30th July. The Borderline. Angaleena Presley. After a series of rock and blues gig recently it’s good to be back at the iconic Borderline, albeit that they have covered up the logo on the wall behind the stage. Tonight is straight shootin country from Kentucky’s own Angaleena Presley.
There’s a good crowd waiting expectantly for Ms Presley who is over here for her first ever London dates to support her debut solo album American Middle Class. She is joined by a four piece scratch band tonight date supplementing the other largely solo acoustic dates. With no fuss or frills she takes to the stage and they launch straight into the set.
The crowd are enthusiastic and are hooked from note one. It’s a good mixture of oldies, newbies, Pistol Annie’s songs, covers and some that have yet to see the light of day on record. The songs are all intertwined with self-deprecating stories of her life and indeed the new album is largely autobiographical in origin.
There’s an amusing story about her son singing one of her songs in the playground and with trepidation she asks which one, the response is ‘Knocked Up’ which is about life with her first husband and how the little boy came to be.
The band are dismissed for a ‘pee break’ and the shows continues in a hushed intimacy with just Angaleena and her guitar stamped with ‘Holler’ on the fret board. She seems genuinely delighted to be here in what is probably a venue the fraction of the size she is used to play in. The crowd are appreciative, laugh in the right places and sing along to a lot of the tunes.
As well as a great voice the thing that sets Angaleena apart from the conveyor belt of female country singers are the songs. They are largely story based focusing on real life and not some schmaltzy showbiz vacuum.
The band is back and we finish with ‘Lemon Drop’ and its over in what doesn't feel like the ninety minutes it was. I won’t be alone in welcoming her back across the pond real soon. Bless her heart.
There’s a good crowd waiting expectantly for Ms Presley who is over here for her first ever London dates to support her debut solo album American Middle Class. She is joined by a four piece scratch band tonight date supplementing the other largely solo acoustic dates. With no fuss or frills she takes to the stage and they launch straight into the set.
The crowd are enthusiastic and are hooked from note one. It’s a good mixture of oldies, newbies, Pistol Annie’s songs, covers and some that have yet to see the light of day on record. The songs are all intertwined with self-deprecating stories of her life and indeed the new album is largely autobiographical in origin.
There’s an amusing story about her son singing one of her songs in the playground and with trepidation she asks which one, the response is ‘Knocked Up’ which is about life with her first husband and how the little boy came to be.
The band are dismissed for a ‘pee break’ and the shows continues in a hushed intimacy with just Angaleena and her guitar stamped with ‘Holler’ on the fret board. She seems genuinely delighted to be here in what is probably a venue the fraction of the size she is used to play in. The crowd are appreciative, laugh in the right places and sing along to a lot of the tunes.
As well as a great voice the thing that sets Angaleena apart from the conveyor belt of female country singers are the songs. They are largely story based focusing on real life and not some schmaltzy showbiz vacuum.
The band is back and we finish with ‘Lemon Drop’ and its over in what doesn't feel like the ninety minutes it was. I won’t be alone in welcoming her back across the pond real soon. Bless her heart.
