Texas Songwriters Night - Celtic Connections

 I managed to scoop up the very last ticket just over a week ago for this night, and I am glad I got it.

They are used to doing things big in Texas but it's a rare opportunity to have an evening with big hitting lyrical songwriters in Glasgow - Tom Russell, Kimmie Rhodes, Slaid Cleaves & Sam Baker

The format for the evening meant they all took it in turn to share their stories and songs with a captivated audience.

Tom Russell kicked things off with his strong stage presence and style which would draw obvious comparisons with Johnny Cash.He featured a few new songs, one being 'Roll The Credits' written for the rolling of the credits in a movie.  Next in the running order, Kimmie Rhodes who had Beth Neilson Chapman join her for a few songs, a highlight of which was the Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris hit ‘Love and Happiness’ ( which Kimmie Rhodes co wrote with Emmylou).

This was my first opportunity to see Slaid Cleaves play live – I’ve been a fan of his for sometime and by the sounds of the crowd he had a few more in the audience. He performed a fantastic quirky song called 'Horses & divorces', and finished off with belting out ‘One Good Year’ on his old Gibson guitar.

Sam baker is a frequent visitor to Glasgow and I always like his humour and his stories. He has previously mentioned the story of how he was caught in a bomb blast on a train in South America years ago which he was lucky to survive but resulted in him sustaining severe injuries to his hands. It was only last night that I realised he was a right handed guitarist who had to re learn the guitar left handed because of this, which shows his utter dedication and passion for music. His vocal delivery is very unique and make his lyrics all the more poignant.

The night was topped of by an encore of Townes Van Zandt songs – another great Texas songwriter.

A thoroughly enjoyable night, and a spellbound audience listened to every lyric sang.

A possible regular format for future Celtic Connections shows? I hope so.