Tag Archives: country

Vic Allen, Voodoo Daddy’s Show Room, Norwich, 2 November 2025

Beth Keeping was first on stage at this atmospheric underground venue. Her songs are full of story and imagination, from her ambivalent feelings for the city of ‘new york’, the rush of ‘Plane Tickets’ and the poignant family memory of ‘known you better’. An accomplished guitarist and keyboard player, she was later to reappear on stage with Vic.

Vic Allen also threads confessional lyrics through her country-pop songs, to great effect in the classy opener ‘Enough’. Following on with the evocative ‘Mexico’ and ‘Barcelona’ and the melodic ballad ‘Confetti’ showcases her range of original compositions. She is a good communicator, explaining the stories behind the songs. A cover of ‘Dakota’ by Stereophonics and a sensitive version of Beth’s ‘Two Seats Down’ fitted neatly into the set. Many of the tracks feature on Vic’s album ‘Some Place I’d Rather Be‘, including the autobiographical ‘Suitcase’ and the pounding country-rock of ‘Drive-Thru’ bringing the set to a spectacular close.

https://www.vicallenmusic.com/

https://www.bethkeeping.com/

Morganway, Hare & Hounds, Birmingham, 10 April 2025

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The Hare and Hounds has featured many, many acts over the years and with the characterful interior and musical history it is a venue of choice for performers wanting fine acoustics and immediate atmosphere.

First on stage was Savannah Gardner, showcasing her striking country voice, adept guitar playing and cleverly structured songs, many drawn from recent album ‘Recovering Good Girl’. With her confident stage presence and warm personality she was a strong opener for the show.

Halfway through an extensive tour Morganway were ready to raise the roof; as first song ‘Hurricane’ nearly did. The band have many strengths, able to create a full country rock sound driven by guitar and violin or down in the audience sharing the campfire singalong of ‘Halfway Tonight’. Through it all the power vocals of SJ Mortimer and the band harmonies take the songs to another level. An outstanding song tonight was the storming ‘Devil’s Canyon’, a relentless dark groove from their new album ‘Kill The Silence’. Full of sparkling highlights, this was a brilliant set.

https://www.morganway.co.uk/

https://savannahgardner.com/home

Megan Moroney, Junction J1, Cambridge, 12 September 2024

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Weston Loney kicked off the show in a packed Cambridge Junction; he was full of zest and energy raised to the highest level, especially for ‘Cappuccino’ and the anthemic ‘Red Diesel’. Radiating warmth and confidence, he set up the audience nicely for what was to come.

The Cambridge music scene does not feature many country-pop stars so we were fortunate to welcome a performer of the calibre of fast-rising phenomenon Megan Moroney to the friendly-sized J1 venue as part of her European tour. The opening salvo of ‘Lucky’ showed that the guitar driven four-piece band meant business, but it was second track ‘I’m Not Pretty’ and the melancholy beauty of ‘No Caller ID’ which really carry the lyrical elegance of Megan’s songwriting and vocal delivery.

‘Man on the Moon’ and ‘Miss Universe’ were good-time rockers, ‘Hope You’re Happy’ and ’28th of June’ are fine melodic ballads and ‘Indifferent’ is a glorious stealthy verse and power chorus. Throughout Megan involved the audience by putting the songs in context, particularly for the poignant ‘Girl in the Mirror’.

With Megan’s strong and fun stage presence, sparkly guitar playing and songs of the strength of her award-winning ‘Tennessee Orange’ and finale ‘Am I Okay?’ it was a fantastic show.

https://www.meganmoroney.com/

https://www.instagram.com/westonloney/

Esther Rose, Prince Albert, Brighton, 8 September 2024

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Woody Green opened the show with his experimental, ethereal folk, blending thoughtful lyrics with gentle, empathetic guitar instrumentation from the two musicians on the stage of this intimate venue.

Esther Rose has stories to tell and many melodic songs including a fine medley from her 2017 album ‘This Time Last Night’. She holds the audience with her compact country-folk tales and adds variety with classy duets with guests Dylan Earl and Jude Brothers.

https://www.estherrose.net/

https://www.facebook.com/WoodyGreenMusic/

Two Ways Home, Tall Trees, Cambridge, 7 May 2024

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Tall Trees is a welcoming former pub and now a plant-decorated music and food venue on the edge of Cambridge city centre. Opening performer Georgia Nevada played a short set of her own heartfelt compositions and a cover of ‘Small Town Hypocrite’, with her strong voice accompanied by acoustic guitar.

Two Ways Home is duo Isabella and Lewis Folkner, tonight augmented by drums and versatile second guitar to add extra depth to their country-based sound. Like Georgia, they have a warm and engaging stage presence. A real strength of the band is their song variety; from the wide open spaces of single ‘Medicine Man’ and ‘Waiting on Luck’ to the country-rock of ‘Feet on the Asphalt’ (…watch the fun sock video too…). Then the quieter songs have a real emotional heft, using three-part harmonies to great effect on the folky ‘Push and Pull’ and especially the gorgeous ‘Don’t Give Up On Me Tonight’, performed to rapt attention from the audience.

‘Tattoo’ has neat lyrical ideas then the up-tempo pop of ‘Broken Hearts Club’ ends this excellent show, leaving behind many very impressed listeners.

https://www.twowayshome.com/

https://www.georgianevada.com/

Ward Thomas, Corn Exchange, Cambridge, 10 April 2023

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Charlie Worsham opened the show; soon connecting with the audience with his combination of guitar, mandolin and warm vocals. Tales of Nashville and his extensive musical journey (including a performance in Cambridge in his college days) introduced his thoughtful songs; highlights being ‘Young To See’ and ‘Old Time’s Sake’.

Ward Thomas have many excellent songs; their extensive set featured most of their new (fifth) album ‘Music In The Madness’, starting with the mid-tempo ‘All Over Again’ and they later included my favourite new ballad ‘If It All Ends Today’; a casually beautiful melody and sentiment delivered to perfection.

The album is mostly their confident country-pop but ‘Justice & Mercy’ is rich story- telling Americana, joined on mandolin by Charlie Worsham to augment the superb band. A cover of Razorlight’s ‘America’ fits in neatly and there was plenty of time for older classics, especially the heartbreak double of ‘Cartwheels’ and ‘Guilty Flowers’.

Catherine and Lizzy’s vocal harmonies combine with strength and subtlety, showcased especially on the quieter or slower songs like ‘One More Goodbye’ or the acoustic stillness of ‘Safe’.

An encore of the celebratory ‘Carry You Home’ followed by the gentle ‘Love Does’ was the perfect end to this excellent evening.

https://www.wardthomasmusic.com/

https://www.charlieworsham.com/

The Wandering Hearts, Norwich Arts Centre, 13 December 2022

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Opening this fine evening of folk and Americana music in this converted church venue was Lauren Housley, showcasing her soulful voice and song writing as featured on her album ‘Girl From The North’. With just acoustic guitar backing her performance had instant appeal for the near sell-out audience.

For this tour The Wandering Hearts have stripped back to the core trio and with two excellent albums already and many new songs due for release soon their set was rich in highlights. Blending their three harmonies for an introductory cover of ‘White Christmas’ and then into the subtle delights of early single ‘Burning Bridges’, the acoustics of this ancient building showed off the gorgeous sounds.

The three performers create a very full sound, with only guitar backing for many of the tracks, sometimes augmented by mandolin and piano. To contrast the gentleness of ‘Dolores’ and ‘Lullaby’ there were plenty of anthemic choruses like ‘Build a Fire’ and main set closer ‘Devil’. With a seasonal finale of Auld Lang Syne blended with the outstanding ‘Wish I Could’ it was a superb show, echoing long in the memory.

https://www.thewanderinghearts.com/

https://www.laurenhousley.com/

The Shires, Corn Exchange, Cambridge, 15 May 2022

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First on stage at this sold out show was Kezia Gill; with her strong vocals and witty lyrics she won the audience over playing her opening track ‘Country Song’, featured on her 2021 EP ( reviewed here). From the tender reminiscence of ‘Local Man’s Star’ to the partying ‘Whiskey Drinkin’ Woman’, Kezia was a shining opening act.

From the USA, Eric Paslay has an impressive CV of collaborations, hit songs and awards. Tonight his engaging performance of these carefully crafted tracks brought the listeners into his world of subtle disquiet and emotional celebration.

It has been a long delay before headliners The Shires arrived in Cambridge for this tour but tonight’s show made up for the wait. The duo were supported by a spot-on band for a set that alternated rockers (‘Lightning Strikes’), grand ballads (recent single ‘I See Stars’), and the emotional pull of very personal statements (not a dry eye in the house for ‘Daddy’s Little Girl’). Ben and Crissie are an instantly likeable pair, with the great strength that the two individual vocals can carry a song brilliantly but the combined harmonies of both voices are on another quite magical plane.

In a show of many highlights, by the time we reached the big finish of ‘A Thousand Hallelujahs’ the combined hands of the audience were definitely waving up to the heavens…

https://www.theshiresmusic.com/

https://www.ericpaslay.com/

https://keziagill.com/

Ward Thomas : Epic Studios, Norwich, 8 November 2021

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A much-anticipated show at this fine all-purpose venue, opening tonight with the passionate performance and emotionally powerful ballads of Dan Owen. First track ‘Icarus’ immediately pulled the audience in and with his warm anecdotes and a barnstorming blues rendition of ‘Little Red Rooster’ he set the positive tone for the evening.

After many years of performing and a long career break, County Affair are a four-piece having a second life promoting an Abbey Road recorded album of a new batch of Americana songs. The tracks deal with eternal country music themes, joined with a likeable background of accordion, keys, guitar and percussion.

Ward Thomas started with the low-key duet ‘Dear Me’ and as soon as they segued into the descending vocal harmonies in the chorus of ‘No Fooling Me’ and the bitter-sweetness of ‘Cartwheels’ we knew that the emotional and musical magic was all in place. With varying amounts of input from their empathetic band this was a fantastic set, balanced between the pop oriented songs of 2019’s ‘Restless Minds’ album and the big country ballads such as ‘Guilty Flowers’ and the stomping ‘I Believe In You’ as well as the heart-tearing ‘Someday’ and ‘One More Goodbye’. With final encore ‘Safe’ performed as just a duo the show had gone full circle as the harmonies gently floated in the air.

https://www.wardthomasmusic.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/thecountyaffair/

https://www.facebook.com/danowenmusic

Katy Hurt : Face to Face, single released 27 August 2021

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A gorgeous new single from Katy Hurt; a country waltz full of wistful regret that is another example of her strong songwriting talent.

Starting with a gentle free-form guitar introduction the band ease into the mix with a shuffling, easy rhythm that creates instant atmosphere. Instrumentally this is judged perfectly but the glorious vocal performance from Katy is the show-stopper. As the feelings and tension are only just restrained the listener is pulled into her world of possible heartbreak, ‘…..I’m searching for the rhyme or reason for what’s going on…we’re supposed to be closer than ever before….but somehow we’re further away…’.

It is a track that is at the opposite end of the spectrum to many of Katy’s previous rockier releases such as the pop energy of ‘See Ya Later’ and the road trip narration of ‘Revved Up’. The new track ‘Face to Face’ has parallels with the pensive poetry of her excellent 2019 ballad ‘Unfinished Business’, ‘….there’s a book on a nightstand I’m ten pages in and the spine has already been broken….’, a song full of raw emotional imagery resolving into the melodic grace of the chorus.

https://www.katyhurt.com/