By the time Drayton Farley took to the stage, the Barrelhouse looked nothing like the pristine state #TEAMw21 had left it after seeing Halle Kearns earlier. The floor now a swathe of empty cans, and barrels eponymous to the venues name were covered with some sort of metallic sculptures as people played reverse jenga creating ever taller towers. None of this would bother Drayton Farley who unusually for a C2C act actually had things he wanted to get off his chest.
With long hair and a beard he offered a polite "Hope you enjoy the set" before launching into a blistering run of songs, the likes of which as mentioned earlier rarely get seen at C2C. there was a strum of the guitar and then immediately he launched into "Blue Collar"
"There's a job I've been working that pays me just enough
To put me up and bring me down like a house of cards"
This was a picture of America that we rarely get to hear about in the UK, and Drayton's ability to capture this gritty reality was a sight to behold
"It pays a few of the bills and I take a few of the pills
and I wonder if I'm living or if I'm just alive
As pointed out in our preview we were expecting a somewhat intense performance and Drayton did not disappoint. With a hardcore of his fans surrounding us mouthing along to each lyric, there was clearly more than a market for realistic slices of 2024 America.
The mood was not to lighten with "American Dream ( Hard Up)" - during the introduction to it, Drayton shared some of his past employment, specifically working on an assembly line in Alabama for Mercedes Benz, a time he does not look back on fondly, however it does mean that he has a true understanding of what he sings. He knows what it is like to slave away at a job and then see half of it disappear in taxes. Drayton's "American Dream" was indeed another eye opener
"I was born this way, I'm a government slave
and I was raised on stolen land"
Delivered with a real passion for his subject Drayton all but demolished this once cherished ideal.
The mood would slow slightly for "Evergreen Eyes" with its pained cry "Everything Changes But Me" at the end of an ever rising chorus.
The stirring anthem of of "How To Feel Again" once again saw Drayton deliver his lyrics with a thunderous passion
"Here we all have the right
We all have the right to be something real
We sing our own songs we right all our wrongs
Teaching ourselves to learn how to feel again"
At times, like on the more uptempo and upbeat "Dreamer", the intensity was still there despite the message being more hopeful. Drayton would close his eyes as per the lyric, sung as if he was contemplating a distant better future.
Drayton's big tune "Pitchin' Fits" would close out a short yet powerful set, It's a song he has grown into as he has got older he would remark.
"Tell me, can you save me?
I think I've fallen sick
I have grown to be so angry
And I just can't call it quits"
Not sure Drayton goes in for organising audience singalongs to his songs - for this one howevr he needn't have bothered for #TEAMw21 were surrounded by folk singing the key chorus line
"I don't mind at all" at the top of their lungs.
If this was C2C dipping it's toe into the edgier end of the Americana market then it was an unqualified success.
Drayton Farley returns to the UK in May supporting 49 Winchester
