Greetings From NASHVILLE – Tennessee Two-step – Saturday October 26th – 8pm
Starring top Nashville songwriters JON BYRD and AMELIA WHITE – with special guest FLORENCE SOMMERVILLE
Nashville comes to Biddenden, with Jon Byrd and Amelia White, a pair of top country music songwriters, bringing a taste of Tennessee to Bloomsburys, in an entertaining mix of well-known country and folk classics blended in with some of their own self-penned gems. As an added bonus, Florence Sommerville, Britain’s fastest-rising country star, will be bringing her modern youthful country style to the evening.
Born in Virginia and raised in Boston, White graduated from staging plays in her back yard to writing songs as soon as she acquired an acoustic guitar. Based in Nashville for the past twenty years, she has toured the world and released a series oc acclaimed albums with No Depression magazine dubbing her ‘the Queen of the East Nashville underground.’
Amelia’s soft vocal drawl, that carries elements of Stevie Nicks and Marianne Faithful, is seductive and smoky, dark and woody like a road stop in the mid-west somewhere. Against backdrops of acoustic and electric guitars, by turns delicate or rocking, framing Amelia’s voice and its quiet urgency.
Jon Byrd moved from Atlanta to Nashville in 2001, and since then he’s been kicking around Music City stages, playing fine guitar, singing soulful lead and harmony vocals, leading his Byrds’ Auto Parts band and providing sideman-style assistance for a circle of music-minded friends.
He delivers a sincere vocal with a just below-the-surface outlaw creed and sparkling instrumentation. It skates through rather simple but loyal melodies. A little George Jones here, a little John Denver there and lots of Jon Byrd tones.Despite performing in a straight aimed country manner, he spices it up with clever turns of phrases without trying to be cute as he bristles with spirit. An entirely different weave from average country singers, and therein lies the skills of Mr. Jon Byrd.
There’s a raw rootsy quality to Florence Sommerville’s music that belies her youthfulness. An assured performer, she takes total command of any stage from the outset and allows her crystalline vocals to shine on her well-crafted original songs. In short, Florence Sommerville is the total package. Her songs, her voice, her personality and naturalness on stage. There’s a little bit of something for everyone to love in Florence’s repertoire. Her live performances are warm and energetic, and thanks to catchy songs that encourage you to move your feet, it’ll be hard to sit still at her performance.
Tickets for Greetings From Nashville show are £15 each and can be reserved by calling Alan Cackett on 077860-11477 or via email – alan@alancackett.com
