Lizotte’s, Newcastle
Tuesday 3 September 2019
Young singer songwriter Lachlan Edwards has the enviable task of opening tonight’s show, and though he has a fine voice and disarmingly simple stage presence, there’s little variety in his sound from song to song. He’s only a young bloke, so there’s room to grow and he certainly has the tools to do something interesting, I’d be keen to give it a listen when he gets there.
Having definitely already arrived at doing something interesting, Justin Townes Earle has dropped one of the highlight albums of the year in Saint Of Lost Causes. Here he graces the Lizottes stage, sans band in solo troubadour mode, and gives a masterclass in entertaining a room full of people armed only with your voice, a guitar and a killer collection of songs.
On record, set opener ‘Flint City Shake It’ is a rollicking rockabilly shuffle with a call and response chorus and organ flourishes. Here on stage it’s stripped down chugging country folk, Earle’s distinctive percussive guitar style driving the tune with enough force that no additional accompaniment is required. Truly his right hand is a star of the show, simultaneously and seemingly effortlessly coaxing beat, rhythm and melody from his instrument. Though the solo style loses some of the subtlety of the full band arrangements of the songs as they appear on his records (the title track from Saint Of Lost Causes in particular), it lends an urgent, rugged insistence to each story being told.
Every song is prefaced with Earle’s engaging stage banter, his warm self-deprecating humour drawing the audience in more and more throughout his set, which leans liberally on the current album and 2010’s Harlem River Blues. ‘Mama’s Eyes’, ‘Hard Livin’’ and ‘Ain’t Waitin’’ are all highlights, accompanied by tales and observations of American and Australian politics, his family and famous father, and a “soon to be ex-wife” quip that I’m not sure was just a joke.
Finishing the night with a Carter Family cover (because “you can’t spell “county without Carter”) and his heartfelt dissertation on mandatory minimum sentencing in the States ‘Ahi Esta Mi Nina’ (“if that didn’t get to you, you’re an asshole” he rightly proclaims), as much as I’d love to see him backed by a full band, there’s no chance you’re leaving the building disappointed or feeling shortchanged in any way.
Reviewer : Roger Killjoy