyons of your mind gently strumming a simple tune carrying lyrics of such depth and sincerity. A cathartic essence seeps from the echoes of the vocals ensuring a youthful zest blends in acres ...

  www.katherinepriddy.co.uk There may be homecomings in grander surroundings in the future such as the Town or Symphony Hall, but few would have as much meaning as two sold out evenings at the Kitchen Garden with all the venue aura and pin drop tranquility thrown in. She may have been active on the circuit for a number of years (a 2014 show was mentioned). yet 2021 will always be known as Katherine Priddy's breakthrough year. Evidence circulates around the reaction to her debut full length album released on Navigator Records and the horizons it permeated to broaden the appeal. Tickets for these two intimate shows were quickly snapped up and the chosen few were dealt a stunning performance of music wrapped in a rich swathe of tendered beauty. Although her standing on the local circuit as been cut as a solo performer, hooking up with Northallerton-based singer-songwriter-guitarist George Boomsma has proved a decisive move as witnessed by the way they gelled during the second of the t...

www.bluerosecode.com Tuesday 10th March 2020, a date forever etched into my gig memory bank. When Ross Wilson departed the performing space at the Kitchen Garden after another successful Blue Rose Code show the storm clouds were already gathering. It was to be another six months before live music briefly surfaced in the guise of a single outdoor festival and a solitary Kitchen Garden gig. Eventually it would be close on fifteen months before light appeared out of the cultural darkness of 20-21. It was little surprise to see Blue Rose Code back on the road as soon as restrictions eased, and a renewal of their growing love affair with a devoted audience frequenting the Kitchen Garden for what is now a regular tour stopping off point.  It is to Blue Rose Code's credit that they manage to make each show unique without any compromise of the quality. This was the fifth time seeing them play the Kitchen Garden and if you thought you had seen all the permutations Ross Wilson could bring to...