The recording of a live album with Dom Glynn’s new band new line-up at the legendary Green Note was a gig that was not to be missed. These purveyors of vintage, honky tonk music have been on a firm upward trajectory since their appearances at Rambling Roots and the Maverick Festival in 2024, with notable gigs this year at Static Roots in Germany and the British Country Music Festival, and a UK tour currently underway. Early this year saw the release of the album “Song and Dance Man” with their first line-up. The fiddle player has been replaced with Laurence Kingston on guitar and there is a new drummer, Roman Xavier. They have joined the original band members Dom Glynn on guitar and lead vocals and Jack Trouble on bass and backing vocals.
The first half of the set was mostly songs from their studio album. Conventional love songs like ‘Time Would Slow Down’, lust songs like ‘Blue Eyed Maisey’ and songs about drinking such as ‘Do It All Again’. There were more songs about drinking later in the set (it’s a honky tonk tradition), including their single ‘Gin Makes Me Cry (and Whiskey Makes Me Fight)’ and a new song ‘I Just Can’t Seem To Stay Sober’. There was also the autobiographical ‘Singing to Survive’ and the imaginative (and amusing) new ‘Cigarette Song’, inspired by Dom Glynn’s numerous attempts to give up smoking but written as song to a parting lover – “I love you cigarette… though I got to let you know, I got to let you go”. Life on the road was the inspiration for another new song ‘Mr Clean and Mr Mean’, that teases out the tensions between having a good time and maintaining the semblance of a healthy lifestyle – Mr Clean goes for a run, but Mr Mean is hiding in his room with a hangover.
A high point of the live set are the duelling guitars on the 10 minute version of ‘He Don’t Know The Blues At All’. Dom Glynn is a great guitar player but on most songs it’s the biting telecaster of Laurence Kingston that is to the fore, who (as a friend of mine remarked) after he broke a string for the second time, plays more notes on 5 strings than anyone else on 6. But on this song both guitars have equal billing as they throw blistering licks at each other, and intertwine to tremendous effect. Musically the band are superlative. Dom has an authentic honky tonk vocal style complete with yodelling effects, Jack Trouble is superb on backing vocals and the rhythm section is super tight and inventive.
This type of music is best experienced live in a bar with a hollering and dancing audience, but listening to the forthcoming live album will be the next best thing. It is expected to be released before the end of the year and will include several of the new songs, as well as those from the band’s studio album.
Excellent support was provided by Susannah Clegg. She has a great country voice, world-weary beyond her years. She sang songs from her recent EP “The Road is Only Miles” and a great cover of the Tennessee Ernie Ford classic ‘Sixteen Tons’. She is currently on tour.
