Three Chords and the Truth UK

www.maverickfestival.co.uk Maverick: where hundreds of a pairs of eyes and ears embark on an individual path of music enjoyment. No two journeys are the same as the sights and sounds ferment to personally absorb what time spent at Easton Farm Park means. Festivals are unique and Maverick is no exception as witnessed from many years of winding around the lanes of rural Suffolk to the UK’s most established gathering of what we try to define as ‘Americana’. The printed programme introduction announced its coming of age eighteenth birthday, although Maverick reached a level of maturity a while back, most pertinently in 2020 with a timely You Tube reminder of what we were missing. Never taken for granted, the event powers on with 2025 showing what heights can be achieved with creative curation.   Maybe the general awareness-weighting of artists booked as a line up entity didn’t match the levels of previous years but extract the impact and quality of performance and you were left with a ...

  www.thepleasuresmusic.com The Pleasures are a three-piece band from Australia comprising of a trio of talented musicians in their own right. For nights like this a bassist extends the line up to four as opening act Riley Catherall expanded his repertoire to the rhythm section. Lachlan Bryan (widely known in the UK as the front person of his Wildes band) and Catherine Britt (lesser known in the UK but an esteemed international country artist for several years) front this recently formed combo with all round musician Brad Bergen adding the drums. Following a debut album release in 2023, the band have made a couple of visits to the UK this summer (no mean feat from Down Under) to promote their music culminating with a prestigious slot at Shrewsbury Folk Festival over the Bank Holiday weekend. This Kitchen Garden date was a handy insertion on the eve of the festival appearance in nearby Shropshire, and a venue supportive of Lachlan Bryan's music in the past. A freshened approach led ...

Exuberance  Enthusiasm  Engaging  Hey Dawn, a new dawn A Great Divide bridged to  a posse of music Millionaires Bar dancing  Line dancing Troupe dancing  Ugly Flowers turned beautiful. Serenaded in communal cross legged  harmony.  Mountains  Outback Medleys  The art of performing meets the art of lending  your eyes and ears. Being there,  the only place to be From a land Down Under  a scarlet clad ensemble New faces, new land A knife through the heart of pretentious reflection,  inspiring a poetic response. A difference laced with an energetic smile. A night to remember  A night shared  A night unique

Lachlan Bryan surveys the scene. Looks into the eyes of the seated Kitchen Garden gathering and surmises: “Either these buggers don’t like football or there’s going to be some phone fiddling for the next hour.”  The second half in Kings Heath kicks off the moment the first in Dortmund ends.  An hour into the Wildes 90 minute+ set. Full time in Dortmund “I’ve been here less than a week and given you a change of government and a Euro final.” Thanks for July 4th, Lachlan. Hang around till Sunday to complete the job, if you don’t mind. By the way, do you happen to be in the States in November? “I’m leaving the US the day of the election. Not sure I’ll be allowed back”. Lachlan Bryan reads the mind of each audience member and muses to himself: “These guys won’t mind a few stories. I’ll give Sean and Riley an extended rest. I’ve told the cricketer-cum-labourer one before but they won’t remember it. They won’t have heard the Willis Alan Ramsey one. They look like the sort who it woul...

www.theweepingwillows.com.au www. mattjoegowmusic.com Melbourne and the Midlands have become increasingly entwined in recent summers. Musicians from Australia's southernmost city have found a kind and appreciative fanbase in England's industrial heartland keen to host and support artists on their European travels. The latest presentation at the Kitchen Garden saw a new name revealed joining old favourites to serve a musical treat to fans buying into a style authentically layered and rooted in a progressive tradition. The show was billed as The Weeping Willows supported by Matt Joe Gow; the reality was old Melbourne friends sharing the spotlight. Following in the pioneering footsteps of Lachlan Bryan in 2017, Matt Joe Gow is the latest singer-songwriter from a tight-knit community to try their luck in the northern hemisphere. An established operator in his adopted country, as originally hailing from New Zealand via Yorkshire, it didn't take long for this accomplished perform...

You should never underestimate the challenge and trepidation facing an artist taking their music thousands of miles to new destinations. The stakes are high with a strong and resilient sense of belief required. Success can have a range of measures from deeply personal to collectively communal. A positive outcome must be a proud accomplishment. In the early phase of a second significant visit to the UK, evidence is pointing towards an enhanced reputation for Nigel Wearne as he plots a way into the hearts and minds of a welcoming and open music scene. One key indicator is an audience returning to your shows. Having appeared at Thimblemill Library almost twelve months to the day, not only were returnees in the audience, but a whole host of curious observers eager to take a chance on a new name. On his previous visit, Wearne shared the bill with Lauren Housley. From a short window, enough positive seeds were planted, and now the opportunity arose for folks to learn a lot more about this cu...

Songwriting retreats where artists formally meet up to share and hone their craft appear to be increasingly popular. It's not that audiences are open to such things, just that more and more songs are being introduced as originating from these structured events. This has happened on consecutive nights during a current run of four straight gigs. First Robert Vincent preluded a new song with a story of it being a co-write with James House at one of these events. Now a pair of artists have taken the concept a whole step forward by not only meeting up to write one song, but continue the association to come up with a whole album. This process is not just a vehicle for novices to plot their way forward. Indeed Robert Vincent has written some excellent songs prior to his involvement and the two songwriters who spun the whole concept in a new direction are no other than established operators, Emily Barker and Marry Waterson.  Earlier this year, A WINDOW TO OTHER WAYS introduced the collab...

Lady Antebellum may well have recorded the song ‘Own the Night’, but the sentiment was well and truly with Lachlan Bryan as he moved from festival regular to gig headliner. As much as Lachlan and his many other friends have played their heart out across numerous sets at Maverick over the last three years, there is nothing to beat giving your audience full focus and ultimately ‘owning the night’. This was certainly the case when gracing the delightful surroundings of the Kitchen Garden in Birmingham as part of a short English tour. Lachlan Bryan and the Wildes have been operating as a band Down Under for a number of years. The horizon has switched to Europe in recent times with its latest incarnation joining up with fellow Aussie Imogen Clark for the second successive year to start spreading their wings further afield from the festival scene. The full breadth of available time was grasped as Imogen delivered an appealing forty-minute opening set before Lachlan took over the mantle...