Strangely for an act that we have covered many times across the years #TEAMw21 had never previously seen a full set from Tennessee Twin, we'd seen them in Songwriter's Rounds but this was a first chance to hear them play an extended run of songs. The circumstances of how the evening had come about is quite a tale in itself. however let's just thank the good folk at TALENTBANQ for bringing Geoff and Victoria to The Green Note for the first time.
Starting in bold style with "Two Heart Rendezvous", it would set in place many of the building blocks on what their set would be based upon. Geoff would be the primary instrumentalist on his acoustic guitar while Victoria would predominantly mainly be vocalist although she would also interpret the songs expressively through a myriad of hand gestures.. Individually they were each strong yet like most duo's, finding that extra something special when harmonising together, although it must be said that Victoria towards the end of this song injected a degree of volume that was a little marker of what reserves were in the tank! Another little feature of the evening were the occasional touching glances at each at certain points in a song.
Tennessee Twin have an ability to sing songs about themselves, with real believable emotions that could easily drift into being self indulgent, yet nearly always come across as simply heartfelt and they are are able to mix then in with songs of a more storyteller nature. Their second song "Born For The Road" very much falls into the first category, with Geoff's guitar playing so delicate it barely registered, leaving just their voices to carry things through -it was like a split screen movie as each played out their feelings in the verses while they joined together beautifully on the chorus.
The life of a singer songwriter was captured in "Alice", for which Victoria would perform a minor miracle by making a recorder sound tuneful. It would turn into a stirring folky reel, For "Hold My Hand", Victoria would once again sell the song with her hand expressions on this most tender of songs. Written for their daughter this could hit the heights of self indulgence however instead it avoided that by skillfully tapping into universal parental feelings that the audience could easily associate with.
Tennessee Twin always have their ear out for good tune, just occasionally they can over egg a lyric, the second verse of "Every Story" with the 10 year old boy feeding his younger brother, skipping school and also having an alcoholic mother just feels like one burden too many. The song does go on to make a valid point ( more valid than ever at present ) that what is online may not be the absolute truth. An Ashley McBryde cover came with "Girl Going Nowhere" for which the knowledgeable crowd duly filled in their required part. It was a pretty faithful version that was universally appreciated.
The Tennessee Twin back story was beautifully explained in the introduction to "Wings Of Red White and Blue", a song apparently now rarely played. which was a competition winner in it's time. It was a skillfully crafted entry shoe horning in as many references that would attract the attention of the judges as was possible to great effect. One of the gems in the Tennessee Twin repertoire is "When We Move", a tour de force from Victoria as her vocals move from rapid to slow, loud to quiet all sung with a purity of voice sung properly, Geoff was only required to add the slightest of harmonies on the chorus as well as his unfussy guitar duties to make this an undoubted success.
A song about "Waitstaff" , "Waiting Table In The Local Bar" had a touch of early Shires about it on the chorus, and like "Every Story" earlier used the framework to tell a number of the stories that the staff might see on an average night. It even had the neat line "Stop and learn, watch and see, it ain't school but it's still a degree", It had all the elements of a copper bottomed smash about it, although we would question whether many bar staff if given the option of being on the other side of the bar would really sing "There's no place I'd rather be!" It's a minor blemish on an otherwise cracking song.
For "Without You", it was Geoff's turn to deliver the most heartfelt of vocals, superbly tender with a guitar refrain to match. Victoria would match with an equally impressive second verse and then they would dovetail on the last verse delivering the final lines almost as a whisper on a supremely impressive rendition. the pace would pick up with "Cracks In The Rear View Mirror" before a magnificent new song in "Beautifully Scared" once more showed their ability to tap into universal feelings. Their set would close with their recent single "The Apple Tree".
They would encore with "Fit To Love", a hard hitting tune with which to send us out onto the streets of Camden with, yet an undeniable cracker with another glorious piece of vocal dexterity from Victoria that could not help but impress. It brought a thoroughly entertaining evening to a close - let's not leave it so long next time.
The evening commenced with a set from Shea Rafferty, who would play perched upon a tall wooden stool. His opener "Running Wild" had a certain Petty inspiration about it and made for an engaging opener. Shea would follow up with "Somewhere In Between", with his guitar playing having to work overtime to match the perfect pop tones of the recorded version.
The mood would slow somewhat with "Lend A Helping Hand", which gradually built up in both pace and volume, as Shea's delivery became ever more impassioned. Sensing a friendly atmosphere Shea would play a new song in the shape of "Blowing Smoke", which came with an immediately noteworthy chorus even in this stripped back format.
The recorded version of "Making History" comes with a lush organ backing and powerful drum beat so was always going to be a challenge to perform live. Shea opted for a gentle recurring guitar refrain instead, pushing his vocals out to the fore.
An interesting diversion was hearing about Shea's songwriting activities with ex convicts, and trying to help them to a better life through music, and back into society.
Shea's song from this exercise was "Middle Of Nowhere", and came with an upbeat guitar style. It was apparently a 4 hour co write and nestled in nicely with the rest of Shea's work. His final song would be his fastest of the evening, "Life Be Gentle" which signed off his solid set in style.
A fine quality evening of singer songwriting played to an enthusiastic audience - you can't ask for more than that for a good night out.
PHOTOS BY COLIN JONES PHOTOGRAPHY