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Boo Hewerdine

Venue: Hedingham Castle
Town: Hedingham
Date: 17th July
Website: http://www.boohewerdine.net

Wednesday 17th July was my first visit to Hedingham Castle. The castle has the best preserved Norman keep in the country but more importantly on a hot July evening the keep was able to deter the record high temperatures with its 11ft walls. This was one of a series of candlelit concerts in the medieval hall of the keep; fully licensed, serving snacks and with an abundance of atmosphere which can only exist in a building some eight hundred and seventy three years old.

I had spent the day delivering workshops at a sixth form college in Essex about musicianship skills. One thing I believe to be vital working as a full timer is flexibility. For many reasons I wish Boo had been at my workshop, not least because it would have been interesting to hear his opinion on where one genre starts and one ends.

Boo personifies flexibility. He has worked with folk musician John McCusker (another genre-bending musician who has worked with musicians as diverse as Steve Earle, Paul Weller and Teenage Fanclub), Eddi Reader (with whom he has toured over twenty years) and on his latest release he has worked with American folk blues guitarist and songwriter Brooks Williams. No doubt these collaborations have enhanced the range of Hewerdine's musical inspiration.

The theme that bound the night's performance was Boo's songwriting and his commitment to telling the story within each song. There was an impressive variety within his set from the sensitive guitar arrangement of 'Blaze of Glory' to the fingerpicking 'Bell Book and Candle' and the up tempo '59 Yards'. It seemed that the music provided the framework for the lyrics and the genre employed to best illustrate each story.

Alongside this masterclass in the art of songwriting Boo drew from his doubtlessly large collection of anecdotes. Introducing his rendition of 'I Started a Joke' Boo told us it was written by a fifteen year old Robin Gibb, a song he first heard through a 'tranny' under his pillow as a child. From appearing on the chatshow Wogan in oversized trousers, his ignorance about the meaning of 'Chasing the Dragon' and his excitement at learning his song 'Bell Book and Candle' was to be used in a death scene on Emmerdale, dry sarcastic wit littered Hewerdine's set. Boo's unique style of audience engagement denied the formality of the setting; one example being Hewerdine's invitation to a willing member of the crowd to judge a non-existent dance competition using criteria she had plucked from obscurity.

I took away from this performance a new definition of musical flexibility -namely to be free of the idea of genre and to focus on the story behind the music. What an incredible setting and in fantastic company to be reminded of this valuable lesson.

Louise Jordan