During the evening, Lou Dalgleish described some of the songs they were playing as “hard on the heart,” and they were, but there were also uplifting moments that proved the redemptive powers of music. Having lost their granddaughter Bebe in Southport a couple of years ago, they have been reflecting on their loss by writing separately, producing two solo albums. As well as performing My Darling Clementine songs and select covers, they also took on these solo tunes, presenting them to a small but receptive audience in the Hen & Chicken’s studio, which is becoming the Americana venue of choice in South Bristol.
Opening with Since I Fell For You from their second album, Still Testifying, which was the home of several of tonight’s songs. They presented some of the best of their joint work, including their response to Dolly Parton, Jolene’s Story, and No Matter What Tammy Said (I Won’t Stand By Him). Highlights of the first set, however, were Two Lane Texaco and their tale of tough life on the road in the USA, Eugene.
The core of the evening was in the second half, when they traded songs from their solo albums and talked about their origins. Michael Weston King’s The Golden Hour and the album title song, Nothing Can Hurt Me Anymore, were already familiar from his excellent record released earlier this year. Lou Dalgleish’s album has yet to appear, but from the songs played tonight, which didn’t just reflect on Bebe, but also on her relationship with her 18-year-old daughter, and, as on My Mother and Me, how relationships change from being the “held to the holder.” Judging by these songs, the album will be every bit as good as Michael’s when it appears, before the end of the year.
Having sat on stage to support each other through the songs, they returned to My Darling Clementine material with the opening song of their Country Darkness project, Elvis Costello’s Either Side of the Same Town. The evening closed with Michael’s tribute to his granddaughter Sally Sparkles. We had heard Lou’s The Empty Swing earlier in the show.
Where some of the songs were difficult listens, sharing them and the feelings behind them matter for the performers and listeners. Matching them against the lighter songs made for an almost perfectly balanced set of songs which will sit with everyone who was there for a long time.
