Live Review: David Ramirez + Ben de la Cour, The Ropewalk, Ropery Hall, Barton-Upon-Humber – 10th May 2025

It may be only early May, but summer would appear to have well and truly arrived as I made the journey for my second visit of the year to Ropery Hall, located within the North Lincolnshire market town of Barton-upon-Humber. These days, the hall houses the museum that depicts the history of rope-making in the town, which dates back to 1767, where visitors can marvel at the machinery, tools, and materials used in the ropemaking process, along with interactive displays, films, and archive photographs, making this an excellent destination for both locals and those travelling from further afield.

However, tonight it is the excellently run community venue, once again punching above its weight, that brings me back to the town nestled beneath the shadow of the Humber Bridge, bringing not just one great singer-songwriter from the USA, but two, making this evening’s line-up appear very much like a doubleheader.

Opening proceedings this night was Brooklyn-raised Ben de la Cour, currently across here to play several dates prior to the release of his forthcoming sixth album “New Roses” which sees the light of day next month. Since the release of his debut album “Ghost Light” in 2013, de la Cour has steadily built a reputation as one of the finest singer-songwriters of his generation, with no-less than legendary producer Jim White stating, “(he) is hands down one of the best songwriters around”, while on seeing de la Cour perform at a gig in Nashville Lucinda Williams stated, “It didn’t take long to realise that I was in the presence of greatness,” and praise doesn’t come much higher than that. His most recent release, “Sweet Anhedonia”, which came out in 2023, was shortlisted for a Grammy, drawing accolades from critics, colleagues and listeners alike, calling it “a standard bearer for Southern Gothic Americana”.

Tonight’s appearance was something of an afterthought, with de la Cour already in the UK to headline his own tour, discovered that David Ramirez was also touring, and being an admirer of the Texan songsmith, and with no commitment for the evening offered his services as support. De la Cour also has his own support on this tour with compatriot Aubree Riley supplying backing vocals to his own signature “Americanoir” sound and she was happily on stage tonight.

De la Cour took to the stage casually dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, with an acoustic guitar in hand, opening the set with three songs from his most recent album. Starting with ‘Appalachian Book Of The Dead’, he immediately hit his stride with this raw gothic tale from the American heartland, his striking vocal delivery settling in the space somewhere between Nick Cave and Tom Waits, offset by the sweet interjection of Riley’s backing vocals. The following song, ‘Numbers Game’, already considered a de la Cour classic with its evocative lyrical narrative of tragic characters, allowed Riley the opportunity to share lead vocals, her voice delightfully wrapping around de la Cour’s. The sugar to his spice. The third song from the 2023 album was ‘Shine On The Highway’, with its snarling poetry holding the local congregation, almost daring not to breathe, as it built in tension before drifting into the ether.

By now, de la Cour had already got the crowd baying and hollering ecstatically between each number as he introduced the first song and title track from his forthcoming new album, “New Roses”. Here, a gently picked arpeggio melody on the acoustic guitar leads into a half-spoken, half-sung narrative that typifies de la Cour’s poetry, filled with juxtaposition and duality, finding the perfect balance between the bleak and the beautiful.

More songs from the new album would follow, but first de la Cour treated the audience to two songs from his wonderful 2020 album “Shadow Land”, initially with the cinematic noir of ‘God’s Only Son’,  delivered with all the acerbic vocal intensity of a seasoned method actor before the gorgeously unsettling ‘Amazing Grace (Slight Return)’ that epitomises what lies at the very heart of de la Cour’s writing; weaving evocative stories laced with both savagery and empathy, pain and ecstasy.

The set was concluded with two more from the new album, with ‘The Devil Went Down To Silver Lake’, its deliberate nod to the Charlie Daniels song with a similar name, telling a familiar tale of foolishly thinking you can outrun your past, before the delightful ‘Christina’ and its minimalist poetry full of sensibilities and empathetic lyrics that suddenly and unexpectedly sees the narrative replaced by an atmospheric musical concluding crescendo which at first catches the audience off-guard before on mass they burst into raucous applause.

On this evidence, the release of the new album “New Roses” can’t come quickly enough, and the opportunity to catch Ben de la Cour along with Aubree Riley at their remaining UK shows comes highly recommended.

Of course, to allow an artist of such standing as de la Cour to open for you would either suggest, at the very least, a level of foolhardiness, or a quiet self-confidence in your own canon of work. And when it comes to David Ramirez, it is most definitely the latter.

The Austin, Texas-based singer-songwriter Ramirez has to date amassed no less than seven albums and three EPs in a recording career that spans back to 2009 and the release of his debut album “American Soil”, while in 2020, he was awarded ‘Songwriter of the Year’ by the ‘Austin Chronicle’ on the back of the release of his critically acclaimed album “My Love Is A Hurricane”. In March of this year, Ramirez released his most recent offering, “All The Not So Gentle Reminders” which heralded a return to form, focusing on the joy of making music and avoiding the distractions and demands of the business.

Ramirez performed seated throughout the set, his brown suede jacket almost a colour match for his acoustic guitar, his sole instrument for the duration. With limited fanfare, he opened with two songs from his most recent album, firstly with ‘Deja Voodoo’ in which Ramirez questions his own memory, followed by ‘Dirty Martini’ which instantly introduced tonight’s congregation to his deep and powerfully reverberant baritone vocals, which at different times would sculpt and caress his lyrical poetry with such evocative passion, as to conjure comparison with such luminaries as Jeff Buckley, John Grant and in particular Jeffrey Martin, all pristinely captured by the venue’s excellent sound-man.

In many ways, Ramirez’s third release, “Fables” (2015), was his breakthrough album, and early into the set he treated the audience to three of the album’s best songs, starting with ‘New Way Of Living’ followed by a sublime rendition of ‘Harder To Lie’, both replete with comic backstory’s that betray his subtle sense of humour, and finally ‘Communion’, Ramirez singing, as if almost praying, his eyes pressed closed, lost in the moment, somewhere back in his distant memory. In recent years Ramirez’s albums have gradually been adorned with a broader musical arrangement, but there is something incredibly honest about the simplicity of just guitar and vocals that cuts straight to the heart of a song and tonight all the vulnerability, strength and glory that lies within each line of Ramirez’s poetry was laid bare for all to witness and admire.

The next of Ramirez’s albums to take centre stage was 2020’s “My Love Is A Hurricane”. This critically acclaimed album is awash with great songs and tonight’s faithful were rewarded with a brooding version of ‘Shine On Me’, the intensity and soulfulness of its delivery drawing comparison to Richie Havens, before the album’s opener ‘Lover, Will You Lead Me’, unleashed all the power and control within Ramirez’s octaves spanning baritone vocals. Simply breathtaking. Unsurprisingly, some liquid refreshment was required at this point and was duly supplied as Fabian, Ramirez’s road manager, appeared, tequila in hand, before the audience was treated to the third of the triptych of songs with a memorable rendition of the title track, dedicated tonight to a member of the audience.

There was still time for a selection of songs from 2017’s “We’re Not Going Anywhere” including the upbeat ‘Good Heart’ with its subtly barbed narrative, while the achingly beautiful ‘Telephone Lovers’ captured all the doubt and insecurities of a long distance love affair, again Ramirez’s vocals squeezing every drop of emotion from each syllable that for a moment the effort was both transparent and translucent as it resonated around the hall. ‘Watching From A Distance’ took on an almost hymnal quality, momentarily allowing all in attendance to catch their breath, before one last visit to the newest release and the song that lends the album its title, ‘Waiting On The Dust To Settle’, which embraces a new beginning, anthemic both in its delivery and message.

There was no encore, as is common these days to avoid the pretence, and yet despite the lengthy set, of at least 17 songs, there was no denying that the audience would have loved just one more song, okay, maybe make that two. And yet, all great things must come to an end, and tonight was truly great, with two of America’s finest songwriters delivering a very special evening that will live long in the memory of all who were fortunate enough to witness. Ropery Hall, you did us proud.