Tim Manning - aka Blind River Scare continues in his mission to bring some of the best Singer/Songwriters and Americana/Country artists to the people of South Wales with his Down By The River sessions. He aims for about 3 or 4 shows a year and is now on show number 10.
The format is now firmly established where Tim plays a short first set and his two guest artists then follow with their set. With almost 3 hours of live music, it must surely be one of the best shows for less than a tenner you could attend.
Tonight's guests are Jess Vincent, returning for a second time and the soon to be New York resident, Luke Tuchsherer.
But first it was time for Tim to play his opening set. Tim has recently released his new album, Pastures New.
Tim opened his set with a track from the new album, Restless Soul.
Armed with his trusty Gibson, Tim gave us songs from his new album and also from his previous album Point Of No Return, the lovely Mother's Day.
Tim often uses these gigs to showcase some of his new songs and we were treated to a couple tonight. Usually Gone and the plaintive Do You Think I'm Pretty.
Also getting a play tonight was Something For The Pain.
This week saw the passing of Country Legend Don Williams and Tim took the opportunity to pay his own personal tribute to the great man with an absolutely gorgeous performance of My Best Friend to finish his set. And you could hear a pin drop.
It was a welcome return to Barnabas Arts House for Jess Vincent having played at a previous Down By The River show. But she was not alone tonight as she brought a couple of friends with her.
Tonight she was accompanied by her partner Jozeph Chowles on Guitars and Hannah on backing vocals.
On her last visit, Jess was promoting her new album Shine. Since then, she has upped sticks and moved to Bulgaria where she has been working hard on her new album and growing a set of dreadlocks!
With the addition of Jozeph and Hannah the sounds of tonight are more akin to the sounds on the album. Tonight though, it is an opportunity for Jess to run through a lot of new songs destined for her new album.
With songs such as Into The lions Den, Time and Ghosts, Jess showed her command of a good tune and the new album promises to be a step forward from Shine if tonight's performances were anything to go by.
But there was still some time for an older song or two like the title track from her current album release, Shine.
So, a welcome and triumphant return for Jess Vincent and the promise of a lovely new album to come made for an entertaining and thoughtful set.
The final artist of this evening's show was Clubhouse Records artist, Luke Tuchscherer,
Luke has recently emerged as a solo artist following his stint as drummer and vocalist in the Rock n Roll band, The Whybirds.
In fact, The Whybirds played their last gig this August.
Luke is about to move to New York City with his family and tonight was one of the last gigs he was going to play in the UK for some time, so it was a bit of a Hello/Goodbye moment for this Welsh audience. But, he left us on a high.
Luke has just released his second solo album, Always Be True - the Electronic Press Kit can be seen below.
Tonight we were treated to songs from throughout Luke's career so far, his work with the Whybirds, Solo Albums, Covers and even a brand new song about his move to New York.
Luke kicked off with the first track from his latest album, the uplifting Waiting For My Day To Come.
It was a great opening song and the first of many highlights and Luke's personality shone through as his engaging banter between him and the audience provided several laughs throughout the evening.
Next up were three more songs from the new album, the gently rocking These Lonesome Blues, the smouldering Outside Looking In and When The Dream Dies, the three tracks follow each other on the album. The new album is a mighty fine record indeed and shows Luke is not a one trick pony when it comes to songwriting as he switches from Americana, Blues, Country and some Rock N Roll.
For the next two songs, Luke turns to his debut solo album, the catchily titled, You Get So Alone At Times It Just Makes Sense.
First up is To Make It Worse I'm Falling In Love Again, a killer plaintive ballad that Johnny Cash would've done proud if he was around now quickly followed by the jauntily downbeat, country tinged One Of Us. As always, a solo performance with just a guitar, shines a different light on these songs, showing pretty much how they were written, I'm guessing.
Something Beautiful This Way Comes from the album Cold Blue Sky is the first Whybirds song of the evening and it's rockin' chorus lifted the gig even higher.
After this rocker, Luke brought us back down to earth with a stunning version of Dear Samantha from his debut album. Solo Luke is a great chance to hear the words to the songs sung plainly and from the heart. His heroes are Steve Earle, Neil Young, Tom Petty and Springsteen and you can hear these influences in his songs.
I'm so looking forward to seeing what Luke comes up with when he's really living in America and absorbing the influences and culture first hand.
The next song up is one of the highlights from Always Be True and it's based on a real life experience that Luke had relatively recently.
A Song For Jack Browne closes the album and is another gorgeous story ballad. There's always been something about a man and his guitar playing music. And Luke is up there with the best.
It was the final Whybirds song of the evening next with If You Stay With Me, also from the Cold Blue Sky album.
As I stated earlier, Luke and his wife are moving to New York City for a fantastic work opportunity and the final song of tonight's set was written recently about his excitement of moving to New York. The title comes from the fire station in New York in which the Ghostbusters were housed in the Ghostbusters movie. One of the first places that Luke wants to visit in New York City.
A Song For Jack Browne closes the album and is another gorgeous story ballad. There's always been something about a man and his guitar playing music. And Luke is up there with the best.
It was the final Whybirds song of the evening next with If You Stay With Me, also from the Cold Blue Sky album.
As I stated earlier, Luke and his wife are moving to New York City for a fantastic work opportunity and the final song of tonight's set was written recently about his excitement of moving to New York. The title comes from the fire station in New York in which the Ghostbusters were housed in the Ghostbusters movie. One of the first places that Luke wants to visit in New York City.
There was no way that the audience was going to let Luke off the hook that easily and he began his encore with a choice of two songs, in the end, he played both.
Firstly, singing at the limit of his register, (that'll teach him to do a Neil Young cover), we were treated to a great version of Rockin' In The Free World completed with audience participation.
Next, we had a cover of Steve Earle's I'm Never Satisfied. And neither was the crowd as the curfew was pushed to it's limit ( and over slightly) as Luke launched into I Go Crazy.
It was a great performance by Luke and you could tell from the smile on his face at the end that the man enjoyed himself.
So it was Goodbye and Good Luck to Luke as he sets off on his American adventure. He promised to come back soon. I for one can't wait to see what America brings out of the man. And I don't think he'll disappoint us.
Soon can't come quick enough.
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