Once again It`s been a blustery wet day but the night has dried up a little as I arrive at the intimate oasis that is The Kitchen Garden Café for what has almost become an annual pilgrimage from Belfast Singer-Songwriter, Poet, Author, Raconteur, and all-round nice guy Andy White. This evening being one of his stopping off points on his thirteen-date tour of Ireland and the UK which began in his hometown earlier this month and will end with an appearance at the Glastonbury festival next month.
Special guest tonight is Ayla Schofield, who was born in Germany but is a country girl at heart and shares a really well received thirty minute set of her own compositions and covers. She begins with a version of KT Tunstall`s `Black Horse and the Cherry Tree` which really suits her style as her live guitar, vocals and fiddle are repeated through the use of a loop station. `Change It For The Better` is a self-penned composition and quite heartbreaking but with a positive message and it`s interesting to see that although Ayla is a lefthanded guitar player, she plays the fiddle righthanded. A song Aretha Franklin made famous `Chain of Fools` is shared before another song that Ayla wrote follows with `Leave My Heart Open` which was written about the connection she had with her late Grandmother and it`s a song that would draw a tear from a stone. The final cut is `Come Alive` which is the title of Ayla`s current tour, which she travels to and from in a repainted Peugeot car styled as a Greyhound bus. Ayla is definitely “one to watch” and I’ll be keeping track of her social media to ensure I catch her next performance in the Midlands.
Andy White usually arrives as a new album is released and tonight is no exception as his live album `The night is approaching though some would say it was morning` arrives this week. It`s an album that is dedicated to Janice Long and Joanna Beckitt, and suggested by legendary producer John Leckie, who arranged for it to be recorded at Abbey Road Studios with him at the helm.
`Angel of Gaza` opens the show which was written as the singer-songwriter watched the devastation in Gaza which if anything has gotten worse. It`s back in time, well forty years for ‘Religious Persuasion’ an early take on the troubles of his hometown. `The Revolution` a funky discourse on issues such as unreasonable oil prices, social media, and AI. A song that hints that the answer is in our hands and for me it has that vibe of Gil Scott-Heron`s 1971 satirical poem and song `The Revolution Will Not Be Televised`.
The thoughtful `Everything Turns White` is delightfully dreamy before Andy clips on his harmonica for `Rembrandt Hat` and `Get It Right This Time` another Belfast reflection. ’James Joyce’s Grave’ always appears to simple but is so absorbing as does the beguiling `Italian Girls on Mopeds`. We have in `If You Want It` written with Allison Russell (Po’ Girl, The Birds Of Chicago) a number about climate change which has everybody singing the lyrics of “If you want it, come and get it, It`s the last long evening on the planet.”
It`s requests time and the delightfully contemplative `Whole Thing` is requested and delivered along with `Last Day of Summer` which I must admit I shouted up for and was rewarded, which made my evening. It`s a number that almost brings tears to my eyes everytime I hear it.
The final section includes `Broken Hearted` a traditional balled about a lover’s loss during the Peninsular War against Napoleon and a song Andy heard by Dolores Keane from De Dannon which she released as `The Bonnie Light Horseman` along with ‘Theresa Theresa’ and `Birds of Passage` which are all included on his latest release.
This troubadour is encouraged to return for an encore which he does with ‘Good Luck I Hope You Make It`, before leaving us with `Vision of You` where he talks warmly about Janice Long and John Peel and shares that the title to his latest release comes from the first lines of this song.
I`ve said before that Andy`s shows are pretty unique as he promotes a few numbers from his latest offering, shares a few that he wants to play himself and accepts a number of requests which keeps the audience happy. Most of all we get thought provoking and hard hitting stories and songs with catchy tunes from a sharp witted socialist mind that hasn`t diminished over the last forty years.
As his debut album from nearly forty years ago suggests all I can say is `Rave on Andy White`
