‘VARIOUS ARTISTS’ – VARIOUS VENUES, HACKNEY, LONDON 23-26.1.23
I have just returned from a large four-day family wedding in Hackney, oh sorry, scratch that! I have just returned from the tenth annual AMAUK (Americana Music Association UK) celebration of Americana music, but it was a family event, albeit a music family event, full of familiar faces, old friends and new, all sharing their love of the genre.
So, how did this January festival work…….
Starting with a party to kick it all off on Monday 23rd January, the showcase festival itself took place over two evenings, Tuesday 24th and Wednesday 25th, in six local Hackney venues (Moth Club, Night Tales, Oslo, Hackney Church Brew Co., Paper Dress Vintage, and Hackney Social) and featured 75 acts from across the world, each playing half hour sets.
A conference was held concurrently over three days for artists, sponsors and interested members of the music industry, this was held at the Hackney Picturehouse.
The whole event culminated in an awards evening held at the Hackney Empire on Thursday (26th January) evening, with many award winners playing live during the evening and awards presented by celebrities. The ‘matriarch’ or queen of this family and the AMAUK itself is Stevie Smith, a tireless industry professional who was responsible for bringing the whole festival together with her team of helpers. Smith came up trumps again and all attendees enjoyed the exciting music on offer. The only ‘problem’ remained in deciding which acts to attend, not a bad problem to have, but one which necessitated the exclusion of some great acts and much nipping between venues in time to catch the next on the list.
The first night party at Night Tales really kicked off the whole week and featured many of Bob Harris’s previous emerging artists: Robert Vincent, The Wandering Hearts, Robbie Cavanagh, Lauren Housley and Demi Marriner plus Early James and The Northern Cowboys. A fabulous party atmosphere and great music, of course, and all acts returned to the stage to bring the evening to a close; their rendition of ’The Weight’ gave the impression we were in a remake of ‘The Last Waltz’.
So with our appetites well and truly whetted, Tuesday 24th brought the first evening of this year’s festival showcases and my six gig choices from the 36 on offer, were Our Man In The Field, Native Harrow, Eddy Smith & The 507, Noble Jacks/Danny George Wilson, Brennen Leigh and Forty Elephant Gang.
They were all fabulous, but my two highlights of the evening were Brennen Leigh and Eddy Smith & The 507.
Brennen Leigh, Nashville resident and newly arrived from the States, fresh from a tour with Ray Benson and Asleep At The Wheel, is a country/western swing singer with great songs (recorded by Rodney Crowell, Lee Ann Womack & Charley Crockett to name but a few) and pure, strong vocals absolutely perfect for her subject matter. I loved ‘If Tommy Duncan’s Voice Was Booze’ with its witty lyrics, it was a perfect example of western swing. We craved more than this half hour set allowed, some artists shine so bright that they inadvertently put others in the shade, Leigh is one of those.
The other highlight for me was Eddy Smith & The 507, a completely different branch of Americana, bluesy soul centred around Smith’s signature gravelly voice. I had no expectations of this relatively new band with a name that for some reason made me expect a rockabilly band, but their retro-influenced, rocky and soulful brand of blues was more reminiscent of The Teskey Brothers and Nathaniel Rateliff than rockabilly. Smith’s band look as if they have been playing together for many years, all excellent musicians, playing four guitars with an organ, keyboards and drums, an interesting line-up which gave them multi layers of sound complimented by some nice guitar breaks. Brilliant live, ‘Lovesick’ and ‘Middle Of Nowhere’ stood out for me, but all their songs were well crafted and hit the spot. I have a feeling their new album, due out in late September, will be a great launch pad for them. I was extremely impressed.
The second day was just as exciting and after a good lie-in and some tasty food locally, by the evening I was ready for another 6 gigs of 36: Jess Guise, Caleb Caudle, Simeon Hammond Dallas (2nd half), Hannah White, The Wandering Hearts, William Prince and Malin Pattersen.
Again, there was such a mouth watering range to choose from and every artist I saw were great, no duds, as if there would be! These acts were the cream of the crop. My top pick from the night was William Prince. A large stage presence both physically and personality wise, Prince held his audience captive from the word go, calmly waiting until conversation died down before starting his short acoustic set. Matching his beautiful song ‘Breathless’ we listened in awe to his smooth deep voice and heartfelt lyrics, all of us breathless for more. Prince’s passionate renditions resulted in more than one eye being dried as each song ended and the singer himself showed signs of emotion during several numbers. It was a magical night at the Moth Club , other great songs included ‘The Spark’ and ‘The Gun’. The Moth Club is a venue I have yet to see a bad act in… it must reflect the high quality of Canadian musicians who usually take residency there for this week. I wish William Prince all the very best for the future and was able to congratulate him in person on his recent engagement when attending the after show party to the awards the following night. He has new music being released at the beginning of February, something for us to look forward to and mark in our calendar.
The awards evening at Hackney Empire was excellently hosted by Baylen Leonard, adding wit to the gravitas of the occasion with Bob Harris’s assistance. Leonard emerged from the wings at one point to everyone’s delight with a t-shirt printed with “BOB” on one side and “I’ve turned my nob to Bob” on the back, apparently referring to an American DJ and purchased in the States.
Elles Bailey won two awards, ‘UK Artist of the Year’ and ‘UK Live Act of the Year’; Allison Russell won ‘International Artist’; Robert Plant & Alison Krauss won best ‘International Album’ with ‘Raise The Roof’. Robert Plant, after giving a few words of thanks, performed the song with the night’s excellent all-girl house band (which featured Michele Stodart and Holly Carter.) The ‘Lifetime Achievement’ award went to Mike Scott of The Waterboys. The ‘International Lifetime Achievement’ award went to a very spry Judy Collins whose voice was still outstanding at 84 as she sang ‘Amazing Grace’ with all award winners on stage to round off a glorious night and festival.
The Awards night was bittersweet, fabulous talent on display and lovely to witness new acts being recognised and coming to the fore, but we all knew that the week was drawing to a close and that all these brilliant performances would soon be part of a happy memory to be treasured until the next family get together in January 2024. Not wanting it to end, many of us partied until the early hours at Oslo.
Lastly, a special mention for Jim Walker and his team should be made, whose expertise and hard work resulted in great sound and stage set ups throughout the venues.
Further information can be found at theamauk.org.
