Mid Sussex Americana and Ale festival
Saturday 11th August 2018
If ever a festival could be said to be 'small but perfectly formed' it has to be Brighthelmstone Promotions brainchild, the 'Mid Sussex Americana and Ale festival.' The location prevents it from ever becoming another Glastonbury, something for which I'm grateful and from which this festival really benefits. It is located at the Hassocks Hotel, a large pub (and hotel of course) with a perfect for purpose 'ballroom' at the back that contains a nicely positioned stage giving easy viewing to everyone in the room. A very real bonus is the excellent location of the hotel, being barely 50 yards from Hassocks main line railway station so allowing easy access from both Brighton and London. At one stage during the early afternoon, whilst exploring the area during a short break in the music, I found myself standing at the pub bar(as you do) watching Spurs beat Newcastle, whilst on a neighbouring screen the England cricket team was putting India to the sword, with me at the same time supping an excellent pint of Mr. Harvey's best ale, proving beyond all reasonable doubt that men really can multi task.
As well as the music in the hall there was also an outside stage on which three artists played in the early part of the day, one of whom was the talented singer songwriter Trent Miller, whose new album 'Time between us' seems to have taken up residence in my 'music room' c.d player.
Izzy Walsh a young lady from Manchester was first up on the indoor stage with her excellent band supporting her beautiful, yet powerful and wide ranging vocals and songs. I can't actually describe in any sort of depth all of acts on the bill so you'll just have to take my word for the fact that there was something for everyone and whilst there will always be real highlights there was no one who was unworthy of playing on this thoroughly enjoyable day. One of the 'extreme' highlights, at least for me, and judging from the response he received, for most of the assemblage just has to be Ags Connolly. I've never been guilty of underplaying any artist or for that matter, album, but Ags really is something special, or if you prefer cliche, 'the real deal.' Jim introduced him as the English Willie Nelson; something that's easy to agree with in terms of songwriting, but Willie has always been a vocalist who splits opinions, something that Ags certainly can't be accused of. To be honest, in terms of vocals, I would put him in the same league as an artist such as George Strait and co but with the advantage that there is nothing 'twee' or sanitized in Ags songs, their arrangements or for that matter in his superb, warm, peerlessly expressive vocals and his easy going personality that instantly gets the crowd on side. He is doing well in America but mainland Europe is a little slow in catching on to Ags, perhaps thinking an Englishman must just be a stylistic copy of contemporary American country artists. What they haven't yet got their heads round is the fact that this man doesn't just write and perform the music by rote but probably has a greater natural affinity and talent for country music than many of the American artists. There was no band support; just Ags, his guitar and that voice that is able to display just about every emotion known to man, which was exactly what he did in the course of this tremendous set.
Ags was followed by Robbie Cavanagh whose warm, melodic vocals were belied by the drama contained in some of his songs and he was supported on pedal steel by the equally talented 'Jonny pedals.' Mike Ross put on an excellent set with just his acoustic guitar for support along with his evocative vocals and some very strong songs and was followed by the always watchable and listenable Hannah Rose Platt, a talented country singer songwriter who I've now seen several times live, including at the Maverick festival. It's easy to see and hear why more and more people rate her so highly. Jason McNiff confirmed why he also is being talked about by many music biz people with the excellence of his live show confirming the talent that all who have heard his newly released album 'Joy and independence' already knew existed. Jim Walker introduced The Hungry Mothers as his 'favourite Brighton band,' quite something in a very crowded field and it was not difficult to understand why Jim rates them so highly with the excellence of their songs, lead vocals, strong harmonies and tightness of their playing.
We had now reached 8-00 p.m and the adrenalin rush of so much great music and my heroic financial support of local breweries is starting to take its toll but there are still three hugely talented acts to enjoy before the come down of the journey home. First up is the warmth and talent of Danni Nicholls, a young lady I first wrote about back in 2010 when she supported Diana Jones at a gig in Brighton and whilst that review is lost somewhere in the moldering archives of the Maverick magazine, I have a vague recollection that I wrote to the effect that here was a huge talent who was destined for great things in the world of country/alt. country music. Listen to either (or both) of her tremendous albums 'A little redemption' or 'Mockingbird Lane' and you will hear songs by not only one of our most talented songwriters but also someone who possesses flexible, wide ranging and beautiful vocals to match. Seeing Danni perform live confirms that talent, with her vocal qualities as obvious live as they are on record, although live we have the added treat of some heartfelt explanations of her songs, many of which plumb great emotional depths. Many 'singer songwriters' make the mistake of trying to take the emotions ever deeper whilst not possessing the vocal chops to cope but Danni's voice and, perhaps equally importantly, her belief in her songs genuinely slots her into the upper echelons of whichever generic umbrella we choose to fit her under, something that was patently obvious to all who witnessed her tremendous set. An added bonus will soon be the release of her third studio album.
As anyone who has read anything I've ever written already knows I tend to avoid negatives, preferring to concentrate on the music positives, certainly in this modern world that seems to be rife with negativity. In the case of 'Society' there are no negatives. To my ears they are one of the best bands on the planet despite the fact they haven't released an album since 2011s incredible 'A crooked mile,' a recording that followed on from their 2009 debut, the equally superb 'Songs from the Brickhouse.' Those two albums are probably in my top twenty ever and still get regular plays in my house, and yet I've only seen them play live half a dozen or so times. I'm sure that Matt Wise, lead singer, songwriter and guitarist with the band must have got fed up with the comparison over the years but I can remember writing at the dawn of this decade that he sounded more like the great Levon Helm than Levon himself often did; certainly no bad artist to be compared to. In fact to my ears Society often have the feel of a stripped down version of The Band with Matt's tremendous vocals and the three part harmonies with bassist Ben Lancaster and drummer F. Scott Kenny blending perfectly. We can't get too carried away with the Band comparisons though; Society are much more than that, with their own style that contains warmth, edginess, tremendous songs and great playing, along with peerless lead and harmony vocals from a band that are as much alt. country as country rock. The set they played here was superb and reminded everyone in the building just what a great band Society are whether playing live or on record, with their sound being further enhanced on this night of excellence by Tom Collinson on keyboards.
'Headliners' were the amazing Bennett Wilson Poole with their full band. For the uninitiated the trio consists of Robin Bennett of the Dreaming Spires, Danny George Wilson of erm,... Danny George Wilson, Grand Drive, Danny and the Champions of the World and along with Del Day, new owner of Lewes's very own 'Union Music Store!' The third member is Tony Poole, who I saw so long ago that not only was he young but so was I. The band he had then 'Starry Eyed and Laughing' were often deemed to sound more like the Byrds than the Byrds themselves did! All three of these talented men, despite two being too young to remember those heady days of the late 60s and early 70s, have a great love of early 'country rock' (for want of a more expansive description) and the incredible harmonies that were the norm. Their self titled album seems to be doing very well and we were treated to songs from that tremendous disc as well as their banter that let everyone know that they were having as good a good time as the audience.
Sadly we had to cut a little short our time at this incredible listening experience to catch a train home. Had we missed that train the wait would have been 6 hours; on balance and bearing in mind the hugely enjoyable day perhaps that would have been preferable.
P.S. Thanks also need to be extended to Sandra Streeter, Penny Walker and Rachael Dickie for their support of Jim and Amy and to Steve the sound engineer who kept everything sounding as good as anyone could wish for!
As well as the music in the hall there was also an outside stage on which three artists played in the early part of the day, one of whom was the talented singer songwriter Trent Miller, whose new album 'Time between us' seems to have taken up residence in my 'music room' c.d player.
Izzy Walsh a young lady from Manchester was first up on the indoor stage with her excellent band supporting her beautiful, yet powerful and wide ranging vocals and songs. I can't actually describe in any sort of depth all of acts on the bill so you'll just have to take my word for the fact that there was something for everyone and whilst there will always be real highlights there was no one who was unworthy of playing on this thoroughly enjoyable day. One of the 'extreme' highlights, at least for me, and judging from the response he received, for most of the assemblage just has to be Ags Connolly. I've never been guilty of underplaying any artist or for that matter, album, but Ags really is something special, or if you prefer cliche, 'the real deal.' Jim introduced him as the English Willie Nelson; something that's easy to agree with in terms of songwriting, but Willie has always been a vocalist who splits opinions, something that Ags certainly can't be accused of. To be honest, in terms of vocals, I would put him in the same league as an artist such as George Strait and co but with the advantage that there is nothing 'twee' or sanitized in Ags songs, their arrangements or for that matter in his superb, warm, peerlessly expressive vocals and his easy going personality that instantly gets the crowd on side. He is doing well in America but mainland Europe is a little slow in catching on to Ags, perhaps thinking an Englishman must just be a stylistic copy of contemporary American country artists. What they haven't yet got their heads round is the fact that this man doesn't just write and perform the music by rote but probably has a greater natural affinity and talent for country music than many of the American artists. There was no band support; just Ags, his guitar and that voice that is able to display just about every emotion known to man, which was exactly what he did in the course of this tremendous set.
Ags was followed by Robbie Cavanagh whose warm, melodic vocals were belied by the drama contained in some of his songs and he was supported on pedal steel by the equally talented 'Jonny pedals.' Mike Ross put on an excellent set with just his acoustic guitar for support along with his evocative vocals and some very strong songs and was followed by the always watchable and listenable Hannah Rose Platt, a talented country singer songwriter who I've now seen several times live, including at the Maverick festival. It's easy to see and hear why more and more people rate her so highly. Jason McNiff confirmed why he also is being talked about by many music biz people with the excellence of his live show confirming the talent that all who have heard his newly released album 'Joy and independence' already knew existed. Jim Walker introduced The Hungry Mothers as his 'favourite Brighton band,' quite something in a very crowded field and it was not difficult to understand why Jim rates them so highly with the excellence of their songs, lead vocals, strong harmonies and tightness of their playing.
We had now reached 8-00 p.m and the adrenalin rush of so much great music and my heroic financial support of local breweries is starting to take its toll but there are still three hugely talented acts to enjoy before the come down of the journey home. First up is the warmth and talent of Danni Nicholls, a young lady I first wrote about back in 2010 when she supported Diana Jones at a gig in Brighton and whilst that review is lost somewhere in the moldering archives of the Maverick magazine, I have a vague recollection that I wrote to the effect that here was a huge talent who was destined for great things in the world of country/alt. country music. Listen to either (or both) of her tremendous albums 'A little redemption' or 'Mockingbird Lane' and you will hear songs by not only one of our most talented songwriters but also someone who possesses flexible, wide ranging and beautiful vocals to match. Seeing Danni perform live confirms that talent, with her vocal qualities as obvious live as they are on record, although live we have the added treat of some heartfelt explanations of her songs, many of which plumb great emotional depths. Many 'singer songwriters' make the mistake of trying to take the emotions ever deeper whilst not possessing the vocal chops to cope but Danni's voice and, perhaps equally importantly, her belief in her songs genuinely slots her into the upper echelons of whichever generic umbrella we choose to fit her under, something that was patently obvious to all who witnessed her tremendous set. An added bonus will soon be the release of her third studio album.
As anyone who has read anything I've ever written already knows I tend to avoid negatives, preferring to concentrate on the music positives, certainly in this modern world that seems to be rife with negativity. In the case of 'Society' there are no negatives. To my ears they are one of the best bands on the planet despite the fact they haven't released an album since 2011s incredible 'A crooked mile,' a recording that followed on from their 2009 debut, the equally superb 'Songs from the Brickhouse.' Those two albums are probably in my top twenty ever and still get regular plays in my house, and yet I've only seen them play live half a dozen or so times. I'm sure that Matt Wise, lead singer, songwriter and guitarist with the band must have got fed up with the comparison over the years but I can remember writing at the dawn of this decade that he sounded more like the great Levon Helm than Levon himself often did; certainly no bad artist to be compared to. In fact to my ears Society often have the feel of a stripped down version of The Band with Matt's tremendous vocals and the three part harmonies with bassist Ben Lancaster and drummer F. Scott Kenny blending perfectly. We can't get too carried away with the Band comparisons though; Society are much more than that, with their own style that contains warmth, edginess, tremendous songs and great playing, along with peerless lead and harmony vocals from a band that are as much alt. country as country rock. The set they played here was superb and reminded everyone in the building just what a great band Society are whether playing live or on record, with their sound being further enhanced on this night of excellence by Tom Collinson on keyboards.
'Headliners' were the amazing Bennett Wilson Poole with their full band. For the uninitiated the trio consists of Robin Bennett of the Dreaming Spires, Danny George Wilson of erm,... Danny George Wilson, Grand Drive, Danny and the Champions of the World and along with Del Day, new owner of Lewes's very own 'Union Music Store!' The third member is Tony Poole, who I saw so long ago that not only was he young but so was I. The band he had then 'Starry Eyed and Laughing' were often deemed to sound more like the Byrds than the Byrds themselves did! All three of these talented men, despite two being too young to remember those heady days of the late 60s and early 70s, have a great love of early 'country rock' (for want of a more expansive description) and the incredible harmonies that were the norm. Their self titled album seems to be doing very well and we were treated to songs from that tremendous disc as well as their banter that let everyone know that they were having as good a good time as the audience.
Sadly we had to cut a little short our time at this incredible listening experience to catch a train home. Had we missed that train the wait would have been 6 hours; on balance and bearing in mind the hugely enjoyable day perhaps that would have been preferable.
P.S. Thanks also need to be extended to Sandra Streeter, Penny Walker and Rachael Dickie for their support of Jim and Amy and to Steve the sound engineer who kept everything sounding as good as anyone could wish for!
