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Vera Van HeeringenVera Van Heeringen
Album: Proper Brew
Label: Wood & Steel
Tracks: 11
Website: http://www.veravanheeringen.com

The background comes courtesy of Vera's mentor Tim O'Brien, from his liner note to her debut CD Standing Tall (which appeared three years ago on RootBeat Records): Vera was born in Holland, studied bluegrass guitar in Colorado, and now lives in north Wales; she's found to possess an enviable ability to "play anything with strings, write fine songs and sing them too", and has an impressive handle on the acoustic-roots-cum-bluegrass idiom… That's rich endorsement of Vera's talent indeed, for she convinces on all counts, as even a cursory listen to either Standing Tall or its classy followup will show. But you might well feel that she's been hiding her light under a bushel as far as public profile is concerned, since If her name rings a bell at all it may be from her five-year stint as a member of the New Rope String Band, all the while she's been in demand as a collaborator for various cajun and country musicians.

In the latter context, therefore, it can be counted as a further healthy endorsement that album number two is released on Dirk Powell's new label; having said that, Vera's retained the services of Andy Bell as joint producer, which makes perfect sense since he did such a marvellous job on her debut. Proper Brew consists entirely of Vera's own compositions (one of which, Wisdom, is a co-write with Neil McSweeney). And what quality! The best of these (Wildest Truth, Milk And Honey and the plaintive Cold Winter Evening) inhabit a delicate and intimate corner of the Americana kingdom where melancholy and heartbreak rule. In contrast, the breezy roadsong Riverside House finds Vera in authentic western-swing-shuffle mode.

It's impossible not to rate Vera's guitar playing pretty highly - its easy assurance, its touching grace and rhythmic elegance, might belie her virtuosity, which is of the restrained, less-is-more variety but nevertheless provide some memorably haunting embellishments that really complement her voice. But Vera also generously allows room for the occasional solo from her companions (for example, Dave Proctor turns in a neat mandolin solo on opener Believers and the simple yearning My Sweet Man). These include Dave Luke, Jock Tyldesley and Rayna Gellert, while other musicians involved include Dirk Powell himself (piano), Andy Seward (double bass), M.G. Boulter (pedal and lap steel and resonator guitars) and Ian Kelly and Sam Sweeney (drums). One other rather vital guest contribution comes from Kris Drever, who plays guitar on a couple of cuts (including the disc's lone instrumental, the title track) and sings harmony vocal on a further two. Tim O'Brien's harmony vocal on It's All Been Said just reinforces the classic status of that deliciously rollin' number.

Basically, contemporary Americana-roots-bluegrass-flavoured songwriting, and concomitant playing of an eminently tasty variety, don't come much better than this.

David Kidman