Chromedomes Lockdown Lookback #13
Here we go again for another lookback of last weeks livestreams. Who would believe we would still be here doing this after 3 months?
The variation of artists I’ve reviewed over this time has always been increasing thanks to the various platforms that continue to highlight artists from all over the world, Monday was no exception as Nashville Meets World introduced me to the music of Rosie Horne a young artist from Kent who I enjoyed very much. All these new artists on my radar just goes to highlight the talent we have I the UK and overseas. Dolly Parton was the subject of the week from The Rising in their weekly stream and there is no dispute that Chantelle can certainly be very adaptable as they put their own interpretation on the classic songs of Dolly. Chris puts his own spin into the musical side of the songs and the two of them make a great team. Louise Parker took over the mantle on the Belles & Gals Monday Night Music Club and certainly didn’t let the sign down with her great set.
Tuesday again proved to be a quieter night for me but the quality was not lacking with the weekly stream from the lovely Robyn Taylor at her finest with some great music before my attention turned another Tuesday regular stream from SaraBeth and Glen and as expected with their mix of original songs and covers they kept the weekly entertainment going.
Wednesday opened with another stream from the chirpy Samantha Lloyd who was extremely excited about the release of her new single which would hit the media on Friday. Scott Ashworth did an impromptu stream from home with a mix of covers and originals and as always this was an extremely entertaining stream. Play That Country Music hosted by Ross McIntyre gave 5 artists the chance to appear on this stream and we were treated to some fine music from Raquel and the Wildflowers, Grayson Rogers, Kirstie Kraus, (more new acts for me), along with Kelsey Bovey and the delightful tones of Simon James. Elaine Lennon continued her The Homebird Sessions series with an evening of music and chat with singer songwriter, musician and producer Boo Hewerdine and again not knowing much about Boo I discovered a few names that I am aware of have him as a producer on many of their projects. It was also great to have a late-night livestream from American sister duo Southern Halo who always give a very energetic rendition of their music.
Tennessee Twin were on the Songs and Stories Lookback with a great cover of the Dixie Chicks song Travelling Soldier which I have to say was a very good cover in my view as they kept the tempo to what I feel is correct for the song. Buckle and Boots came up with the goods again with their highlighted artist George Ducas an American singer songwriter. There is no mistaking what day we are on when the screen turns to the great livestream from Jade who along with the great guitar playing from Luke. I envy all these artists we have who can pick songs from people’s requests and learn them within a few days and still manage to produce a quality set while adding these to their own original songs. My late-night viewing then turned to a very good friend from America Jessica Lynn. They were having a few connection problems in the area but with a few tweaks and a restart of the stream Jessica was first class as always and previewed her next single “Now Or Never”. This new song is going to be a cracker in my view.
Friday morning started with a wee video from Kezia Gill which was a celebration of her 13th year with her husband Lloyd. Today was also the release day of the fantastic new single from Samantha Lloyd “Burning Light” and my day was made seeing the remake of the promotion photo that Samantha had done from Hope Its Country master of promotion Mr William Hope with the addition of an extra LP cover. Williams assistants Bratwurst & Wilfie also did their own tik tok promotion video. The evenings streams all seemed to happen around the same time with Katy Hurt, Katee Kross with both producing great streams and William Michael Morgan. Williams stream was to celebrate the release of his new song “Behind Closed Doors”. My Friday would not be complete without donning my Friday Night Crew t-shirt to take in the Pour Me A Strong One Session from Kezia Gill. This week’s stream was a celebration for Father’s Day which included a variety of tracks from multiple genres and again highlighted the brilliant talent of this wonderful lady who only the previous week scooped three awards from Silverball Country. One great song was of Kezias I have loved since I first heard it is the song she wrote for her dad “Local Mans Star” which due to his sad passing earlier this year proved to be very emotional for her to sing and I’m not afraid to admit had me and a lot of us watching rush for the tissues.
South East Country Collective had a variety of artists appearing on Saturday and I managed to catch parts of a couple of sets including Tennessee Twin and Scott Ashworth. Katee Kross appeared on her usual Saturday night stream along with Ross and there is no getting away from seeing why she proves so popular on the circuit. Kezia appeared on the Nashville Nights platform and as usual was incredibly good. Circle Live from The Opry had a great show featuring Clint Black and Darius Rucker and their finale was a superb cover of the Merle Haggard hit “Mamma Tried”.
Sunday had the usual stream from The Songs & Stories Collective crew with some great music from Sarah Yeo, Donna Marie, and Tennessee Twin with a guest appearance from Roisin O’Hagan. Laura Oakes had the 90s as her featured theme and again highlighted her talent as a musician and singer. Jenn Bostic streamed in the evening and highlighted her vocal and playing skills and a late-night selection of music from Sarah Darling completed my week of streams.
This week I must mention the collaborations from Jade and Jess Thristan with a brilliant rendition of Kelsea Ballerini’s “Peter Pan” and another great addition to the UK Country Collective series with volume 11 featuring Tim Prottey-Jones this time with Poppy Fardell.
As always until next week stay safe and well and if you can keep supporting our great artists in whatever way you can.