Gig Review - Matt Hodges - Actress and Bishop, Birmingham

 

Matt Hodges spends most of the year on the road, so it seems apt that his latest tour is called – “On The Road”

That road brought him to Birmingham last night where he played at The Actress and Bishop with special guests Gasoline and Matches.

Looking very comfortable on stage - as they always do – Sally and Steve of Gasoline and Matches admitted being slightly nervous of both the hometown crowd with many friends in the audience – and of the smoke machine as they seem to have a reputation for venues burning down!  The evening was also an unofficial continuation of Sally’s birthday celebrations from the night before in Manchester.  Although mostly ignoring doctor’s orders to rest her voice, Sally did have to relinquish vocal duties to Steve, notably on their track Smiling Viper, which did sound slightly different with Steve on lead.

Matt told us that he doesn’t like calling his opening act a “support act” – and Gasoline and Matches demonstrated this by giving a polished, powerful show, with Jamie Clayton on bass and James Randle on drums, filling the room with sound.

 

We’ve seen Matt Hodges play acoustic, in a songwriter’s round, with an orchestra and, finally, last night with his full band (Morgan Smith on Bass, Simon Hant on drums and Cole McNulty on lead guitar).  Matt has such a commanding presence and such a gruff, powerful voice it doesn’t seem to matter who is backing him – his vocal will take up the stage and the whole space, he can quite easily just stand and sing, capturing the audience.

 

Matt has been on quite a journey throughout his career in music, playing covers in Nashville, returning to songwriting after an 8 year break to now playing at independent festivals and being recognised with awards.  He is keen to include the audience on that journey and speaks fondly of the UK Country family – both artists and fans alike.  His set includes a song he wrote when he was 18, a song written in one hour as a challenge, a cocktail list inspired track, and a song used by couples for their first dance at wedding.  Matt is a down to earth, no nonsense performer.  He’s hard working – although he’s reduced from 310 shows last year to “only” 250 this year (and the year isn’t over yet!)

He highlighted the line from the song written by 18 year old him.

I know somehow I’ll always be proud to be me

Ending the show with two party hits that had the audience up dancing (with Sally and Steve back on stage), Matt has plenty to be proud of.

You can catch Matt on the remainder of his tour this month, and next Friday you can download his new single Make This Our Town

You can find Matt on Facebook and Instagram and follow him on Spotify

Silverball Country attended this show as guests of Matt Hodges

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Gig Review - Nashville Style Songwriters Round with Gary Quinn and Friends - Actress and Bishop Birmingham

 

Gary Quinn could easily be described as a curator of UK Country Music and of Country Music in the UK.  You want to attend any show Gary is involved in just to see which of his many friends from across the genre he he’s brought along, and see the artists that he draws the best out of, by co-writing with them or featuring them in his shows.

Currently touring the UK with his Nashville style songwriters round, we saw Gary and friends at Birmingham’s Actress and Bishop on Friday night.  Opening for this leg of the tour was local performer Mikki Evans.  Dressed to impress, she seemed to enjoy being on stage trying to engage with the audience and encourage them to sing a long with a mix of covers and her own original music – co-written for the most part with Host Gary. Mikki was certainly making the most of this opportunity to perhaps win some new fans!

The songwriters round was made up of Gary, Dan Smalley and Jeremy McComb.  Jeremy is becoming a familiar face whilst Dan is new to the UK.

Growing up mostly in Louisiana “catching alligators” but having lived all over the US, Dan Smalley has a voice you simply get lost in.  It doesn’t matter what the words are, you are just engrossed, captured – and you are not prepared to stop listening at the end of each song!  His guitar skills are also superb, as was his foot stomping and little (and some big) kicks!

Sat beside him, Jeremy McComb is a singer, songwriter and comedian.  An absolute natural to the stage Jeremy has no filter, and his stories are absolutely wonderful – you’ll laugh until you cry.  All his songs seem to come from real life, and what a life it has been.  He’s unashamedly redneck and obviously has a huge fondness for where he grew up in Idaho.  Although he’s never been asked to write a song about his hometown, he probably wouldn’t get a job with the tourism board either!

Our host Gary Quinn is your man if you want heart felt storytelling to draw you in – and if the soft Irish brogue is your thing!  Gary is well practised at leading songwriters rounds and despite his own success and awards he always makes sure his guests are very much supported and centre stage.

Despite the intimacy of the venue these three characters with their powerful voices and great stories gave it a much bigger feel, and easily outdid the venue’s issues.  Its not a PG show, but it’s very entertaining!

You can catch Gary, Dan and Jeremy in Oswestry tonight and Manchester on Sunday for a St Patrick’s Day celebration, and you can catch all four artists at Buckle and Boots this year.

 

Tickets for this weekend can be found at garyjpquinn.co.uk

Silverball Country attended this show as guests of Gary Quinn

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Gig Review - Nashville Sounds In The Round - an evening with First Time Flyers - Birmingham Symphony Hall February 2024

 

The latest Nashville Sounds in the Round took place on Leap Day – and as Sally from hosts Gasoline andMatches said – “strange things happen on Leap Day” so the night was a slightly different format to the usual songwriters round.

Rather than four separate guest artists, we were treated to an evening with the four artists who make up FirstTime Flyers.  I was unsure how this would pan out – and Sally admitted to me that she felt the same!

One thing that became clear very quickly was that although First Time Flyers is made up of four very talented performers, the band is definitely not just a collection of four soloists.

Interspersed with songs from our hosts, the first half of the evening was made up of songs and anecdotes from First Time Flyers – with the stories being mostly told by Vicki Manser and PoppyFardell, with interjections from Jake Morrell and Tim Prottey-Jones sitting on either side of the ladies.  Hearing about how the foursome write songs – apparently via group chat and on one glorious occasion, through a window because Jake had Covid – it becomes apparent that this band gels together very well, as any genuine group of friends does.

There was a brief Q+A from Sally and her band partner Steve which touched on “who came up with the idea of the band?” (Jake apparently), “how do you write the songs?” (all ideas into a pot and Tim laying down tracks as he is a producer) with all of the answers again pointing to how close the four are, and why the band seemed to be a natural progression - especially as they had all worked together in various projects previously. 

The chat and the stories flowed seamlessly, with nobody really acting as spokesperson and nobody talking over anyone else. 

After a brief interval we returned to an almost traditional songwriters round, but with each of the six participants singing one of their own earlier songs – in each case “from before they were in a band”

 

As well as being physically in two halves, the evening seemed to be made up of two parts – the music (which was excellent.  Seeing FTF swap leads and even instruments was fascinating) – and the chatting.  “Chatting” because despite apparently copious notes for introductions all of those on stage had history demonstrating the closeness of the UK Country Scene.

We were treated to recognisable older songs as well as the forthcoming singles from both bands (Could Have Been A Love Song and Looking Back), a potential release (“please vote for whether we should release it”), stories, laughs and even an audience Q+A.

As a different format for the evening, it was not only a refreshing change but also a very enjoyable style, one which Nashville Sounds In The Round will hopefully repeat in the future.

As for First Timer Flyers – as a band they really work.  With so much experience between them I can’t wait for the opportunity to see their full band stage show (which I have so far not seen!) – although we got a glimpse of it with their closing song “Happier”

Pretty good for a “strange things happen” show!

Nashville Sounds In The Round returns on Saturday 20 April for a UK/US show!

Silverball Country attended Nashville Sounds in the Round as guests of Gasoline and Matches and B:Music

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