Clover County is a much-travelled but now Athens, Georgia-based singer-songwriter, who, following good reviews for her debut full-length album, Finer Things, travelled to the East side of the Atlantic and has been touring with Jack van Cleaf in first tour-type venues. There was no London show on the original itinerary because Clover County was booked for the high-profile Highways Festival at London’s Royal Albert Hall on a bill headed by Carly Pearce, which also featured Tigirlily Gold and Corey Kent. However, in the week leading up to the Royal Albert Hall show, a surprise gig was announced as part of their showcase series at Rough Trade East, which took place two days earlier.
Highways is set up to run from mid-afternoon through late evening to allow even those lower down the bill to play a reasonable-length set. After a build-up from super-annoying host Baylen Leonard, Clover stepped out onto the stage to face a half-full auditorium. What was immediately apparent was her confidence as she addressed the crowd before launching into opener Limbo. Armed only with her acoustic guitar, her voice and songs, she reached out to the room and connected with the crowd. The lyric touches on love, faith and the dark side with imagery that recalls ancient Greek tales.
She follows it with Under These Conditions, another song from the Porch Lights EP, which takes us to a spiritual animal world. Her work may be all this decade, leading up to last year’s album, but she already has an impressive back catalogue of singles and EPs as well as the LP.
Good Game is the first song from Finer Things and sees Clover County deliver a sassy, kiss-off put-down song, which is performed with humour and determination. This is a performer confident beyond her years. Whisky Cherry, one of her punchiest tunes, is next, with its grounded beat and its lyrical imagery, which makes more sense in your head than on the page. Next up, we get Yours Too, a song whose opening line gives Finer Things its title. A close, intimate song, but her performance extends it to the edges of the Royal Albert Hall.
Ultraviolet is, she explains, a song about loving somebody too deeply and becoming a ghost to yourself. It receives lengthy applause. Clover precedes the next song with a rumination on Ryanair’s baggage pricing practices, which, while well-known this side of the Atlantic, came as something of a shock to an American on her first tour. Suitcase, a song about being on the road, follows appropriately.
Finally, it is time to close what has been a very impressive opening set for Highways festival with Virginia Slim, which is something of a signature song. It’s beautifully constructed, giving a strong hint that her potential as an artist has quite a way to go until it is fulfilled. As the last chords ring out, Clover County receives enthusiastic and lengthy applause, and she’s gone.
Two nights earlier, she played a longer set at Rough Trade East, headlining a showcase which also featured Jack van Cleaf and Maya Lane. As well as most of the songs that made up the Royal Albert Hall set, she played a new one, led into by a tale of playing the legendary Dee’s Lounge during AmericanaFest while Sierra Ferrell held court at the back of the room. The song is called Palm Reading In The American Legion Parking Lot and is a gem. The Ryanair story leading into Suitcase is both longer and more detailed, generating sympathetic laughs from the audience. She introduced Sweeter with a story about crashing on someone’s couch, which took quite a nasty turn, leaving her shaken. We also get a performance of Outlaw, an early single based on falling for what seems like the wrong type of person, but finding comfort with them.
She closes with Virginia Slim and tells us she’ll be straight over to the merch stand for signing, selling and conversation. Clover County is a class performer who writes great songs that resonate with both the experience and imagination of the listener.
Hopefully, it won’t be long before she returns.
