Camericana

If John Prine was the prime reason for going to Cambridge this year than Nanci Griffith was a very close second. I find them inextricably linked ever since Griffith covered Prine's 'Speed of the Sound of Loneliness' for her 'Other Voices : Other Rooms'. Prine didn't play the song on Friday but Griffith made this good on Saturday by opening her set with it before going into 'Flyer' "This song is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth" she proclaimed: I had forgotten just how good it was. 'Bethlehem Steel' was the first track to be played from her latest album 'Intersections' and was classic piece of Griffith storytelling both in the song itself and it's introduction which included a time check of exactly when you could see Robert De Niro running naked through the factory for the filming of 'The Deerhunter' (except it was filmed at their rivals U.S. Steel's plant). Griffith has never been afraid to use the songs of others on her albums and 'Intersections' has several. The Blaze Foley track 'If I Could Only Fly' was dedicated to the memory of Susanna Clark and the wife of long time Blue Moon Orchestra percussionist Pat McInerney. The set ends with her Loretta Lynn tribute 'Listen to the Radio', 'Hell No, I'm Not Alright' featuring a pair of traditional looking bikers called 'the Clap Brothers' who ensured that we all clapped at the right time and finally the Stones' 'No Expectations' where the brothers' services were retained (perhaps they thought they were doing security). It was a perfectly judged and balanced set - quite why she played so early on Saturday I do not know.

Sunday was a thin day for Americana. Ruthie Foster didn't hit me as I'd hoped and her high volume blues was a little to straight forward for my liking. The thunderstorm that hit the festival at ten to three scuppered my afternoon's plans and I decided against braving the elements (which by this time had been upgraded from rain to hailstones) to see Anais Mitchell. I only broke cover once the sun was out but with the water table so high due to the volume of rain over the previous months the site had many large, deep puddles including one in front of the bar of the club tent. Lera Lynn was to play the club tent at the same time Nic Jones was playing stage 2 and this represented the only clash over the weekend for me. I chose Lynn because her debut album 'Have You Heard of Lera Lynn' impressed me so much and was disappointed that she only got the one outing over the weekend. The club tent was hit harder than anywhere on the festival site. As well as the small pond that had formed in front of the bar the sides had been pulled down and most of the crowd had decided that once in the dry they were staying there. I had to watch the show from outside the tent at the back where her sound was in competition with Loreena Mckennitt's wailing from stage 1 and the smell was truly foul. I hung out for three tracks before going to see the last third of Nic Jones' set. Three songs was long enough to know that the next album she releases I'm buying it and long enough to know that the next time that she is this side of the pond I'll be first in line for a ticket.

This year's Camericana was particularly strong with top acts on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and an impressive supporting cast on those days as well. The scheduling meant that I was able to see all the genre's acts and it was only the torrential rain and my unwillingness to get drenched that stopped me from seeing everyone I wanted. Here's hoping 2013 will be as impressive as 2012.

John 'The Jacket' Hawes
pics:Neil King