We hope that in troubled times, our ‘mini-gigs’ have brought a little joy into your world. These little shows offer the chance to watch great artists up close; it’s like having a front-row seat. The intimacy of these performances is spellbinding and it’s a rare privilege to be able to watch from the comfort of your own home. In celebration of writing a thousand posts for Americana UK, I asked a couple of my favourite musicians to get involved: Jarrod Dickenson’s mini-gig was published earlier today and now it’s the turn of Americana-legend Steve Forbert. Many of our readers will already be familiar with Forbert’s distinctive voice and style. He combines wit and humour with grit and gravel, weariness and vulnerability and delightful lyrics. Steve generously delivered three great songs: ‘Going Down to Laurel’, ‘Moving Through America’ and ‘No Use Running from the Blues’. So, we have two classic songs and something new – the title track from the latest album ‘Moving Through America’, released earlier this year.
When asked about these performances, Steve told AUK: “Well, back in the more restrictive days of the ongoing Covid pandemic, many recording artists were streaming very intimate performances in order to keep playing and to continue to present something to their audiences. I did a few of them in small venues around the Asbury Park, NJ area, which is where I now live. Here are a couple of tracks performed on June 19, 2020 in a coffee shop/cafe called The Water Witch (located in Highlands, New Jersey). Two musicians from my regular band, The New Renditions, accompanied me – George Naha on lead guitar and Todd Lanka on upright bass. Thanks for watching! If you live in the UK and would like to get my latest CD, Moving Through America, it is now available on Bandcamp for £13.50 —plus a reasonable ‘local postage’ shipping price.”
If you like these, do seek out the 2022 album ‘Moving Through America’. You can check out our review here in which we called Forbert, “…one of the great unsung troubadours of American music.” Steve Forbert is fabulously prolific and it’s incredible to see and hear how he has continued to sustain such consistency across so many albums. Forbert is a regular visitor to the UK but while you’re waiting for the next tour, enjoy these great songs.
