It was to be an evening of upcoming UK country talent tonight at The Slaughtered Lamb, with three acts on an upward trajectory.
First up was Shannon Hynes, who has received a lot of great press over the past few months. In a six song set, Shannon has an air of confidence despite her limited stage appearances From the opening song “Comfort” and the wishful “Dreaming Of Nashville” Shannon exudes charm. The atmospheric “Old Tear Stained Friend” and “Someone To Drink With” led into the catchy “Pick Up The Phone” before ending with her recent single “I’m not pretty”. Shannon has a slight Irish
Country lilt on some of her songs which suits her stage persona. First class song writing skills combined with her bubbly friendly personality, Shannon is one I’m certain we will be hearing more of in the future.
Next up was a firm TEAMw21 favourite, Danny McMahon. Danny never disappoints and tonight was no exception. Opening with the uptempo “Broken Hearted”, followed by the new (ish) song “Friends With Benefits”. His latest single, the powerful “When I Need You” came next, followed by a fantastic cover of Brett Young’s “I Can’t Sleep Without You”. “Everything” was followed by the catchy “Move” complete with (albeit limited) audience participation, before ending with “It Don’t
Work That Way”. Danny can hold an audience whether as a solo acoustic performance, like tonight, or with a full band. With his distinctive vocals and boundless stage energy, Danny remains one of our top picks for 2019.
Headlining the night was Lucy Blu. Having, (in the past three years) smashed onto the UK country scene almost overnight Lucy opened with “By The Way”
and followed with “All This Time”. With Jack McGinn on guitar and banjo, and Mike Benyon on keyboard providing excellent accompaniment throughout. Lucy ran to a strong 15 song set! In one of the most varied sets I’ve seen in a long while, Lucy put her own style on each and every song. Highlights were a Hillbilly style cover of Green Day’s “Good Riddance – Time Of Your Life” (with Jack on Banjo), and a soulful rendition of Willie Nelson’s “Last Thing I Needed, First Thing This Morning”. Shannon joined her on stage for a unique version of “High Sierra” (A ’Trio’ song - Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton). The more well know Lucy songs were performed, including, “Row Your Own”, “Ready To Be Lonely” and “Worse Than Whisky” among others. She ended the evening with her great new single (which was being released at midnight), called “Only Just Begun”. Lucy’s vocals are undeniably first class, and for a relative newcomer, she has a tremendous stage presence, and performs like an old hand, with years of experience behind them. Lucy is definitely one to watch out for in 2019
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