The ‘Super-Moon’ hovered majestically above the Village Hall in North Newbald, shining its light like a beacon for tonight’s congregation made up of both locals and travellers, all full of anticipation and excitement for the pending evening’s entertainment. Once again this small East Yorkshire village was punching above it’s weight thanks to promoter John Tomlinson and his band of volunteers with the return visit, after a number of years, for one of Canada’s finest and most decorated singer songwriters, Amanda Rheaume.
It is now almost fourteen years since Rheaume first burst on to the music scene with her debut album “Light Of Another Day” which was followed two years later by the award winning “Keep A Fire”. Three album have followed since, most recently “The Space In Between”, released in 2022, that once again delivered a wonderful collection of songs drawing from both her own personal life experiences and songs inspired by her Métis heritage. Born and raised in Ottawa, Ontario, Rheaume is a citizen of the Métis Nation, and granddaughter of Eugène Rhéaume, one of Canada’s first Métis members of parliament. In truth Rheaume often describes herself as a ‘Métis folk singer songwriter’ with her music drawing much of its inspiration from the culture and geography of her homeland. A recent recipient of the ‘Spirit Of Folk Award’, along with the 2023 Canadian Folk Music Award for Indigenous Songwriter of the Year and the 2023 ‘Capital Music Awards’ Album of the Year’ for her most recent release, all bear testament to both the quality of her craft. It is a sterling effort from Tomlinson in enticing such a renowned artist to this part of the U.K.
For this particular tour that started back on the 2nd October, and for which this is the penultimate show, Rheaume has been accompanied on stage by guitar player Kyler Tapscott who hails from Port Hope in Ontario, and has the added responsibility of supplying percussion via the array of shells loosely tied around his lower leg. Opening what would be one extended set rather two separated by the usual interval, the show began with two songs from her recent release starting with the powerfully emotive ‘100 Years’, Rheaume’s strummed acoustic guitar, supporting the melody while Tapscott supplied all the atmospheric tension with some tasteful playing as his right leg stamped out the beat. This was followed by the sweet release of ‘Supposed To Be’, before the title track from the award winning “Keep A Fire” became the first of four songs to appear from that album during the evening’s set. Here the narrative draws on the history of Rheaume’s great grandmother who lived around the Great Lakes of Manitoba and is a fantastic example of her songwriting skill in bringing these heritage stories to life. The need to constantly re-tune the guitars offers up the perfect opportunity to interact with the audience and Rheaume’s warm, and inclusive persona immediately negates any distance between stage and hall regaling and educating in equal measure with stories of her heritage and her homeland.
During the between song dialogue Rheaume informed the congregation that she has a new album coming out early next year of which ‘Unforgettable’ was the first of what would be four mouth-watering tasters of what’s to come in early 2025. This was followed by a run of songs from her 2013 release starting with the inspirational ‘Passed Down The Line’ before ‘Not This Time’, with it’s infectious opening guitar riff and spicy narrative of resilience and hope against pending doom, offers Tapscott the opportunity to delivery another of his jaw-dropping guitar solos that have already peppered the evening’s set. A rousing rendition of ‘Strongest Heart’ complete with audience participation brings the burst of older material to a temporary halt as Rheaume turns the focus back to the highly anticipated new release starting with the recent single ‘I Won’t Hide’, before following up with ‘Better Part Of Town’ that challenges today’s reliance on modern technology, and finally a song entitled ‘Lac Seul’, named after a large reservoir in the Kenora District of northwestern Ontario, that once again draws on Rheaume’s heritage for it’s inspiration. As throughout the evening’s set Rheaume is keen to explain and share the history that embodies so much of her work with an audience that is receptive and appreciative for the opportunity to learn about a different culture, and it’s struggles, both past and ongoing.
As the show progressed towards its conclusion we received the one and only cover version of the night, with, what in recent years has become a staple for so many acts, John Prine’s ‘Angel From Montgomery’, here spiced up by some delightful slide guitar from Tapscott, before rounding things off with the title track to 2019’s album “The Skin I’m In”. Needless to say an encore was vociferously demanded from what appeared to be close to a full house who were rewarded by not one but two more numbers. First came ‘Wolf In Time’, the only track from 2016’s album “Holding Patterns”. The song was dedicated to the memory of Fraser Holmes, who had been for many years, and many tours, the go-to guitarist for Rheaume, including previous tours in the UK. Sadly Holmes lost his life to cancer while still only in his late twenties, a loss that Rheaume admits hit her very hard, and for the next few minutes everyone came together to share the loss, but also to celebrate the life, of Fraser Holmes. It seemed only fitting that this wonderful and emotional evening should be brought to a close by the uplifting ‘Companion’, with it’s narrative theme of togetherness cementing the bond between artist and audience that will surely remain until Rheaume again visits these shores.
The evening’s entertainment started with a delightful support set of approximately thirty-five minutes from Hull based Sharon Maher who, though originally from Northern Ireland has clearly resided this side of the Irish Sea long enough for there to be little trace of her homeland accent. Seated behind her Casio keyboard for the whole duration of the short set, Maher performed seven self penned songs alternating between guitar and keys for accompaniment proving herself to be very capable on both. Her song structure and delivery drew favourable comparison to the confessional females songwriters from the late sixties and seventies such as Joni Mitchell, Janis Ian and Judee Sill, rich in melody with a reflective lyrical narrative full of personal experiences betraying a poetic soul. Amongst the many highlights, two songs from her early life, ‘Ballintoy‘, her home in Count Antrim, and ‘Sail Away’, that recounted the troubled years in that part of the British Isles were particular favourites, as was the new number ‘The Mask’, inspired by her daughter. Clearly popular with the local congregation, Maher was an added highlight on what was an excellent evening of music.
