Single Review - Blue Ridge Road - Matt Hodges

 

Matt Hodges loves to perform music live, in fact he spends most of the year doing it.  If you’ve seen him at one of his many live shows, you may have heard him tell the story of taking a break in America and staying at a cabin for a few days, a side trip that inspired him to write his new song Blue Ridge Road.  The title is the name of the road that took them to that lakeside cabin, and the serenity of the cabin, compared to the frantic energy of Downtown Nashville led to the song.

When you consider Matt’s hectic schedule, its no surprise that he enjoyed a few days off – but the theme throughout the song is “Take me back”, as he sings of the freedom and allowing his thoughts to unload.  On Blue Ridge Road there are no cars, no “people chasing one last thrill”.  Matt is finding peace in nature and seems to have a longing to return to it.

Musically, the song is very restrained, as is Matt’s voice, which is effectively turned down for this track.  There is a yearning in the sound – and it is very reminiscent of Blake Shelton’s “Austin”, which is another song about longing for something you want to return to.  There is one break from the tempo when the song has a guitar break and a slight lift to describe the return to Nashville for a gig – a device which shows the difference between the town and the peaceful mountain view

The songwriting on this occasion appears to be not just heavily influenced by Blake Shelton, but also by American Country Music in general, using American phrasing (and it is of course born from am American road trip).  Could one of the leading voices in UK Country have written the same song from a UK perspective?  Maybe Matt’s next songwriting retreat could be to a stone-built cottage in the Yorkshire Dales, escaping the bright lights of Leeds or Sheffield?  Just as Matt has his own voice, we’d love to think that UK Country can have its own style and own voice.  The UK has many points of reference, and there have been UK songs written with a very UK feel.

Could Matt Hodges lead the charge of the new breed of UK Cowboys?  Perhaps sitting round the barbecue rather than the campfire, looking over the Brecon Beacons rather than the Blue Ridge Mountains?

 

We can’t wait to see where he goes next – both musically and physically!

Blue Ridge Road, the new single from Matt Hodges is available to download and stream from Friday 16 August

You can find Matt on the road and on Facebook and Instagram - and you can follow him on Spotify

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Gig Review - Alyssa Bonagura - Hare and Hounds Birmingham

 

Birmingham has always had a thriving music scene, birthplace to (among others) UB40, Duran Duran, Ozzy Osborne and host to many touring acts, recently including The Shires at Town hall supported by a certain Alyssa Bonagura.  

Kings Heath’s Hare and Hounds - itself an iconic venue – was the venue for the first date of Nashville Unicorn Alyssa Bonagura on her first ever headline tour.  We call her a Unicorn because she's a Nashville native, growing up on a tour bus as the only child of travelling musicians with Baille & The Boys.  Despite her American upbringing, Alyssa has a real fondness for the UK, having performed here many times and graduating from Liverpool Institute Of Performing Arts.

Opening for her Birmingham show were close friends and Brum natives Gasoline and Matches.  Equally accomplished as an acoustic duo and a full band, tonight saw just Sally and Steve on stage entertaining the crowd with personal stories, and songs from their ever-growing catalogue.  Both could relate the story of when they first saw Alyssa when she was playing as part of duo The Sisterhood and how their friendship grew, including hosting her as part of their popular “Nashville Sounds In The Round” literally across the road in the intimate Kitchen Garden Café.  Its not a Gasoline and Matches set unless they finish with their popular drinking game/song “Never Have I Ever” which was joined in with gusto – despite it being a school night for most!

 

Alyssa took to the stage with a cry of “Are You Ready To Rock?” and for the next hour or so showed us what can be achieved with just two guitars and excellent songwriting.  Three guitars – she took delight in playing a beautiful blue guitar that was just “£80 in Denmark street”

 

Alyssa was accompanied on stage by Steve Shirley who plays lead guitar and boyfriend!  Together for two years, Welsh born Steve brings his own Birmingham connection having graduated from the University of Birmingham with a degree in Physics – “Shout out to all UoB physicists” was possibly the most niche shout out ever!

 

Its very clear how much Alyssa loves being on stage – and it doesn’t matter how big the stage.  She’s performed all over the world but seems incredibly at home in any venue. Talking about how much she enjoys hearing stories of how her fans relate to her stories she described her audiences as “We start as

strangers but leave as friends”.  The whole set could be best described as upbeat acoustic with songs drawn from across many years.  “This could be my Eras Tour” she said before inviting the audience to suggest what they sing next – which did mean a little bit of discussion over how songs start and showed that Steve isn’t just a guitarist/boyfriend but a great support to her on stage. Writing “happier songs” over the past two years, even Alyssa’s more heartfelt songs still have an element of energy to them, and we were all thrilled to light up our phones in memory of friend and collaborator Roman in a lovely tribute.

 

I caught up with Alyssa after the show, and after she’d taken time with every audience member – signing merch, posing for selfies – and asked her, after a lifetime touring, how different this – her first headline tour – feels

 

It’s a dream come true.  I’ve been wanting to do this since I was a little kid and its crazy when people buy tickets to your show and your able to pack out a venue.  Tonight was sold out.

It’s a total dream come true

 

In the words of her song Road Less Travelled

 

I ain't gonna chase money or fame

I'm just gonna do what makes me smile

 

You can catch Alyssa on her UK tour for the rest of June as well as find her on Facebook & Instagram and follow her on Spotify

Silverball Country attended the show as guests of Alyssa Bonagura and Gasoline and Matches 

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Gig Review - Nashville Sounds In The Round - Birmingham Symphony Hall May 2024

 

You guys have Ed Sheeran, why would you want to listen to me?

 

Despite flying in from America, playing guitar for Keith Urban, and being booked for a couple of festivals, Maggie Baugh retained that humble feeling that people in the UK wouldn’t know her music, having had a specific request in the interval.  John Wesley Satterfield quickly reminded her that “The internet is everywhere”

This kind of interaction is why we love songwriters rounds, and especially the regular Nashville Sounds InThe Round in Birmingham.  The latest show was a curtain raiser for Buckle and Boots this weekend, as it featured three American artists who will be playing at the Farm, alongside regular hosts Gasoline and Matches.

Joining Maggie on her first visit to the UK were Jeremy McComb, who is becoming a regular face over here, and John Wesley Satterfield, another UK debutante.  Maggie and John had also played Country InThe Afternoon at the weekend, while Jeremy – who will be co hosting the main stage at Buckle and Boots – has been on tour with Cody Pennington, opening with Gary Quinn.

A songwriters round is, by its very nature, an intimate style of show.  The artists tell us stories – about their songwriting inspiration, about their careers and often about their own lives.  As the show progresses the audience get to know the performers better, and as the artists get to know the audience better they start to loosen up more.  As this trio haven’t met each other very much before, you could see them get to know each other, and with Jeremy and John this led to more and more interaction and jokes, with them seeming like long lost twins by the end!  We were treated to more sensitive songs and stories than you might get on a full stage show, and also some hilarious conversations from the American contingent trying to navigate not only our currency “Your coins have an old lady on them” but also what we call our toilets.

All three guests were very entertaining as well as very talented  - and those seeing them again at the weekend are in for a real treat.

 

As for our hosts Sally and Steve, they also shared a very special story with us all.  They’ve got married!

 

Congratulations to Sally and Steve, and to the Americans – see you at Buckle and Boots!

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

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Gig Review - Country In The Afternoon May 2024 - Half Moon Putney

 

The Half Moon pub in Putney, South West London is no stranger to great line ups, over the years it has played host to some of the absolute greats, and twice a year for the past few years has been home to Country In The Afternoon, brought to us by those fine folks at Cumbrae Promotions – Gavin and Christine Chittick.  Even if you haven’t heard of Country In The Afternoon, if you’re a country music lover you may have attended on of their other events - notably Millport Country Festival, or perhaps you’ve caught one of their ad hoc intimate evenings both in London and in Scotland.  If you’re a Buckle and Boots attendee, you’ll have seen Gavin running the Paddock Stage along with Silverball Country and Christine looking after the all-important beer tokens!

You have to wonder if these two ever stop.  We think the answer is no.  There's two more new events in the calendar this year alone, plus the next Country In The Afternoon.  They do take time for holidays – but those are as much for talent spotting as for relaxing!

Country In The Afternoon is two days of music in an iconic venue running from 12:30 until 5 – which gives time for drinks between the 4 acts (as they turnaround the stage) on each day plus a chance for a meal in the pub garden afterwards, especially when the weather is as good as it was this past weekend.

We joined the Chitticks on Sunday, which had an international line up – two American acts, two British acts – and an Austrian!

 

First up, from Nashville was John Wesley Satterfield.  John has a very traditional country sound to his voice, and a traditional style to his songwriting, with songs about his guitar, whiskey – great subjects!  Whilst he would never sell his battered old guitar, he did offer his beagle dog for sale!  Accompanied on stage for a couple of songs by Jon Stone (American Young) the storytelling was as good as the songwriting, with some numbers inappropriately dedicated to Grandma!  John didn’t use a set list preferring to go with the flow – and the same was true for the second act – Georgia born Ian Flanigan. Having appeared on The Voice - USA as part of Blake’s team, Ian is now known simply as “The Voice” and what a voice he has!  Despite being from the US, his stories resonated and were easy to follow.  We were treated to another guest appearance from Jon Stone who has written and produced the new material that Ian treated us to.  Notable was “The song with the longest title” – the very relatable Words I Never Heard An Old Man Say.

 

Both John and Ian were visiting the UK for the first time, whereas the next band to take to the stage were far more familiar having played the event before and also just finished a UK Tour.  Lewis and Izzy (from Austria!) better known as Two Ways Home.  As well as their trademark light teasing of each, other Two Ways Home delivered a loud and rocking set backed by Michael Clancy on guitar and Jake Stanton on drums.  Even Gavin Chittick was moved to declare that it was possibly the best they have ever sounded – and we have to agree!  The band are very hardworking and seem to constantly look at ways of improving their show – this time including some more intimate songs around their bespoke, old style microphone – in fact there are only three of these microphones around, and notably, Bob Harris has one of the only other two!

 

The afternoon was rounded off with a storming set from First Time Flyers, who are making waves across a number of stages and festivals.  First Time Flyers gave us our second full band set of the day, and brought with them an enthusiastic and dedicated following showing that whatever the size of the event, independent gigs can build and hold an audience!

 

Time to rest?  Nope.  Next up from Cumbrae Promotions is the Signature Brew Americana Showcase, London E17 on 22 June and Milltown Music Festival in Paisley nr Glasgow on 31 August

Silverball Country attended Country In The Afternoon as guests of Cumbrae Promotions

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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 Sounds In The Round - Birmingham Symphony Hall October 2023

 

If you haven’t yet had the chance to go to a songwriters round, you are really missing out!  With a range of songwriters all sharing one stage and taking it in turns to perform, it is a very different and very special type of show!

 

Gasoline and Matches, with Your Life In A Song and B:Music host a regular songwriters round at the Symphony Hall in Birmingham, alternating between evenings, lunchtimes and Saturday mornings to bring a mostly country music based show to a wide range of visitors

 

A show like this isn’t just about hearing the music, because of the format of the show it is an opportunity to hear from the artists and listen as they tell you the story behind the song, the inspiration and the often humorous tales!

The October edition did all this and more.  The evening was very much a celebration of story-telling and creativity – as all of the artists not only told their own stories but joined in with others and picked up on themes, creating some hilarious moments

 

Sally and Steve of Gasoline and Matches were the hosts, with guests Cody Pennington, Em/Elle, Neil from Blue Nation and Essex based singer Megan Rose.  While we were treated to stories covering an unfortunate relationship in America (Sally) house hunting in Kentucky (Cody), a band splitting up over satin shirts (Neil) and falling off a rodeo bull (Megan), the story with the most value of the night was from Em/Elle whose first song (Crash) was written about falling for the trainer in her first restaurant job, and how she forced herself to not like him for fear of not learning how to make desserts!  Not only did Neil follow on from this story as though he had been that trainer, all the others picked up on the thread for the whole first half of the show!

Sally and Steve play a lot of these rounds and have amassed a back catalogue of stories to almost rival their catalogue of songs, but guest Em/Elle, despite being the youngest on the line up by some years also had stories and songs aplenty, having started to write when she was still at school.  Her recent appearance on BBC’s Project Icon has introduced her to more opportunities for songwriting collaborations, including a beautiful new song about the pain of childhood bullying.  Often, the song or story of one artist will lead in to the song and story of the next, as setlists are rare at these events, with each artist picking up the vibe and running with it.

We had the chance to learn a little more about the artists as well as hearing them in a different setting to perhaps their normal – Cody Pennington told us he isn’t used to the intimacy of a songwriters round, but appreciated the chance to “chillout a bit” and really engage with the audience.

If you love music and want to go a bit deeper into the art of songwriting, then a songwriters round is definitely for you!

Your next chance in Birmingham will be on Saturday 16 December with tickets available now - tickets 

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

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Festival Reflections - The Long Road 2023

For us, a festival usually means working – whether it’s looking after a stage and all the artists on it, or a bar and all the drinkers in it – so to be able to spend a weekend at a festival without an actual job is an absolute dream or just a bit weird!  Thanks to The Long Road Festival, all our friends and the friendly faces we were able to live out that dream and we felt at home! 

Just like many of you it was our first time at the Long Road Festival too.  It’s hard to exist in the UK Country scene without hearing people talking about it, and to be honest we were suffering a bit of FOMO – the big stages and that by now quite iconic sign, welcoming back old friends.  Baylen Leonard told us he designed the sign, wanting everyone to feel like returning home from the first festival.

The Long Road Festival is held each year at Stanford Hall in Lutterworth, which is just off the M6 and therefore close enough to Birmingham for us to not have to brave camping in this hot summer we are experiencing (cough!).  We loaded the car with hats, suncream, jumpers, and waterproof jackets and off we went! 

With four stages there an array of talent and something for everyone, so even when wandering around you will easily hear something you like, even without having to plan your day.

There's an App to help plan your day and ensure you don’t miss your favourite or someone you've heard a lot about but trust me those plans can easily go a miss when you see a friend (new or old) a dog or an artist and you just need to say a quick hi or maybe grab a selfie. Therefore, we let to music do the talking and followed our ears to what grabbed our attention.

Aside from the music, what is there to do?  Does it live up to the hype?

First impressions – coming from the smaller independent festivals, there is no question that The Long Road is a major step up, a large scale, commercial operation.  We arrived on the second day (Saturday) so avoided the mass influx of campers and caravans.  Access through the local village was easy and well signposted, the car parking on site plentiful and well-staffed.  £10 on the gate for a day doesn’t seem steep – and it can be pre-booked with your admission ticket.  A short walk past the corn fields (horror movie fans- you have been warned) and  the camper vans took us to the box office for our accreditation and then straight through the check point for our wrist bands. 

10am may not be that early but it felt quiet (those who arrived and partied Friday night were recovering) you could hear sound checks and smell food. 

The site is quite big – although it doesn’t feel too big, at least not until the evenings after a day of walking!  If you’re not styling it out in your boots, you need to think about sensible footwear.  Thankfully, it stayed dry and there was no mud in sight. Even on this scale, it has the intimacy of all the other festivals, and we hadn’t even taken our first selfie before our first hello and a hug (Cody Pennington and his wife!).  Those meet ups continued as we started to get our bearings.  The sign says “Welcome home old friend” and we certainly felt that!

 

Ok, so we have seen your planning your outfits online and know that some of you have already started thinking about next year – it paid off and you looked great, even if there were times where the weather got the better of you and you needed to wrap up for a seafaring expedition.

Despite those efforts, it seems we can’t help buying more. Is it the inspiration from the crowd or the stars on stage? Luckily the stalls had you covered, from the tiniest piece of jewellery up to an outdoor stove.

 

The Long Road is a friendly festival, and it is specifically both child and dog friendly!  If the music, food and even funfair aren’t enough for the little ones, there was a dedicated area for them with activities and games under the watchful eye of the leaders who organised everything from games to space hopper races! Lil’ Possum County was popular all weekend – with envious adults watching on, although there were games around the site to try out!

For the dogs it was a chance to strut their stuff with many – or most – wearing bandanas, jackets, hats, some even had their own cowboys on their backs!  They also had a dedicated area for running off a bit of energy, nothing is too good for the pooches!  The festival also featured some invited VIP dogs who welcomed attention and cuddles!

 

The festival has a number of areas and stages.

Buddys has a chilled out acoustic vibe. Hidden away in the woods with its own bar it played host to some wonderful intimate shows, included the last Round Up songwriters round, and was a great place to get close to some acts that you may not have seen before.

Front Porch is a beautiful set up and is literally a house with a front porch and smoke curling from the chimney! As well as featuring a number of artists and takeovers including Color Me Country and the Americana Music Association.  Despite not having a covered seating area the crowd would frequently spread out across the field!

The Interstate stage is the next biggest, with acts to match!  A big marquee, it is the second stage for the festival and hosted artists from both the US and UK, with some of those absolutely blowing the roof off!

 

The Rhinestone Stage is easy to find and hard to miss!  Visually it is clearly a big festival stage and is situated by the entrance to the festival, overlooked by Stanford Hall.  The area in front of it was usually full when there was an act on stage, and adjacent is the VIP area (with posh toilets!)  Headliners Blackberry Smoke and Cam drew huge crowds, but as with all festivals it is worth seeing the other acts too, especially those who are on earlier…

 

As well as these stages –there are other areas playing music – everywhere you go, there’s music! 

 

The Showground played host to not just music but also to dancing and eating competitions.

Festival partners Team Kentucky had a marquee where you could relax and find out more about Kentucky Tourism – and on Sunday afternoon their small stage featured Kentucky native Tyler Booth who played an incredibly popular set which filled the tent and beyond!

Next to the lake was the Lucky Dice area – reminiscent of an old American car lot, but sadly these beautiful cars, trucks and motorbikes weren’t for sale, they were on show to be admired and asked about, with proud owners on hand to tell you the history of their pride and joy.  Everything from classic chevy trucks to a range of mustangs, Harley Davidsons and Mom’s station wagon!  Car exhibits are becoming more frequent at Country and Americana shows, and you don’t have to be a petrol head to appreciate them.

 

With so much to see and do on the site, it is important to keep your strength up and keep well hydrated – at least that’s our excuse!  For food, there really was something for everyone, ranging from a smokehouse with its own fire truck smoker; to Game and Flames roasting venison; toasties, Cajun; pizza; Persian street food…. You could have a different type of food for every meal!  There were also bars aplenty, plus specialist outlets selling craft beer, moonshine cocktails and more.  The prices were reasonable, bearing in mind it’s a festival, and the quality was great.

Our aim for the weekend was to walk around and just soak up the atmosphere and listen out for music.  There were many great acts, but our attention was especially grabbed by Tyler Booth at Team Kentucky and later on Buddys stage; by Alana Springsteen who delivered an absolutely superb show as first act on Rhinestone on Sunday afternoon and by seemingly everyone’s favourites Chapel Hart who played on the Front Porch as part of Color Me Country and truly grabbed our attention and our ears!

As with life, the festival shows that not everything goes to plan. I’m sure a great deal of people were disappointed that Jon Pardi had to pull out but credit where its due, the Long Road team reached out and got Cam at short notice (evidenced by the lack of backdrop in her set).

So, if you’re asking, should I attend, ask yourself, do you like country music? Do you like having a good time?  If so, this festival is not going to disappoint.

See you there old friend.

 

 Silverball Country attended The Long Road as guests of the festival  and Zeitgeist

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