Liz Tormes - Strabane becomes 'the Village'

After the euphoria of last week’s Strabane Unplugged, Tuesday night’s special, headlined by American singer-songwriter Liz Tormes, was always going to be a more intimate affair. The intimacy was such that it benefited the night greatly, giving it a true sense of occasion in keeping with the spirit of, say, the coffee bars and clubs of Greenwich Village in downtown Manhattan in the ’60s and ’70s.

Local rockers King Coma opened the night with a three-piece acoustic set taking in their own material and a series of covers, including an infectious version of Nelly Furtado’s ‘Say It Right’. But it was their own material that stood out best. Rich melodies and harmonies between guitarist SOD and frontman Chris Sharkey floated to every corner of the All Stars Bar on tracks like ‘Come Around’, ‘Beauty Queen’ and the stomping ‘God I Am’, with Chris’s commanding stage presence giving the tracks an added intensity throughout.

Fresh from touring the country with English singer-songwriter Teddy Thompson, Liz Tormes then took to the Unplugged stage and it was clear that the intimate crowd was perhaps a blessing in the disguise, as her soft lo-fi delivery would not bode well in a packed sweaty bar. The audience displayed a great respect as Liz worked her way through tracks from her latest album ‘Limelight’ and a selection of covers by the likes of The Carter Family and Nick Cave. Her version of Cave’s murder ballad ‘Willow Garden’ took the song somewhere softer but without losing any of it’s eeriness.

The hypnotic atmosphere was maintained for Liz’s original material such as ‘Tired of Waiting’, ‘Read My Mind’ and the simply beautiful title-track from her latest album. Comparisons with alternative acts such as Mazzy Star, Julianna Hatfield and Karen Peris would not be unfounded when describing Liz’s sound. With the ‘hear a pin drop’ atmosphere enveloping the hooked audience, it was a sheer delight to hear these flavourings of Americana in Strabane on a cold Tuesday night - just one of the goals that Strabane Unplugged was devised for.

Liz herself stated that her time in Strabane was the most fun she has had while on tour in Ireland. She even took time to take in the Guinness on the night, humorously conceding that the stout back in New York City simply cannot compete. It was a night of music that can be perhaps best described as quietly beautiful. Liz Tormes can be assured that she made a few new friends in Strabane on Tuesday night.

www.myspace.com/kingcoma

www.myspace.com/liztormes

Paul Westerberg - An American Hero

Somewhere between Bruce Springsteen and Kurt Cobain you'll find Paul Westerberg. One of the best singer-songwriters to come out of the US over the last two decades, Westerberg has never got the recognition I think he deserves. As front man of maverick alternative rockers The Replacements in the 80s, Westerberg was one of the key figures, alongside REM, Black Flag, Husker Du and Sonic Youth, who paved the way for the eventual global explosion of Alternative Rock in the 90s.

Back in the 80s, all these bands needed was a van, a series of dates in live venues that looked like public toilets and an army of college radio listening followers. Out of this, a scene developed a million miles away from the vacuous glamour and big-hair of MTV and mainstream radio. It was a scene more aligned with the USA of the 1980s, a USA of Reagan-omics, recession and discontent, a reality mainstream pop pretended didn't exist. Yet the alternative scene made a bang that spoke to a generation who failed to see themselves in the gloss of MTV and the radio.

Paul Westerberg said more about smalltown USA in the 1980s than perhaps anybody else with the line "well a person can work up a mean mean thirst after a hard day of nothin' much at all," from the song 'Here Comes A Regular' - a key song indeed. Henry Rollins, Michael Stipe and Thurston Moore may have eventually broken through in a global sense in the '90s. I'm sure they would all agree that Paul Westerberg should be there with them. I'd recommend you delve into his back catalogue.

Here's a classic track from his days with The Replacements. From 1985 and the album 'Let It Be' - (yes they had balls too!) - this is 'Unsatisfied'.

Paul Brady Comes Home

One particular topic of conversation may have taken up a lot of time around the pubs of Strabane over the past few weeks. A new topic began to be whispered around certain quarters at the beginning of last week. What began as a whisper went into overdrive last weekend, so much so that it rivalled that other big story on every pub drinker’s lips.

Could it be true? Could Paul Brady, the most famous singer-songwriter ever to come out of Strabane, be performing at the monthly Strabane Unplugged session which takes place in the All Stars Bar? Certain mobile phones never stopped ringing. Certain lips were sealed. It was a case of ‘come down and see for yourself’.

At an admission charge of just three pounds at the door one would be justified in dismissing the rumours; three pounds to see a guy who can count Bob Dylan, Tina Turner and Carlos Santana as three of his fans? Surely not! Yet the vast numbers that crammed into the All Stars before ten o’clock were not going to be denied.

Strabane Unplugged has always encouraged local artists who have not yet performed at one of the sessions to get themselves down there and up on that stage. At 10.30 on Monday night one local artist treaded the Unplugged boards for the first time. The rumours were true - it was Strabane’s very own Paul Brady.

After a roof-raising welcome in the sweltering heat of the packed All-Stars, he went straight into a solo set armed with just his acoustic guitar. What followed was an hour long delve into Brady’s back catalogue, taking in tracks off classic albums such as ‘Hard Station’, ‘Trick or Treat’ and ‘Spirits Colliding’. The crowd, which had in its rank many local musicians both young and old, looked on in awe as Brady illustrated his stunning guitar playing and flawless song-craft with all the ease of a man who has been doing it globally for decades now. Brady himself seemed at ease with what, for him, is a pretty scaled down show. He enjoyed the ‘in-yer-face’ intimacy that not even a venue like Dublin’s Olympia, which Brady always sells-out, could perhaps even rival. He was also buoyed on with the fact that sitting out there in the audience savouring the atmosphere was his father, Sean.

It was a sheer delight to hear classics like ‘Busted Loose’ and ‘The World is What You Make It’ in such a stripped down capacity. The crowd were especially vocal in their appreciation for Brady’s acoustic take on his 1981 classic ‘Crazy Dreams’, which saw everyone take to their feet at it’s conclusion.

On a night of countless highlights perhaps the biggest was the classic ‘Nobody Knows’. The lush production of its 1991 studio version was replaced with just a six-string acoustic and that unmistakable signature vocal delivery that is Paul Brady’s and Paul Brady’s alone. Once again the reaction of the crowd summed up so much about how everyone present was feeling – glad that one of their own had come along to join in on what is now a monthly celebration of all that is good and great about Strabane as a town and a community. Paul Brady himself was proud to be a part of it and loved every minute. As was said when he was introduced to the stage – it’s always nice to get locals up on the Unplugged stage who haven’t been there yet. That tradition was maintained on Monday night in the finest fashion possible. Long may it continue.