We’d been trying to find a date that both these very talented and very different solo singer-songwriters could make for quite a while but it was worth the wait.
Since seeing Anne-Marie at Shirley Folk last winter she has done hundreds of gigs around the UK and across Europe. It’s given her a a growing confidence to talk about her songs and she is a consummate performer. Her guitar work is very accomplished and she has the most amazing voice that coaxes out beautiful melodies. She performed works from across her three excellent recorded EPs as well as a couple of newer songs.
This recording of Poisonwood from her most recent Book Songs EP shows her in full flight. Apologies for the quality of the video but you’ll certainly get a sense of what a talent Anne-Marie is.
I never usually think to ask for a set list….I could see Anne-Marie’s orange one all the way through the set. But still forgot to ask for it. She kindly emailed it to me later:
Before Anne-Marie we had been treated to Haiti born American citizen Germa who has been living and working in Birmingham for a while. She brought stories from Haiti and sang in a mixture of Creole and English with violin and guitar accompaniments that had echoes of Malian music or even modern minimalists like Steve Reich.
Germa’s introductions and story telling between songs was very softly spoken. You could hear a pin drop as everyone lent forward slightly to catch her every word. But despite the fragility of her spoken words the songs had strong rhythms and there were plenty of opportunities for audience participation. Someone was even adding harmony vocals. It was a beautiful sound anyway.
