Support tonight is from the excellent Tift Merritt who I have not seen live for too long. Despite breaking a string on one of her three guitars she delivers a lesson in female country song writing. For those who don’t know her check out ‘Bramble Rose’ a classic and the new album ‘Stitch of the World’ is really good too.
Next up Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, his long standing backing band. They are one of the best bands around and complement Isbell perfectly. Special mention to Sadler Vaden on guitar and backing vocals. He has an understated style but his slide guitar is amazing. He has also produced a couple of great solo records himself. (Hey Jason why not give him the support slot on the next tour).
Over here touring the new excellent album ‘The Nashville Sound’ which is a return to form over in my opinion the patchy ‘Something more than free’. We are treated to most of the album which has some of his best work to date including ‘White man’s world’ and ‘If we were Vampires’ which is not only one of the best songs he has ever written but certainly my favourite song of the year by any artist. I defy anyone who is in a relationship to listen to this without a tear in your eye. Truly moving stuff.
He hop skips and jumps through his song writing back catalogue which only highlights his maturity as a songwriter not afraid to take on contemporary issues. Sound wise I am never truly convinced with the Roundhouse as venue and have yet to find the sweet spot to watch and listen in this iconic venue. But this did not detract from the performance.
Highlights for me included the hard rockin ‘Never gonna change’ and the mellow groove of ‘Travelling Alone’ to the final encore of Tom Petty’s ‘American Girl’
Till the next time, keep on rockin y’all