LIVE REVIEW: SONG SUFFRAGETTES - HANNAH JANE LEWIS, BETH KEEPING, KATIE NICOLL, NEEVE ZAHRA - LIL NASHVILLE
The first Sunday of the month means that it is Song Suffragettes time at Lil Nashville, with four artists playing four rounds of songs, each giving a little insight as to how they were created or what they might be about.
One of the best things about C2C 2026 was the return of Hannah Jane Lewis to the fold, having been fans since she posted clips of herself playing songs from the TV series "Nashville" with Jess Roberts. She is also indirectly responsible for w21music.com as all the major players came together for her EP launch at The Borderline. Today would be history in a new way with Hannah Jane playing a songwriters round, certainly for the first time in our memory. Like a female Dorian Gray she actually does not seem to have aged a day since our first review over ten years ago.
Positioned in seat number one, Hannah Jane would host as well as open each round.
Her opening song "Navy Blue", written in Nashville as is much of her recent material, was released nearly a year ago with little fanfare. This solo version sounded even better, Hannah's voice now has an even richer depth to it, ideally suited to this sort of material, her extended version of the word "Blue" towards the end, seemed to last an eternity yet she never wavered a note. For a first solo outing her guitar playing was also exemplary, #TEAMw21 would expect to see her at many a future round as she was a natural.
Hannah Jane's second outing was for her forthcoming single, "Pretty Boy", which she immediately gained kudos with #TEAMw21 for mentioning she was aiming for a Civil Wars vibe, after seeing John Paul White at The Bluebird. On first listen the verses most certainly achieved that intention, with the chorus wrapped around a delightful melody that could grace any pop song. For Round Three it would be Hannah Jane's turn to try out a bit of audience participation for her recent song "Boys On Film". Hannah Jane has natural pop sensibilities, and once mixed with a country vibe it cannot fail to make a winning combination and so it was here - the audience and her fellow performers would all join in on the "Think I love you, think I love you, think I love you a lot" refrain.
Hannah Jane's latest releases come out on Thursday's Child Records, and "Thursday's Child" is the title of her EP due in December and her Round 4 contribution, Named after the famous rhyme allocating days to children's potential futures, "Thursday's Child" has far to go, and with this latest batch of songs who would want to bet against her? Described as being very personal, it was a slower more considered tune that we'll certainly be looking out for in December.
Beth Keeping was certainly dressed to impress with the air of someone who did not realise she would be playing 10 feet in the air. Her short dress had the potential for the crowd to see more of her than they had ever expected! It led to some intricate manoeuvring to protect her modesty, which thankfully she pulled off. A consummate songwriter who has been crafting tunes for some years, our personal fave "I Dodged A Bullet" would not get an outing today, but four other crackers would.
Beth would potentially dice with death, offering up an early audience singalong opportunity, for her opening song "San Francisco". The recorded version of this song is all keyboards and atmospherics, hearing it solo seemed to give it another lease of life, the verses seeming more intense the choruses more dreamy. It certainly was welcoming enough for the assembled crowd and her fellow performers to join in on.
Her second contribution "Come Outside ( The Rotting Song)" came with an explanation of "Bed Rotting" and offered a message of positivity, to help break the cycle of negativity, by once more getting outside and enjoying life. The message came in a reassuring "one step at a time" way and so sounded genuine and caring. It exuded a warmth, with Beth's vocals offering a soothing safe place. For Round Three it would be Beth offering up a new song "I Never Think Of You", with its co-writer Kaity Rae looking on. Always able to find a new angle on a relationship break up, this celebrated the freedom after a break up, of not having to associate places with an ex and seemed a worthy addition to Beth's catalogue.
Beth would close her afternoon out with "Plane Tickets", a song celebrating that being alone need not be defining and that it can open up opportunities such as getting a plane ticket to anywhere and having a good time. Beth's selections were a reminder, if one were needed of just what an accomplished singer songwriter she is, always worth catching up with.
On the day we assumed that Katie Nicoll must play quite a bit at venues where she has to vie with other ambient noise for attention. Her playing and singing seemed to be considerably louder than the rest of the participants, as she fired out her lyrics with barely a pause for breath. this was to be her London debut and one suspects, if she wants it, a follow up visit won't be far behind. It was only on digging into her material on returning home, such as her opener "Jodi Said" that we found out they normally come with a full on indie soundtrack! A delicate guitar intro, gave way to those fast fired lyrics before the chorus saw Katie move to the most strident guitar playing we'd hear all afternoon. With so many words to absorb, there was a lot to take in however this stripped back version fitted right in with her fellow performers material.
Following on from Hannah Jane's lead Katie would use the second round for playing an unreleased song "In My Head" dealing with having feelings for a friend. Once again it was packed with lyrics, however from the bits we picked out it seemed well constructed, honest and considerately thought out, and will be fascinating to see what eventual format it comes out in. Katie's third song "I Just Miss My Dog" was never going to be an easy listen for any pet lover however it soon revealed itself to be much more than even that initial heartbreaking premise
"Fell on hard times last semester
Almost convinced myself, if I were gone
Everyone would be off better"
That dark opening would lead to a more positive affirmative chorus "I want to feel better"
Keeping the afternoons singalong theme going, Katie Nicolls final song would see the requirement for some undemanding "Na Na na"ing from the audience, for "With You (na na na)". It was probably her most Americana sounding song and a fun way to close out her series of selections.
Neeve Zahra is virtually an adopted Londoner now with her third visit to the capital this year. With an incredibly high personal quality threshold, her recent shows have each seen her drop in new material that if anything, suggests that like an Olympic high jumper, her bar will soon be being set even higher. Having suffered from a Beth style incident a few weeks earlier, she had wisely opted for jeans on this particular outing. As she would explain her second EP "Breakup Breakdown", looks at the various stages of a break up, "Empty Heart" her Round One song, saw her ablility to conjure a melody abundantly displayed. Varying her pace and volume throughout made it a most captivating listen.
For her second round, Neeve would stay with her second EP, for "Karma", her mild mannered revenge song. With its upbeat country tune it would close the second round in an jolly manner and perhaps being sat next to Katie saw her guitar playing move to being a little more forceful. Neeve would also play a newly written, unreleased tune in "I Do", it came with a high concept, heartfelt lyrics and distinct little sections. Essentially a slower ballad, there seemed much to like and we'll hope to hear it again at some point soon. Not having a singalong for the audience she did get them involved in the clapalong section to "Step Right Over", the afternoons purest pop song by far, dripping in hooks and with an all important key change - what better way to close out the main section of the afternoon?
As is traditional, the closing song of the afternoon would see all four performers tackle one song in this case Taylor Swift's "Tim McGraw". With Katie providing the sole guitar sound, all four would share vocals, at times coming together to make a powerful choir, closing out a most entertaining afternoon.
