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Nels Andrews and Jonathan Goldberger

Venue: Grateful Fred's Cafe Session -Cafe D'Art
Town: Formby
Date: 2/6/14
Website: http://www.nelsandrews.com

Tonight's Grateful Fred's Cafe Session at the Cafe D'Art in Formby featured the return to Grateful Fred's of that superb Californian singer-songwriter Nels Andrews, on the last night of his UK tour, plus some surprise special guests in the shape of Minnesotan troubadour Charlie Roth who was accompanied by none other than Mike Harding on mandolin, which was a real turn up for the books, as they say.

Charlie is a seasoned performer who combines American roots music[country, folk, blues] with Celtic music. He is also a great storyteller and performs in a warm, honest and engaging manner. He began his set with what is perhaps his best-known song, "Broken Ground", which describes the decline in the rural economy in Minnesota where "there used to be a railroad, it don't run any more". Despite its straightened circumstances, Charlie clearly loves his home as he will "always be that boy from the tiny town".

Charlie's latest album is "Cactus Tartan Heart" and from it he sang "Baltic Avenue" about hard times living on a street which is one of the addresses in the American version of Monopoly. I understand that "Baltic Avenue" is the equivalent of Whitechapel, rather than Mayfair!

A sprightly Mike Harding joined Charlie on nifty mandolin for several numbers, adding melody and colour to Charlie's Townes Van Zandt-inspired ghost story "Hobo Bill's Last Ride", followed by a sea shanty and a new song called "Arms of a Gypsy Woman". It was great to see Mike on stage again. I cheekily reminded him afterwards that I had first seen him play live when he played a charity concert at my school, a mere forty two years ago!

Charlie closed his set with "Grandpa's Little Girl", a tender ballad which looks at the world through the eyes of a child.

It was a most impressive set by Charlie, so much so that the Cafe management invited him back for a return gig!

What can I say about Nels Andrews? Well, I have already said quite a lot, as I reviewed his superb album "Scrimshaw" in these pages, for which I also did a write up of his previous visit to Grateful Fred's in Formby last year. Suffice it to say that he is one of my favourite [and in my humble opinion, one of the very best] American singer-songwriters. "Scrimshaw" is a wonderful album and if you have not heard it, you should remedy that situation forthwith.

Tonight we had [another] added bonus, as Nels was accompanied on shimmering, atmospheric electric guitar by Johnathan Goldberger, who also played on the album "Scrimshaw".

Naturally, the majority of Nels' set comprised tracks from "Scrimshaw" and it was great to hear now-familiar tracks such as "Starboard", "Tridents", "Small Victories", "Three Hermits", "Barroom Bards" "Houdini" and the lovely "Wisteria" all played live, especially with the addition of Jonathan's floating, almost-psychedelic guitar work, accompanying Nels' acoustic guitar and rich vocals, which, to me, are reminiscent of those of Jackson Browne. Nels also visited his earlier albums "Sunday Shoes" [for the epic "Jesse's Mom"] and "Off Track Betting" for the delicate, filigree "Butterfly Wings"and "Temple Incense"[about finding peace in the city].

It was a stunning performance by Nels and Jonathan which more than lived up to my expectations [which were high in the first place].

On a sadder note, I would like to dedicate this review to an absent friend of all Fredheads [ie. those who attend Grateful Fred's ], Glynne Callaghan, who sadly passed away recently at much too early an age. Glynne was a staunch and loyal supporter [and performer] of live music in the Southport /Liverpool area and he will be greatly missed.

Peter Cowley