The Other Country/Dust'n'Debris/Matt Kenesen

 THE OTHER COUNTRY/DUST'N'DEBRIS/MATT KENESEN

Musician Pub: September 2023

At the The Musician Pub for the third in the excellent series of gigs tagged "Nashville Nights"

For unavoidable reasons the bill for this gig had to be changed quite late, so huge respect for Matt Kenesen & the Other Country for stepping up and filling the bill.The gig got off to a slightly chaotic start as sound checks overran.. .and as soon as Matt Kenesen stepped up the guitar sound wasn't working... credit to Matt as he didnt let it phase him...

So... first act on the bill was Matt Keneson. Despite the teething problem Matt delivered a really fine set of his own songs, and the one cover, Merle Haggard's "the Bottle Let me Down"

Matts songs have an authentic country feel, and he delivers them with a strong guitar accompaniement and a confident clear voice. This was an assured and accomplished performance, despite a minor stumble at one point, which i thoroughly enjoyed... first class start to the proceedings

Next up was a band I am very familiar with, Dust & Debris. The band are an americana/country band who are guaranteed to get your feet tapping and smiling from start to finish. Starting with the regular opener, the title of which i lamentably cant recall, followed by "Wagon Wheel"... a long standing personal favourite making a really strong start to the set... which then barrels along at great pace, with a bunch of familiar D'n'D tracks, an older piece resurrected and a couple of new songs.. ending with another album favourite "old timer" in "The Battle of New Orleans"...all of which romp along in fine style... and keep the feet tapping

It is easy to focus on the front line of the band... the excellent singers, Les Eastham, who also plays guitar and harp and Jay Dee Odom who both sing well and with a smile, fiddle player Elaine and multi-instrumentalist George Odom but mention must be made of the rhythm section of Rich on bass and Bud on drums who propel the music with great assurance and energy.

The band are fine musicians and singers and play with great energy, serious about their music but clearly having real fun , an ideal band to see which engages the audience from the off

Finally, up stepped The Other Country who are instrumental in organising these events... and had headlined the previous Nashville Nights gig I had been to. Fine Musicians featuring bass, two guitars and a fiddle with two lead vocalists. The set includes a host of familiar songs as well as some less familiar (to me at least) and they got much of the audience on their feet dancing having a ball...

Sadly however, i was unsure about the identity of the band... either a country band playing pop, or pop band playing country... the covers included a dip into the songbooks of Johnny Cash, Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton and a number of other country greats, but also included a number of pieces that have no real connection with country... Sadly for me, overall, the band was far too "pop-py" for my tastes and i didnt really like it... purely a personal reaction... as many others seemed to have a ball

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Bo'Weevil Brothers

BO'WEEVIL BROTHERS

Donkey 24th September 2023

Sunday afternoon back at the The Donkey Venue and the return of the awesome The Bo'weevil brothers... Nuff said?

If you've seen the band you will know exactly how brilliant the gig was, if you haven't seen them, keep an eye on gig listings and catch them at the next oppurtunity.

The band is a three piece featuring Nick Hough on an assortment of guitars and a vocal, Al Shotter on harp, electric bass, vocals and Jimmy Bo'Weevil on drums, guitar, harp and vocals.. 3 highly talented musicians who come together and produce a wonderful melting pot of blues, delta blues, rock and country blues... and todays gig had all of this. The overall feel is, i think, veering slightly more towards the rock end of the spectrum, but nothing wrong in that...

As Al pointed out after the first song, a lovely irony that a trio of guys without hair on the head started back with a piece called (i think) "bring me back my wig"

We heard a selection of Bo'Weevil staples and a number of songs new to the set, but each one maintained the same foot stomping feel.

Al debuted his brand new 1950's valve amp for use with the harp... it looked and sounded wonderful!!

From the first note to the last the band rocked... and rocked hard... and amazingly they manage to up the heat as the set develops ending as always with Nick's vocal outing on "Who do you Love"

Wonderful afternoon provided by a damn fine band... looking forward to the next one, whenever that is, already.

This is exciting rocking blues/delta music served up with passion, high energy and musical excellence...

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Brave Rival/Greg Brice

BRAVE RIVEL/GREG BRICE

Musician Pub 22nd September 2023

This was an absolutley wonderful night at The Musician Pub.

Opening the proceeding was Greg Brice. In the couple of years during which i have seen Greg he has developed from a great guitar player and singer into a really great artist. He plays old time blues with an authenticity beyond his years as well as his own songs in the same style and some fine covers.

The covers this time were Paul Simons "Still Crazy" which with Gregs bluesy styling was superb, as well as a version of "Hallelujah i love her so" which he said he had nicked from someone else, but he made it his own

No two ways about it... Greg is a brilliant accomplished and confident performer... brilliant guitar player and fine singer... this guy is terrific!!! Gregs set was worth the visit on it's own!

Then on to the main event... the awesome Brave Rival... to edit an old phrase... they came, we saw, they conquered...

As the interval ended the music being played was cranked up to 5 times the volume and after a few seconds Donna (Drums) Billy (Bass) and Ed (guitar) came on and settled into their work to great cheers... then singers Lindsey & Chloe came on to join them to even greater applause... the warmth and energy of the band ensured instant rapport with the audience.

They immediately signalled their intent with a loud proud and wonderful slice of powerful rock'n'roll. They carried on playing material from both the forthconing second album as well as the brilliant debut album, "Lifes Machine". The whole set was a highlight.. but there were ultra-highlights along the way... first up being a simply magnificent guitar solo where Ed was front and centre stage and the band stepped back while he mesmerised the audience with his playing.

Midway through the set came the acoustic "church sessions" set... three songs played in an acoustic setting with Ed playing acoustic guitar... and the singers delivering the lyrics with style, and emotion bringing out the qulity of the lyrics. Highlight of this set was (nd i suspect always will be) their version of Paul Simon's "Sounds of Silence". A song that always affects me which haad extra poignancy as Lindsey spoke of both Matt Long and Chlioe's sister battling cancer (ref the line "Silence like a cancer grows")... but this performance of the song was simply beautiful... beautifully sung.. highly emotional and stunning... you had to be moved by it...

Not only are this band brilliant musicians and singers they are one of the most exciting dynamic rock bands i've ever seen.. but beyond that, the rapport between the band members themselves and with the audience, and the fact that they are all clearly absolutely loving what they are doing and having a real craic on stage is a real joy.

This band is dynamite... absolutely wonderful... it cant get much better!!

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Shantell Ogden

SHANTELL OGDEN

Musician Pub: 21st September 2023

Those of us lucky enough to have been in The Musician Pub last night were treated to a riveting beautiful evening of Music.

Shantell Ogden, from Nashville, played her first show at the venue and totally captivated the audience with her warm personality, beautiful voice and great songs

From the opening note Shantel's warmth of personality shone through. Her voice was at all times clear, strong and emotive and perfect diction made it so easy to get deeply into the songs... her songs and stories were at all times of the highest quality and kept me entranced throughout.

At the interval ,at the Merch table, Shantel asked which song had particularly struck me... there is no real answer, they all did.

This was a wonderful evening... it is always lovely to see a performer smiling and clearly enjoying playing, it connects with the audience and creates a really lovely atmosphere...

One of the very best gigs of the year... loved it...

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