Caroline Spence - the Voodoo Rooms 21/02/2018

Caroline Spence is one of a slew of new singer/songwriters breaking out of the US right now. Based in Nashville Caroline followed a well worn path of songwriters drawn to the city in search of the song that would provide the 'hit' that would break her. Her aim was to write songs for others to record and perform but like many before her she found that in order to hawk her songs performing was the best route to get those songs out there. And there was a living to be had there if you're willing to follow the road.

On her first visit to Scotland Spence played an intimate stripped back set in the Voodoo Rooms speakeasy accompanied by English electric and lap steel guitarist Chris Hillman. As well as telling stories with her songs she entertained the audience with stories about the songs and her life in Nashville and on the road - don't order a Chinese takeaway in Texas! Her set contained a choice mix of songs from her albums 'Somehow' and 'Spades & Hearts' with a couple of covers - Gram Parsons 'Hickory Wind' (appropriate when your guitarist is called Chris Hillman) and night's closer Springsteen's 'Dancing in the Dark'. 

Opening with 'Heart of Somebody', followed by 'Hotel Amarillo' it's clear her own songs have a quality that should set her in good stead to grow her audience. She seems genuinely touched by the number of people who've turned out mid-week to see her play. 'Whiskey Watered Down' is her love hate sideswipe at the music industry in Nashville; 'Hotel Amarillo' a tale of motel life and fast food on the road; 'Train's Cry' and 'Bless Your Heart' stand out too.

In the second half of the set there are more gems as she works through more of her recent 'Spades & Hearts' album. Standouts include 'You Don't Look So Good (Cocaine)' 'All the Bed's I've Made' and 'Southern Accident'. She catches the zeitgeist with 'Softball' a reflection on her realisation that the world is different for girls it's a story of her discovery as a baseball crazy child that she could only go so far with her playing before the coach won't put her in the baseball team because its not for girls -softball is. Catch the video for 'Softball' for a who's who of the talented women singer/songwriters that are working in America right now.

Fortunately for us many are making it across to Scotland where they are finding a warm welcome from audiences keen to hear them perform. Caroline Spence is one of a new wave. She's one of the best and next time she's here go see her. Meantime give her a listen wherever you find your music.

http://www.carolinespencemusic.com/

Courtney Marie Andrews - in praise of Leuven Letters

Courtney Marie Andrews burst into my consciousness when I heard a track from her breakthrough album 'Honest Life'. The song was 'How Quickly Your Heart Mends' her witty heart-worn tale of surviving love and finding life.
'Honest Life' is an album packed with songwriting of the highest calibre that speaks of the years that Courtney Marie has spent as a travelling musician playing with bands and as a solo artist building her skill and craft. Amazingly a veteran of 6 self funded albums by the time of her breakthrough she'd been touring for ten years.
Listening to the older work there has been a astonishing refinement of her songwriters craft, her confidence as a writer and that key skill of telling her stories straight and connecting with her audience.
Her previous full length album 'On My Page' mapped a route to 'Honest Life' with key songs 'Blue Woman' and 'Woman of Many Colours' still mainstays of her live set and tales that sit well with her later output. That said 'Honest Life' is a huge step forward in her writing and in the realisation of her muse. There's a brevity and directness to the songs and a honesty in the delivery that pushed open the door to that wider audience that she so thoroughly deserves.

What brought about that change, that clarity? I'd contend that the limited release 2014 mini album 'Leuven Letters' played a large part in leading Courtney Marie to the directness of 'Honest Life'. The six tracks she recorded in Belgium contain only one song from 'Honest Life' - the aforementioned  'How Quickly Your Heart Mends' which encapsulates the new pared back direct voice that points towards the sound and honesty that makes 'Honest Life' the important album it is. The backstory to 'Leuven Letters' is that it was written and recorded in the aftermath of a relationship breakup. The songs work as a group describing the confusion, the hurt, the frustration, the yearning and the keening heartbreak of love along with the redemptive quality of rebirth as a careworn experienced liver of life. It closes with the heartfelt 'A Song for Amy Ross' a song about the loss of a friend that may sit outside the canon of break-up songs that precedes it but shares that direct way of telling the story that is as real and affectionate. It too is about unexpected loss and the hurt the sheering of a friendship to an abrupt end.
'Leuven Letters' is a exceptional suite of songs and maps out clearly the template that Courtney Marie so assuredly realised on 'Honest Life'. It deserves to be seen as the pivotal work that it clearly is paving the way from the old Courtney Marie to the new and playing its part in showcasing her voice both vocally and in the words and music that those of us who have fallen for her spell love so much. 

https://courtneymarieandrews.bandcamp.com/album/leuven-letters