Concert Review: Introducing Nashville – Tuning Fork March 26, 2019

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Three up-and-coming Country songwriters sang their songs and told their stories to a seated sold-out audience at Auckland’s Tuning Fork.

Billed as “Introducing Nashville” with the express purpose of exposing these new country artists to a global market, this show was sponsored by the Country Music Association (CMA) of America.

Judging by the crowd’s reaction last night, these three needed no introduction as requests were called out and singalongs spontaneously erupted.

The three artists on display were Brandy Clark, Devin Dawson and Lindsay Ell.

Of the three, Clark is by far the most well-known. The 43-year-old has been part of the Nashville songwriting scene for over a decade, composing hits for the likes of Miranda Lambert, Kacey Musgraves and Sheryl Crow. Her own recording career took off in 2012 and she was nominated for a Best New Artist Grammy in 2015.

Both Devin Dawson and Lindsay Ell are 30. Of the two, Lindsay, who hails from Alberta, Canada, is the more seasoned, having released four albums. Before settling into Nashville, she was discovered by Randy Bachman and toured with Buddy Guy. One can hear the blues in her songs and she prides herself on her guitar playing.

Meanwhile Devin has released just one album, 2018’s Dark Horse, this after drawing attention to himself via a YouTube clip. On stage, he’s the most gregarious of the three, acting as the evening’s host.

After a brief set from Kiwi country artist Kaylee Bell, the three artists sat side by side on the Tuning Fork stage, each with an acoustic guitar, to present their music as a traditional “writers round”. That is, each would perform one song, with a bit of a story given with it, then move on to the next musician.

We started with Brandy Clark and her breakthrough single Mama’s Broken Heart. It was clear right from the start that Clark is an exceptional talent. Her songwriting is sharp, funny, poignant and poetic. She creates well-drawn, realistic characters and gives them depth and humanity all in the form of a three-minute song. Quite an achievement.

From there we moved on to Devin, who began with War Paint, a tune from his album. While not written on the same level as Brandy’s, the song and his performance were heartfelt.

Then we got to Lindsay who started with her 2017 single Waiting On You. Musically, she comes across as a mix of Sheryl Crow and John Mayer. She possesses a strong, clear voice and her songwriting takes interesting turns.

Then it was back to Brandy and a new song titled, Who You Thought I Was. Again, it was stunning.

This went on for two hours, with each artist giving, often detailed background on the songwriting process before launching into the next tune. From time to time I found myself wishing they would get to the song a little sooner…particularly when Devin was talking, but having said that, he did provide one of the more insightful moments of the evening when he demonstrated how he comes up with his chord changes.

The other highlight was when he invited Kiwi country singer Ginny Mitchell to the stage to perform her own song. Ginny flew up from her hometown of Gore and met the trio the previous evening, and now here she was on stage with them.

Proving that there’s plenty of great talent here in New Zealand, Ginny wowed the audience with her song, So Far, complete with a spoken introduction on par with the Nashville pros sitting next to her.

The night wrapped up with Lindsay Ell conjuring up a loop on her guitar and singing her 2017 single, Criminal.

Looking over the crowd at The Tuning Fork and hearing them react to these artists, it made me realize that there is a divide between contemporary Country and Americana. Most of the Tuning Fork regulars who are into Americana where absent, but replaced by fans who rarely venture out to a show by Margo Price or Robert Ellis.

Musically, there is not that much difference, each is driven by well-crafted songwriting. It would be great to see these audiences intermingle and, as a result, grow both types of music. To that end, Introducing Nashville was a beginning.

I just wish I got to hear more of Brandy Clark!

Marty Duda

Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Chris Zwaagdyk:

Introducing Nashville Set List:

  1. Mama’s Broken Heart (Brandy)
  2. War Paint (Devin)
  3. Waiting On You (Lindsay)
  4. Who You Thought I Was (Brandy)
  5. Got A Lot Of Catching Up To Do (Devin)
  6. Go To (Lindsay)
  7. Daughter (Brandy)
  8. Secondhand Hurt (Devin)
  9. Good (Lindsay)
  10. Three Kids No Husband (Brandy)
  11. Karma And Gravity (Devin)
  12. I Can Do Better (Lindsay)
  13. Stripes (Brandy)
  14. All On Me (Devin)
  15. Champagne (Lindsay)
  16. Girl Next Door (Brandy)
  17. So Far (Ginny Mitchell)
  18. Asking For A Friend (Devin)
  19. Criminal (Lindsay)

 

Marty Duda
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