Loading

Maverick Festival

Venue: Easton Farm Park
Town: Suffolk
Date: 30th June
Words & Pictures:David Hughes
http://threechordsandthetruthuk.blogspot.co.uk/

Hatful of Rain
Maverick is not just a vehicle for travelling American and Canadian musicians to highlight their talent; it is also very serious about promoting a select band of UK acts that provide a British slant to this type of music. The four piece band Hatful of Rain specialise in old time music with a blend of British folk and Appalachian bluegrass and having recently discovered their debut album, catching the band's afternoon set was earmarked as a priority once the schedule was announced. In true old time style the band delivered a storming mix of self-penned and traditional tunes with the shared vocal duties of Chloe Overton and Phil Jones perfectly complementing the delightful sounds emanating from their array of string-based acoustic instruments. Most of the songs came from the recently released debut album 'Way Up On The Hill' with Chloe's vocals featuring prominently on the emotive title track and Phil stepping to the fore to deliver the infectious upbeat reflective number 'Rockin' Chair Daddy'. The combination of cleverly constructed songs and toe-tapping fiddle tunes saw Hatful of Rain meet the high expectations derived from their new recording and they should really aim to take these songs around the country to a greater audience. You never know, we might get the chance to hear their version of Gillian Welch's 'Caleb Meyer', a song beaten by time on this appearance.

During this very busy day, two established artists were only afforded partial set visits but this is by no means a slur on their performances just the constraints of fitting 24 hours of music into 12 hours. Jason Ringenberg was one of the pioneers of alt-country in the mid 80's and on this solo UK visit he likes to mix rock 'n roll stories, Hank Williams' covers and taking audience requests for old Scorchers numbers, a band he is bringing back to this country in October. Similarly to Ringenberg, Michael Weston King has been making good quality music for many years and is currently receiving well deserved recognition for his My Darling Clementine project where along with his wife, Lou Dalgleish, he celebrates the iconic days of some of country music's great male-female duets. This full band show entertained those present and is something to try and catch during its numerous performances up and down the country.

The final two acts performing on the outdoor stage, which closes prematurely at 6-30, were watched in their entirety. First up was four piece Canadian band, Ladies of the Canyon, who were virtually parachuted into this country from a European tour and used this flying UK visit to test the market. The four female members delivered their brand of easy listening light country rock via a couple of acoustic guitars, double bass and tambourine creating a sound that captures the mood of the origins of their name, the iconic Joni Mitchell album and its connotation of 70's California. Apart from the explicit revenge song 'Billy Blasko', the most memorable moment from the band's set was their version of the Robbie Robertson song, 'The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down', covered by amongst others, The Band and Joan Baez.

Eve Selis
In contrast to the Ladies of the Canyon, the eagerly awaited re-appearance of Eve Selis accompanied on this tour by her six-piece band brought the afternoon to a fitting climax with a vibrant set of country fuelled roadhouse blues rock. Flanked by two expert guitarists in Cactus Jim and Marc Twang, Maverick and UK regular Eve uses her effervescent charisma to deliver a strong hour-long set of tracks from her new album 'Family Tree' sprinkled with some old favourites and a familiar cover with added relevance. 'Folsom Prison Blues' is hardly the most original Cash song to play but when Cactus Jim, with four years experience of touring with the Man in Black, takes control you can hardly fail to be impressed. Marc Twang, Eve's long time and usual musical partner, was not to be outdone with some skilful slide guitar work on 'Water Off a Duck's Back' from the new album which is probably their finest work to date. You could almost sense a guitar duel taking place of which the enthralled crowd were not going to complain, although there was time for accordion player Sharon White to add value to the old favourite ghost tale 'The Ballad of Kate Morgan'. This performance, ultimately the highlight of the day, was a taste of what we are likely to expect as the band proceed through their two-week UK tour.

Carrie Rodriguez and Luke Jacobs
As the evening activity moved to the delightfully titled Peacock Café, with its beautifully designed artist backdrop, there was time for one more visit to the Barn to catch the performance from the fiddle playing singer-songwriter Texan Carrie Rodriguez who is currently working alongside guitarist Luke Jacobs. This young lady has to be one of the most talented musicians on the Americana circuit and she did not disappoint those present with a combination of new and old songs that has seen her skills harnessed by some of the industry's respected figures such as Chip Taylor and Mary Gauthier. From her 'Seven Angels on a Bicycle' album she played the title track, 'I Don't Want To Play House Anymore', '50's French Movie' and 'Got Your Name On It', while from her new album due to be released later this year, 'Lake Harriet' came over as a really strong track. Excuse the pun but while playing' second fiddle' to Carrie, Luke Jacobs supported her well with both acoustic and lap steel guitar. The new album is definitely one to look forward to as well as Carrie's continued commitment to promote her music in the UK.

More