Country star in the making
Tuesday October 1st, Bush Hall, London. Sam Outlaw. A rare solo outing for me and it wasn’t a reflection of the band but other commitments, etc for my usual gig going buddies tonight. It’s a wet and windy night when we start in West London but ninety minutes later Sam Outlaw and his band have brought a bit of Nashville sunshine to this part of the world and the streets are warm and dry when we leave.
As usual for what is one of the best venues in London the sound tonight is very good, and the raised stage allows for perfect sight and sound lines. A good crowd tonight further reinforcing that the country scene in the UK is continually growing and that’s no surprise for someone of the quality of Sam Outlaw. Tonight, he’s backed by a fine band with the addition of super talented Lydia Luce, the support act, on fiddle/viola and vocals along with an excellent slide guitarist for these UK dates.
According to his Wikipedia page Outlaw describes himself as SoCal country and on record its true as he sounds a lot like the recently departed Neal Casal fronting a country band. But whether it’s because he has recently moved to Nashville his voice live is has shifted to a more traditional albeit less twangy country style.
Tonight’s set is a good blend of assorted tracks from his back catalogue, a bunch of new stuff from hopefully an imminent new album and a couple of great covers especially the Lydia led version of the Lucinda Williams song ‘Passionate Kisses’ after which Sam regales us with a great story about meeting Mary Chapin Carpenter who made the song famous.
Highlights on a night of highs were probably ‘Tenderheart’ and ‘Diamond Ring’. A word for the band who although not showy provided the perfect accompaniment driving all of the songs along without fault, well apart from a misplaced Capo but I will forgive them that.
As seems to be the norm for a gig in Bush Hall the night ended with the band unplugging and performing in the middle of the crowd ‘bluegrass’ style with a fabulous version of ‘Angeleno’. The warmth of the crowd reciprocated by the band provided a glow to all those lucky to be here tonight as we floated home on the back of that musical wave.
Till the next time keep on country rockin y’all
Posted by Gary W on 02/10/2019
Sam Outlaw, Bush Hall, London - 1st October 2019
Great band.
Great show and a fabulous band. Very enjoyable evening.
Posted by Dee D on 31/08/2017
Sam Outlaw Band (USA), Hare and Hounds, Birmingham - 30th August 2017