On a cold December evening the crowd packing the wood-panelled bar of Fat Lil’s were transported from West Oxfordshire to West Texas for an evening of traditional country music courtesy of Ags Connolly here to launch his new album, a tribute to Texan singer-songwriter James Hand (checkout the AUK album review here)
The bill opened with fellow James Hand fan Simon Stanley Ward who gave us acoustic country music with a British twist in which ‘I’m not a Worrier/Warrior’ and ‘American Voice’ stood out. He warmed the audience up nicely and got the crowd singing along to several of his songs. After a quick turnaround, Connolly and band launched into Hand’s signature tune ‘In The Corner, At the Table, By The Jukebox’, setting the standard for the evening – a classy 5-piece band backing a fine singer who captures the pathos of James Hand’s work. Credit must also go to the venue, the sound was spot-on. Each instrument could be heard clearly, and Connelly’s rich baritone came across perfectly.
Hand is probably better known for his shorter songs but ‘Baby Baby Don’t Tell Me That’ is one of the wordier ones and Connolly did a fine job remembering the words, a feat, according to Connelly, even Hand himself would sometimes not pull off – case in point ‘Lesson In Depression’ where Hand forgot the second verse when recording it (for the record, Connolly nailed it live). The tunes and anecdotes continued apace until the rhythm section (Anna Robinson on Bass, CJ Jones on drums and Rob Updegruff on electric guitar) stood down for a break leaving Ags to sing the haunting ‘My Witness’ backed only by Kieran Towers’ fiddle and Johnathon Shacklock‘s pedal steel. Then it was back with the full band for ‘Over There, That’s Frank’ followed by ‘Midnight Run’.
At a pause in proceedings, Connolly recalled singing ‘My Hearts Been Cheatin On Me’ shortly after Hand’s death in 2020 and the emotion from four years ago was still evident in tonight’s touching reprise. The poignant ‘Men Like Me Can Fly’ and ‘Corner of my Street’ (written by Connolly for Hand in 2018) were a fitting end to the album run-through.
After a rousing ovation came a trio of favourites. The band kicked off with crowd-pleaser ‘I Hope You’re Unhappy’, followed by ‘Slow Burner’ and a song that could not be excluded – ‘I Saw James Hand’ which tells the story of how Connolly decided he was a country singer after watching Hand play live in 2012. Connelly returned, solo, for the encore. In true Hand style, he forgot the lyrics to ‘Turns Out’, but with good-natured cajoling from the crowd soon got it back on track. Batting away half-hearted requests for Christmas songs he left us with one final James Hand number, the unrecorded ‘Someday.’
During the outstanding performance Connelly’s passion for Hand’s work shone through in both the music and between-song stories; judging by their reaction it was a passion the audience connected with. On the new album Connolly brings his love to Hand’s music; live he adds his heart and soul.
