FOUR STARS
UNCUT
Sparsly arranged, slyly intelligent country-folk stuffed with juniper winds, Juarez jails and long women in short dresses, delivered with all the gruff urgency of Tom Waits over lap steel and ruptured guitar.
Spotlight Album American Songwriter
On "Sunday Shoes" , Nels Andrews proves that he deserves a spot in the ranks of today’s Americana heroes. His rootsy brand of mellow folk-rock conjures up memories of Jay Farrar and his story as an Albuquerque carpenter turned inspired musician sounds like a Western version o Ray LaMontagne. With help of backing band The El Paso Eyepatch, Andrews itch for storytelling reaches new musical heights. On “Jesse’s Mom†Andrews writes “Jesse’s mom thought she was born with gypsy in her blood/when she layed down ith a black man in the West Arkansas mud/back before those things were done.†This stuff of Larry Mcmurtry novels has flooded Andrews’ imagination and captivated this particular writer. With the perfect accompaniment of guitar, banjo and the Emmylou Harris-esque backup vocals of Michelle Collins, in songs like “Milk and Honey†and “Meadowlakeâ€, Andrews shows he’s at the top of his craft.
live review The Maze @ Cabaret, Nottingham - 9th May 2005
Americana UK
For his second visit to the UK to promote the acclaimed “Sunday Shoesâ€, Nels Andrews is in electric mode, with the bulk of his band to back him. An enigmatic figure, six foot of brooding intensity with a flower on his guitar head, he is plagued by tuning problems throughout, but nevertheless delivers an awesome set. His music, while excellent in the semi-acoustic duo mode he toured last year, moves up a level with the band. Guitarist Jeffrey Richards, loose of limb and lithe of note, relishes the opportunity to show his chops, switching between banjo and guitar, while the sound is filled out by bass and drums. Pretty much all of “Sunday Shoes†makes an appearance, with Nels filling in some background on most of the songs gestation. So we get the prostitute fancier at the bus stop of “Central Ave. Romanceâ€, his Devon ex on “Broken Conversation†and many more. The audience is transfixed, no one leaves, no one goes to the bar, they just listen, to a lyricist whose words have a power and intensity that is rarely matched, and remind you of the glory days of Morrison and Dylan, whether it’s the “long women in short dresses†of “Petal To A Bee†or “Denim Scarecrowâ€â€™s narrator who “wear’s his sex like a shirt that’s two sizes smallâ€. His intensity is both exhilarating and enervating, and however long he played for, it was probably enough, though at the time I thought he could have gone on forever, otherwise I would have been so engrossed that I’d have forgotten to breathe. Sometimes going to see someone for a second time can be a disappointment. You don’t have the “shock of the new†to sustain you, and your inevitably high expectations are often not lived up to. Not with Nels Andrews though. Great as his last time out was, this is simply superlative. He’s over here for a while longer, get out there and catch him now.
Jeremy Searle
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