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| image by Nashville Sounds In The Round |
Songwriters Rounds, or “in
the rounds” (sometimes called “guitar pulls) are becoming increasingly
prevalent in the UK Country scene. A little
different from a standard gig they allow more artists to perform on one stage
at the same time. If you haven’t been to
a round, the basic idea is to have a few artists on stage singing songs in
turn, but telling the story behind each song as they go along. There are always popular rounds at Buckle and Boots festival, and this year you will have the opportunity to see several!
Away from the festivals there are a few regular songwriters rounds, notably the Birmingham based Nashville Sounds in the Round hosted by Gasoline and Matches and the London based The Round Up with Two Ways Home. This year Lewis and Izzy of Two Ways Home decided to take the Round Up on the road as a UK tour, taking in three countries, 11 shows and around 35 guest artists. Their penultimate show was in Birmingham – so as the two shows share the same DNA it seemed like a great idea to combine the two for one morning only into Nashville Sounds in The Round-Up!
Hosted by Gasoline and
Matches’ Sally and Steve but curated by Two Ways Home the show added two guests
to the line up – Welsh based The Goudies and London brothers The Blue Highways. A round is always a great opportunity
to see new artists, on this occasion for us at least that was the Goudies
having met The Blue Highways for the first time in 2019 - and interviewed them
With four different artists
on stage you will often get a real mix of styles as each choose their own
playlist, sometimes in advance, sometimes reacting to the previous song. The first round opened with Smiling Viper
from our hosts which was a wake up call for a Saturday morning, the Goudies
countered with a soft er country song Where We Belong allowing Two Ways Home to
bridge the styles with their song Waiting On Luck. The Blue Highways was a solo performance for
the first half with Callum on his own singing “Don’t Leave Me Alone” from their
recently released album.
The rounds are as much about
the stories as the music, and we were told the story of Maggie, who has a
Grandmother was obviously a big part of the Goudie’s life, leading to the
beautiful Maggies Prayer, a tribute to her memory. Trained pianist Callum obviously couldn’t resist
the magnificent Steinway Grand piano which he used for his own tribute – to a
Harrow music venue where the band played the first gig. Teardrops In The Storm was possibly the standout
performance of the morning, and perhaps the North West London influences helped
the very Elton John vibe.
The Steinway opened the second
half, with Callum now joined by brother Theo, as all the participants played us
new songs, old songs, songs available at the merch table, songs never played in
public, songs played at family weddings and even a song added to a birthing
playlist!
How do you end a show with
so much talent all together? With a group
song of course – all combining (with the audience too) for a rendition of Sweet
Home Alabama, rounding off a superb collaboration and a fine start to a
Saturday in Birmingham!
Nashville Sounds In The
Round have two very special shows coming up – the May show will actually be on the
Paddock Stage at Buckle and Boots Country Festival, while the June show back in
Birmingham will be a Buckle and Boots Takeover!
Tickets for June can be found at B:Music
The Round Up will also be
festival bound, taking their round to The Long Road Festival in August!
Silverball Country attended Nashville Sounds in the Round - Up as guests of Gasoline and Matches and B:Music
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