Having written a preview for Katie Pruitt's forthcoming appearance at The Long Road Festival, it did somewhat whet the appetite for seeing her ahead of schedule, however with a previous engagement clashing with Katie's London date at the Garage what was to be done? Step forward the good folk at Rough Trade West who just so happened to lay on a late afternoon bijou gig and signing session. Rough Trade West is to be found just off Portobello Road and is to all intents and purposes your old time record store - the walls littered with 12 inch platters, with The Smiths, Nirvana and Amy Winehouse featuring most prominently. On this exceptionally warm day, there were two overhead fans slightly redistributing the air but not really affecting the temperature, which steadily rose as people arrived shortly after 17:00 to attend the special little event.
Katie had flown in the previous day and was suffering from a touch of jet lag, as she stepped forward from behind the shop counter with just her acoustic guitar, She cut a small figure, dressed in her Alabama Tour T Shirt, looking extremely relaxed and pleased to see the assembled crowd. As the shop PA shop faded away Katie welcomed us all with a "What's up everybody?" explaining it had been two years since her last visit before dipping into her rather excellent new album "Mantras". So it would not be a full band gig like her show the next night but it would still prove to be a good catch up.
Opening with a "little protest song" "White Lies, White Jesus And You", a combination of strident guitar playing and a strong raspy chorus that would see Katie tilt her head back slightly on each chorus to project the vocals, It was an impressive start to proceedings drawing a large round of applause.
The next song was dedicated to her parents who she said "were not fans of the first song". For "Blood Related" the opening track on Side Two of "Mantras", for which she even managed to get her Mum to provide backing vocals for on the record. It is beautifully written packed full of details, and performed with a certain tenderness, it drew a few audible "Yeah's" of appreciation on completion.
Things would move upbeat with "All My Friends" normally played with a band yet still sounding a classic pop song. Personal break up would be the inspiration for "Leading Actress", sung with a delicate soft vocal. It would see a wry smile cross Katie's face the first time she sung the line
"I'm sleeping in the middle of the mattress"
She would later screw up her face in deep concentration of effort on the line "The movie of my life" in what was an exquisite rendition.
For "Standstill" the last song on the record she would spend some time re tuning her guitar only to then barely touch the strings as she played, so delicately were they picked. It pulled out from Katie, the sweetest of vocals. The assembled crowd were given the choice of choosing the penultimate song and "Naive Again" was suggested. Katie gamely agreed to play it having first admitted that she had not played it in a while. There was just one tiny flicker of a pause as it looked like jet lag might cause her to not recall the lyrics, before plucking them from the recesses of her memory with a big smile. It was such a perfect performance that it seemed to not only totally quieten the store but the outside street as well.
The last song of the set, "Worst Case Scenario" would see a return to the strident guitar style of earlier, a perfect closing song, with a soaring chorus. It would end with Katie leaving the last words trailing in the air. Performance over she would then sign some product and pose for pictures, taking time to properly talk to all of those who had turned out for this special occasion. It has definitely got us excited for Long Road where #TEAMw21 look forward to catching up with her again.