Tattletale Saints – Tuning Fork: March 5, 2023 Concert Review

Tattletale Saints are a Kiwi-born Americana music duo based in Nashville, and they grace the Calvinistic crowd in the Tuning Fork tonight with sublime takes on their brand-new covers album In The Summertime.

Cy Winstanley on acoustic guitar and harmonica, and Vanessa McGowan on double bass, are from Auckland but have made America home where they are professional musicians, working with the likes of Brandy Clarke, Pete Bradley Adams and Sugarland amongst many others.

Playing jazz in a high school band together, they were a romantic couple for a while as they travelled the world like many young New Zealanders. They are folkies which naturally leads into roots country and Americana. The music is constantly bleeding out into different genres and coming back to the metaphysical front porch. Will the Circle be Unbroken? As the Original Carter Family repeatedly circles through the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.

They start the show with Warren Zevon’s Carmelita, and it’s a great interpretation of this Mexican-flavoured classic. All strung out on heroin capture its bittersweet heart.

Sonoma County Wine, off Tattletale Saints album, has McGowan take lead vocals with a nice high roots country tone. A close match for the vocal style of Anita Carter.

Winstanley takes over half of the lead vocals, and he is pitched right inside the singer-songwriter style of a Laurel Canyon artist, like a James Taylor.

He is the majority songwriter, and Honest Work, from How Red is the Blood album, reflects that style.

Bartender’s Blues is from James Taylor, but is sung by McGowan. Appropriately melancholy singing about folks with their backs to the wall. A teary guitar solo elevates this into a stand-out tonight.   

I would not say that they’re a dour Scottish lot tonight at the Fork, but there is strictly no dancing, despite the best efforts of Winstanley to get them up, especially on Bobby Where Did You Learn to Dance. An uplifting Cajun pop two-step.

He does demonstrate the step, and a few toddlers are racing around. The folk crowd tonight are totally absorbed in listening, like they are in their clubs.

Sophie Gibson

Sophie is from Scotland but came to New Zealand in 2005 and resides in Katikati. She is a folk artist, and she writes and sings intensely personal and observational songs about the human condition. The acceptance and coming to terms which is at the heart of country music as well.

A little nervous on stage, but she must be used to the pinched-lip austerity of the folk crowd.

Deep Waters addresses her brother’s suicide and does reflect the difficult journey coming towards some form of resolution. I see you at the bottom looking up.

Stained Glass has a similar depth in the lyrics. You know just where I’m weak.

Equally, she can be very funny and scathing. She sings about the Lockdown blues in the time of virus hysteria.

Maybe the funniest is one with the great line You’re such a dickhead in so many ways. Written in almost a music hall, stand-up comedy style. She claims she is attracted to more Richards’ than she should be.

Tattletale Saints

Doing an album of covers does let them stretch out over a variety of styles. Dylan and the Beatles are major influencers who brought about this change, from when artists had songs pitched to them. Doing covers seems to be frowned on still, which makes no sense to me.

They quote Father of Bluegrass, Bill Monroe on this. You only get to know how good you are when you play a familiar old song to an audience.

Bob Marley’s Waiting in Vain is a nice love song which gets a folk pop treatment. It has older roots going back to Robert Johnson’s Love in Vain, which itself is old country music again. There’s that unbroken circle.

Wayfaring Stranger is old ancient folk, and the harmony singing is superb.

Big Moon is based on the bluegrass version by Patsy Montana, a big country artist in her time. The melody line of that version did appear on the New Seekers I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing. I’m sure the Folkies would remember.

One of the stand-out songs come toward the end. Thirteen, written by Alex Chilton and Chris Bell and the cult band that was Big Star.

 Won’t you let me walk you home from school is both tender, and confronting, in the same way that Van Morrison’s Cyprus Avenue is. Addressing love that cannot be.

They finish up with Dancing Under the Dogwood Trees and their signature take on Abba’s Dancing Queen. A slower country tempo.

The Tattletale Saints are prime Nashville style musicians and they laid out a masterclass of country Americana.

Rev Orange Peel

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Click here to watch the 13th Floor interview with Tattletale Saints