10th Dec 2006, The Troubadour, Brisbane, Australia
| As the crowd waits in anticipation, the enigmatic
CW Stoneking himself sits at a table in the back, enjoying a quiet drink. The spacious, finger-picking rhythms and deadpan yet overtly expressive delivery of Jacob S Harris opens tonight's musical expedition into the past. Harris sings the kind of songs that are unfortunately now few and far between – story-songs about down-to-earth events, narrated in a perfectly poignant language that strips away every word that isn't absolutely necessary. A wonderfully understated performance. CW Stoneking cuts an intimidating figure with his tall build, tilted preacher's hat, and solemn amble – crossing the floor with perhaps a similar aura to the legendary Robert Johnson. Stoneking performs solo tonight (without the vaudeville-jazz of his Primitive Horn Orchestra, who feature prominently on his new album Hokum Blues) – greeting the audience with a rustic, How ya doin' folks? Everything from his jerky body language, tattered suit, seemingly unorthodox strumming technique, and that vocal delivery, is straight off the Mississippi Delta circa 1930. In solo mode, Stoneking sounds every bit like Son House or the aforementioned Johnson – for a lover of Delta blues, his every nuance is hair-raising! 'Them Good Old Cabbage Greens' stirs up a ruckus of a sing-a-long reminiscent of a Mississippi gin joint. Stoneking often pauses between songs and, in his barely-decipherable Southern drawl, mumbles as much to himself as to the audience, Lemme jus' re-tune dis t'ing one secon'. His rendition of Johnson's 'Love In Vain' – a song previously covered by musicians of the calibre of The Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton – is by far the most authentic interpretation ever of Johnson's classic. 'Charley Bostock's Blues' shows that Stoneking's originals sit comfortably beside the classics, his resonating vocal textures engulfing the room. Picking up his dusty tenor banjo, Stoneking plucks a rural rhythm and mournfully croons the solemn 'Don't Go Dancin Down The Darktown Strutter's Ball'. If you've got Son House, Blind Willie McTell, or Leadbelly in your record collection, you've now got a young, contemporary, Australian bluesman in the same great tradition to fall in love with! |
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