For #TEAMw21 there is no such thing as being off duty – a short break in sunny Devon just affords the opportunity to catch up on artists we have not seen for a while and a trip to the Harbour Inn in particular, guarantees a fine pre show meal, followed by a surefire evening's entertainment. Since we last visited Alan West he has put together a full band whole multimedia theatre experience highlighting Americana music at its finest, however tonight is a more straightforward set being played as a trio. A night with Alan West is not just a musical experience, it is educational as he plucks out songwriters whose contributions or names may have got lost in the annals of time and shines the light on them or plays songs that you simply won’t hear anywhere else despite them being absolute classics.
Each month a sizeable crowd fills the large function room and what they get is an absolute treat. Alan as ever is joined by his compadres, Adam Sweet on guitar and Nick Bayes on bass. Tonight things would start with "The Way Love Is", Alan's warm timbre gently easing us into proceedings. One of those influential songwriters who Alan would shine a light on was Guy Clark, with Alan setting the scene for how "LA Freeway" came to be written before going on to play it.
An additional forthcoming show at the Harbour Inn later in the month will see Alan play with like-minded troubadour, and now published author, Ags Connolly, who as we have recently reported is in fine fettle and on the absolute top of his game. They each perform stunning versions of Ags's song "Get Out Of My Mind". Each is able to extract something different, and it is a testament to the song that both succeed, tonight Alan's version tonight had the added benefit of an Adam Sweet guitar solo - played out to a pin drop silent audience, hooked on each line
For "Past The Point Of Rescue", Alan mentioned the late Hal Ketchum in passing , he could even have dropped Mary Black into the conversation but chose instead to highlight the song's writer, Mick Hanley. It was exactly the reason that we love these evenings - as but for Alan mentioning it and triggering the need to investigate further we're not sure we'd have realised that Mary's version on her excellent "No Frontiers" album was already in our collection. No such issues with James Taylor's "Sweet Baby James" but how often will you hear this classic played live anymore?
One song that has been part of Alan's set for some years is his reworked version of "Down On The Bayou", allegedly on a compilation somewhere though the #TEAMw21 bloodhounds have never sniffed out a version of it. The increase in sound really hit the mark on the night, and Adam's suitably swamp bluesy solo fitted in perfectly. Some artists have catalogues so formidable that it is hard to know where to dive in, so it is always helpful having a guide like Alan for an artist like say John Prine, - Alan's version of "Hello In There" came with a nice prominent bass guitar from Nick. Similarly for Steve Earle after "Johnny Come Lately" and "Copperhead Road", our Steve Earle knowledge tails off a bit, so imagine our surprise that it took Alan to point out another song already lurking in the collection with "I Don't Want To Lose You Yet" !!
The first half would draw to a close with two more gems, Mick Jagger would surely be amazed that in one little corner of Devon, his bands most beloved song is not "Satisfaction" or "Brown Sugar" but their somewhat more obscure country tune "Dead Flowers". With Adam Sweet taking over vocal duties, the chorus turned into a mass singalong, with the whole room joining in. The ubiquitous "Wagon Wheel" is a song that became unpopular by the fact that everyone would play lazy versions of it to the point you almost never wanted to hear it again, yet somehow Alan by slowing it down and wrapping his vocals around it, he redeemed it to its rightful standing.
It is hard to express the joy that this little set brought to #TEAMw21, sadly we could not stay for the second half but we're sure it would have been filled with more nuggets waiting to be unearthed.
If you are ever in the Axmouth area for the first Tuesday of any month this night is absolutely 5 star entertainment well worth the visit.
The Alan West / Ags Connolly unmissable mash up occurs on the 27th September - Call/text 07773768110 for tickets.