We knew the return of Lynne Hanson and Annie Keating to the LRB would be good, but as they say, the whole is so often greater than the sum of the parts, and this was true tonight. Unbelievably these two amazing artists had never met before, but they have now and they clicked instantly so we can expect more from them together in the future if the fates allow…
Lynne Hanson was accompanied by Blair Michael Hogan on guitar, whilst Lynne played a stomp box along with her guitars.
Hold My Breath was the gentle opener for tonights set, a 2021 single release as Lynne expresses her regret not being able to stay on later and enjoy Annie’s set.
100 Mile Wind is next with Lynne switching to her striking red Gretsch electric guitar and some haunting slide from Blair, another single from March 2022, followed by Hearts Fade Track 2 from the JUST WORDS album. The applause showed just how well that went down…
Being a good neighbour is important in the Canadian philosophy Lynne explains, due to their neighbours having so many weapons and they only having Maple Syrup… laughs, but the importance of that was behind the writing of Clean Slate Track 6 from JUST WORDS…
Lynne now playing acoustic guitar, ponders being alive whilst Ernest Hemingway lived and how she would break his heart… Hemingway’s Songbird another great song from JUST WORDS.
Next we hear a story relating Lynne’s latest album by seeing a man trying to sell Ice Cream in November (Which happened to be the title) As she approached him, his face lit up at the prospect of a sale on such an unlikely day, only to dashed as Lynne asked to take his photograph… Laughs…
That was a beautiful haunting sound once more though.
Lynne received applause as she talked about being sober since 2011 but the memories of the demons inspired Long Way Home another great track from JUST WORDS.
A song about heartbreak, Orion’s Belt Track 5 from ICE CREAM IN NOVEMBER. Lynne joked about having her heart broken at the age of 4… He was 5, but she always liked the older man… laughs…
The serious question was, would you jump in if you knew the ending? Beautiful…
Lynne has decided to start a new trend with her Pandama (Bandana) She is obsessed with Pandas it seems, so Lynne had Pandana as a unique merch item which she was thrilled to demonstrate, also they look great…
Hip like Cohen track 2 from ICE CREAM IN NOVEMBER ups the tempo a little as Lynne plays acoustic guitar and Blair continues to excel on his Fender Telecaster. We were all invited to click our fingers with Lynne at the end of the song, you come to the LRB, you are in the band…
Lynne explains that she understands we have been enjoying songs that are new to most of the people tonight, but now we have a song that is brand new to even Lynne, the first public hearing of The Light In Me.
This is the sort of thing that makes live music so special, enjoying the experience of a song being born… Blair played the Gretsch on this one to great effect. That was superb…
As we approach the end of the set, Lynne rehearses the LRB crowd on some further audience participation, although like Dan Raza she admits she fears this as an audience member… Laughs…
The up tempo Shadowland, the opener from ICE CREAM IN NOVEMBER with a guitar sound reminiscent of Hank Marvin and the shadows… It was great so many did join in too.
After a long list of thank yous Lynne unplugs and steps up on the subwoofer telling us of her struggles through the Covid pandemic and her sheer joy at being able to play live again, before treating us to an acoustic rendition of the beautiful Gotta Have Rain… “Without Rain, nothing works”…
This great song can be found closing Lynne’s 2017 album UNEVEN GROUND…
Well, that brought the house down for sure… So, back on mic we close with River Of Sand also the title of Lynne’s 2014 album.
The sound scape that can be achieved by two great players like these has to be heard to be believed. Couple that with great writing, arranging and delivery and you are in a very special place indeed.
After some great food from Lyn and her team we welcome Annie Keating and her band of Jamie Dawson on Drums, Joe Coombs playing Guitar with Scott Warman on Bass and Double Bass. They opened with the Annie Keating classic Belmont From the 2008 album of the same name.
ANNIE KEATING
Annie tells us that Lynne Hanson made her cry twice commenting on how inspiring she found her set and the joy of playing live again having used the covid period to concentrate on writing music.
For The Taking seemed an apt song to play next, “as this time won’t come again, this time is for the taking”… A great song from her 2018 album ALL THE BEST.
Annie recalls that we do like to rock at LRB and so we enjoy On The Road By 10 from the BELMONTalbum. Some lovely Gibson slide guitar by Joe here, it’s the story of life on the road for a traveling band.
Kindred Spirit is written about the joy of meeting one, which happened this evening with Annie meeting Lynne Hanson, all though you could say the same about her meeting the members of this great band. Track 2 from BRISTOL COUNTY TIDES. Next, another song from that album, a good old fashioned bar song, Hank’s Saloon… That went down well and Annie took the time to thank Simon Allen for the great sound. A sound that one person commented about on our Facebook ‘It was the best live sound I have ever heard’. We will take that compliment, thank you.
KINDRED SPIRIT | FILMED AND RECORDED LIVE AT LITTLE RABBIT BARN
Marigold was inspired by a disastrous hair colouring experiment and another great song from BRISTOL COUNTY TIDES and shows just how tight this band really are.
The next two songs are on the exclusive TWENTY 22 TOUR EP only available at live gigs. Looking For Trouble and Lovesick Blues, the latter an experiment in finding unpredictable rhymes in the lyric. That was a lot of fun to listen to, they sure looked like they were having fun playing it.
LOVESICK BLUES FILMED AND RECORDED LIVE AT LITTLE RABBIT BARN
JAMIE DAWSON
JOE COOMBS
SCOTT WARMAN
Annie was full of praise for the LRB, it’s existence and the hospitality she enjoyed with the band before launching into another couple of Annie Keating classics, Water Tower View from her 2011 album of the same name and Coney Island from the 2015 album MAKE BELIEVING. She really enjoys the fact that audiences in the UK listen to the music, telling us we could teach US audiences a thing or two about that.
Listening to these songs, it’s clear the UK band have put a lot of work and rehearsals to getting the sounds just right, it’s as if they have played together for years and not the reality of three weeks.
Another song from the BELMONT album Valentine follows to slow the pace down just a little before Annie re introduces the band and Jamie’s massive drum intro which has everyone clapping as they launch into On The Loose from WATER TOWER VIEW. That’s a foot tapper if ever there was one, blistering drums and guitar solo to savour… The band really had a groove going here, the applause said it all…
ON THE LOOSE | FILMED AND RECORDED LIVE AT LITTLE RABBIT BARN
Shall we keep it up or shall we bring it down Annie asks? Up! was the loud reply, so after more excited appreciation for the band we get to enjoy Storm Warning from ALL THE BEST… and so the barn rocks some more with Joe playing some Wilko Johnson style riffs to build the excitement before the last song, It already Hurts When you leave (Because it does Annie says) brings us back down to a safe landing. Again from the ALL THE BEST album…
STORM WARNING | FILMED AND RECORDED LIVE AT LITTLE RABBIT BARN
A standing ovation meant we couldn’t leave it there, so after J made a few thank you’s Annie and the band closed with a tribute to John Prine, an LRB favourite, Angel From Montgomery. According to John Prine, Annie tells us, the key to great songwriting is ‘be vulnerable’. Well we enjoyed some incredible songwriting tonight from both artists and it was a privilege to be in the room.
EDITOR:
Thanks to LYNNE HANSON AND ANNIE KEATING for an awe inspiring evening of live music. It does not get better than this? If you know otherwise share it!
So nice to welcome artists back to Little Rabbit Barn. The show would not have come to life without the dedicated and talented musicians BLAIR MICHAEL HOGAN with Lynne Hanson and SCOTT WARMAN, JOE COOMBS AND JAMIE DAWSON with Annie Keating. You guys are amazing and importantly such nice folk.
Thanks to everyone involved with the production: Simon Allen sound engineer | The sound and smooth running of the show was perfect; The fabulous little rabbit team of Chris on video cameras and setup, Stan on setup and artist merchandise, Stan and Fran on guest list, Brian running Little Rabbit Bar and big thanks to Chris for helping Lyn with food. Thanks JP (James Partridge) Tour Manager extraordinaire for Annie Keating. Good to see you back at LRB
Review, Video & Picture credits: Chris
AV editing and additional audio mixing: J
PICTURE CREDITS | ANDY SHEARD
VIDEOS FOR LYNNE HANSON will be posted soon
To all wonderful LRB guests and friends who support live music at LRB, big thanks and hope to see y’all next time
We will be back and ready to welcome a popular return for DANNI NICHOLLS and CHARLOTTE CARPENTER on Saturday 28 May 2022.
Best wishes, Keep Safe & See Y’all soon
The LRB team
