LIVE REVIEW: SOPHIE ROSE - SUSANNAH CLEGG - CAPER BOOK SHOP - OXFORD

After the hullabaloo of C2C, it was back to UK Grass Roots music at its most creative, with an area in a bookshop in the outskirts of Oxford, turned into a performance space. It has to be said, a very fine book shop at that, the sort that you treasure as opposed to funding billionaires to go into space. It would in truth be a quite surreal night, breaking many of the established rules of gig going, no tiresome ticket checking, it seemed to be assumed if you were there then you had paid to be there. On entry, the stage area was still being finished off with a backdrop of a guitar painted on sheet being affixed by a stage hand. That stage hand would later also cover sound duties, sell merchandise, be occasional MC and also reveal herself to be UK Americana artist Emilia Quinn making her introduction to #TEAMw21 while perilously balanced on a stool.

The front of stage was dressed with flowers, there was a sort of lamp effect with three battery powered candles sitting in a basket atop a real candle stand, covered with the framework of a lamp shade! A further battery powered candle lay on the floor. There were three rows of chairs in front of the stage with a further five or so to the side, this was the definition of intimate. With a makeshift bar and toilets accessed by walking through a wardrobe only adding to the unique atmospher. On stage there were three stools for the artists of the evening, with one other supporting a Marshall amp and a final one supporting the sound mixer.

Support for the evening would come from Lancaster based Susannah Clegg, who in her hat and rolled up shirt sleeves, would bring her own unique spin on UK Americana with a penchant for mining songs among other things. With a classic country introductory guitar riff for her opening song "Prospect Street" all we were missing was a campfire to gather round such was the atmosphere created. Susannah was blessed with a powerful voice, that occasionally drifted into a mid western drawl that fitted her material perfectly. Able to project out at volume with seemingly little effort Susannah invited you into her world and a charming place it would prove to be. In the closing sections of the song Susannah even found another gear in volume almost rendering the electrical equipment redundant, such was the strength of her delivery.

"Now there's nothing left but heartache to be found on Prospect Street"

#TEAMw21 always judge an artist by their choice in covers, and Susannah got extra bonus point for highlighting the work of Willie Watson and his song "One To Fall". That it was the first time she had even played it, let alone played it in front of an audience only added additional jeopardy to the performance. Apart from the occasional glance to her phone to check a lyric or two she pulled it off with great aplomb, occasionally just leaning back on her stool as she fired out vocals. It all ended with a big smile and a "Thank You for indulging me". Returning to her own material for "Forget Me Not", Susannah would move from being precariously balanced on her stool to full stand up mode, on this song with an old time vibe.

It must be said that such was the attention being paid to Susannah that even the occasional creak of a chair seemed deafeningly loud such was the stunning silence. For "Good Times Are Coming Our Way",, Susannah displayed a lively turn of phrase, that marked her out as being a most considered writer.

"I think of you when the nights get so cold

My breath hangs like mist in the air"

On this song her voice would drop to be a little deeper, a bit richer yet still incredibly powerful as she talked of Montana and mining. Susannah would reveal herself to be a fan of Victorian literature and Thomas Hardy. Her next Hardy inspired song was "Tess", was therefore apt, as she would point out, to be sung in a book shop!. Her song "Last To Know Blues" would feature intricate guitar work and lines fired out at a rapid rate as she railed against a cheating partner

"Getting your kicks on the wrong side of town"

For her final song "Colorado" she would enlist a couple of available backing singers in Sophie and Emilia. To a background of fireworks, this song was another rich with narrative.

"If I get back to Colorado

Is an unrelenting flow

Of broken memories all I’ll find?

Or if I get back to Colorado

Will that rocky mountain grant me peace of mind?"

The additional harmonies provided the cherry on top, and it was no surprise that the end of the set saw Susannah sport a broad smile after providing a most impressive opening set.

Sophie's set would break many of the rules of performing, from starting with a cover, having huge gaps inbetween songs, even including a section of spoken word. All of these things in a normal show would disrupt the flow and make for a disjointed evening but a Sophie Rose show is somehow different. The audience are very much invited into her world, which is a calmer, more peaceful one than that which we'll return to after the show, and if Sophie wants to break the fourth wall to discuss the colours of a house she has painted, then that is fine!

Sophie is blessed with one of the few voices that might put Susannah in the shade, she has a spoken voice that occasionally sweetly drops into her native Bristolian on certain words. She would open with a cover and as with Susannah it was a considered choice, with Leonard Cohen's "Tower Of Song" from the excellent "I'm Your Man" album. Leonard's deep timbre on his soulful song was replaced by an equally stunning vocal akin to a sort of Johnny Cash style of delivery at times on this countrified version.

Sophie has embarked on her first UK tour and was first to admit it was a learning curve which may explain it being so unaorthodox. For "Where Is Your Had At?", Sophie would start with a light strum, living each line as she sang. Gradually the guitar playing gathered volume and was matched by an equivalent rise in vocal strength to the point a mic was barely required.

Her tune "Robert Burns" was a mixture of literary figures and personal details from a Scottish romance.

"I sang in Mick's bar, as you cried outside

We kissed in you kitchen, lost all sense of time"

would mix with Hemmingway, Plath and Ted Hughes.

The essence of Sophie's world was never better captured than on "Before The World Wakes Up" where the beauty of that time on or around dawn, contributed to being Sophie's self proclaimed "only happy song!"

The sound would then change with the arrival of Emilia Quinn on backing vocals.

Described as an "Optimistic take on heartbreak", the slow soulful blues of "Heartbreak Of You" the chorus which we've seen her perform before was given a new richness and depth by the additional vocals. One of the first songs to draw Sophie into our orbit, "Healing In The Burn" started with intricate guitar playing. The recorded version is suitably anthemic whereas this bare bones version, in comparison at times was like a softly spun web, delicate to the point it could almost collapse yet still incredibly strong with Sophie able to turn on the vocal burners at one point.

Most performers have cd's vinyl or t shirts, Sophie is the first #TEAMw21 have come across to have their own "Zine", - it says "Allow me to introduce myself" on the cover, and is part autobiography, part discography and part creative outlet. Beautifully packaged with a high gloss finish in a limited edition - it is thing of sheer beauty. One of the pages is dedicated to a poem I Know A Woman" and Sophie would out herself as being a spoken word poet - move over John Cooper Clarke and where better than in a book shop!

The next guest to the stage was Thomas, who would provide additional atmospheric electric guitar for "To The Core" to join Emilia's harmony backing vocals. Slowed down this version was totally absorbing.

The final song of the night was "Big River" with Sophie now having a touch of Amy Winehouse in her delivery as words extended out. It was pained as she sang "Don't want to cry a big river"

This was a final piece of powerful delivery that all but shook the walls. Finishing with a softly spoken "Thank you very much" our time in Sophie's world came to an end.

Not many artists thank you "For your time and listening energy" but then there are not many artists around like Sophie Rose.