Artist:Tom Russell
Venue:The Sage
Town:Newastle
Date:October 10th
I am going to begin this review with a confession - I didn't know a lot about Tom Russell, other than that I had one CD with which I had never really quite connected. All I really knew was that Gretchen Peters, whose career I've followed for years, has regularly worked with him, rates him highly and kept telling me I needed to go see him play live. More than willing to trust her judgement, I decided if I was ever going to see him, The Sage would be the perfect place; I just had to hope that she was right!
The first thing that struck me was that despite the fact that country music legend Glen Campbell was playing across in Hall 1, Hall 2 was still almost full of lots of people clearly very happy to be seeing Mr Russell instead.
A young man named Michael Martin from San Antonio,Texas, warmed us up with one of his own tracks named Blood Red Roses. As he then stepped back and introduced Tom Russell, it at first seemed a little strange to have a support act play only one song. Then I recalled having heard someone tell me that he isn't fond of having support acts. It became immediately apparent that Michael Martin would be playing lead guitar, and the reason for the lack of a support act became apparent as we were treated to almost two and a half hours of music, wrapped around a short break.
Tom took to the stage wearing a black suit, a purple shirt, and brown boots; looking smart but rugged in a Texas kind of way. I Tom Russell's music really benefited from the intimacy offered by Hall 2. It allows you that feeling that you are in a friend's living room and listening to Tom Russell in this setting, you just know you're experiencing something original, genuine and with it, quite unique, such is his ease with an audience.
As he opened with Leonard Cohen's Tower of Song, the first thing to strike me was how his deep, husky, almost gravelly voice, immediately draws you in. He reminded me at times of a younger Johnny Cash, who incidentally recorded some of his songs. Perhaps I have hit on the reason why….
Very early on, he made reference to his new double CD, Anthology, clearly working on a sales pitch but with such humour that nobody really minded. Likewise, when he talked about the upcoming Songwriter's Train in Canada, a project with which he has been involved for several years.
The first half saw about an hour of music, in which we were treated to both older and newer material, including Pass of Death about rodeos. As he introduced it he told us 'This song is about climbing on a horse backwards without a saddle and hanging on for your life -just like life, isn't it?' which everyone clearly related to judging from the laughter.
East of Woodstock, West of Vietnam is a new song based on his time between teaching in Vietnam and Africa. He told us that one of his guitars actually has a bullet hole it took in Puerto Rico - evidence of the very interesting life Mr Russell has clearly led.
Who's Gonna Build Your Wall, which was in fact Folk Alliance's Folk song of the year is based on something which clearly captured both his imagination and his attention; the Texas-Mexico wall. He lives with his wife in El Paso-Juarez, which sits right on the border between Texas and Mexico. His says that his first thought when he heard about the wall going up was, "They're gonna build a barrier, and most of the cheap labor along the border is by illegal immigrants from Mexico. Who's gonna build the wall?" Whilst an upbeat song, containing some humour, it is thought provoking and forces you to consider the idea of division in much the same way as Kate Campbell's Rosa's Corona's, based on the divide between the US and Cuba.
Highlights for me came in the form of a beautiful new song from his upcoming album, on which Gretchen Peters sings harmony; called Our Lady of Guadalupe, which reminded me of Our lady of the Rockies in Butte, Montana. The lyrics were stunning, and the line When the mountains glow like mission wine made the hairs on the back of my neck stand upright and I suddenly knew why Gretchen loves this man so much - that could have been a line from one of her songs, just as easily as it was from Tom Russell's. He is equally a poet, wordsmith and a storyteller; a rare gift. The other highlight of the first set, was by coincidence one on which Gretchen duetted on Tom's Love and Fear album; Ash Wednesday. The lyrics are so cleverly put together, intertwining the ideas of love gone wrong, death and imagery of religion and purple hearts, to create a truly stunning song She was a debutant, now she's a penitent, on Ash Wednesday…….they've got holes in their hearts and holes in their minds…they're holy people in an unholy time……now they're walking down the streets of Oblivion…..…heading for the Church at the end of the line on Ash Wednesday. In fact this song impressed me so much I bought the CD after the show and I have to say the duet version has been on almost constant repeat!
Two Hearts called for audience participation on the da-da-de-das, which created an interesting effect. A new song he had just written, intriguingly titled We've become the Bloody People we came here to Escape reflected current politics and another song was inspired by a conversation he had with Ramblin' Jack Elliott about Woody Guthrie. Tonight we Ride required the audience to scream at one point and allowed him to substitute some of the lyrics with local locations.
The second set opened with Chickasaw Waltz which I could picture Waylon Jennings singing, followed by Blow Gabriel Blow and Pilgrim Land. During Veteran's Day, made famous by Johnny Cash, Martin's guitar playing was such that I was somehow reminded of the ethereal feel of Midnight in Montgomery by Alan Jackson, where he meets Hank Williams.
Roll the Credits was a new song, which I have to confess I just found very strange. I hadn't realised, however, that Russell had a song appear in the movie Tremors, many years ago.
Angel of Lyon took on a very French sound with the addition of martin playing mandolin and we learned that this was recorded in Italian by Francesco Di Grespno. The irony was pointed out to us of a song about France, written in English, being sung in Italian. This was followed by a catchy song called Out in California about the 'last bar on earth' and again allowed Martin to show off his wonderful harmony vocals.
The highlight in my eyes (or to my ears?!) of the second set was a truly moving, utterly haunting rendition of California Snow. Ostensibly a border song told in the first person from the viewpoint of a narcotics agent/ border patrol man, telling us even more about Russell's grasp of the West - its history, legends and its myths - it is a story so beautifully told that you can picture it unfolding as he sings. Martin's vocal as he chimes in to harmonise on the lyrics California Snow draws you further into the story until there are tears rolling down your cheeks. One of the most moving performances of a live song I've experienced. I am now willing Tom to re record it with Michael Martin. This song was a co write with Dave Alwin and is described as 'the opposite of Whose Gonna Build Your Wall.
For Santa Ana Wind Martin returned to his guitar, as Tom explained the Santa Ana is a wind which blows East - West across California. It seemed like a very good segue to go from snow to wind and it gave them both a chance to rock out and show off their amazing guitar skills.
"Gallo del Cielo," the tale of a thief and a one-eyed rooster, now his signature song, followed, to round off the evening, and an encore was demanded, despite this being the longest performance I've known an artists give. Carrickfergus, Muhammed Ali and The Road it Gives, the Road it Takes Away were the final songs of the evening; the latter, despite being about death, seeming fitting to the occasion, a wonderful evening spent with a musician during his time on the road.
I can safely say that this was a wonderful evening which I know I look forward to repeating when Tom Russell is next in the area. He has just won himself one new fan and made many others happy they chose Tom over Glen Campbell. I am simply kicking myself for not having investigated this man sooner.
I only have two complaints about the evening. One, he omitted Outbound Plane, the hit song he wrote for Nanci Griffith, despite several requests. Two, despite having said that he would come out and sign CDs etc after the show, he didn't and left many of us waiting until staff asked us to leave so they could close. When artists say they will meet and greet then don't, it always disappoints and in this instance rather took the edge for many off what was otherwise a magical evening of music.
Helen Mitchell
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