Preview

Kreg Viesselman

We gave Kreg his very first UK gig back in October, supporting Eric Taylor, and this exceptional young (occasionally) Colorado-based folk-blues troubadour touched many hearts with his gritty, road-worn voice, poetic songs, and disarming audience rapport. We had to get him back for you - he'll be playing more than six songs this time, we promise ...

Liz Ryder

This distinctive and precociously gifted new figure on the UK folk scene impressed us mightily when she shared the bill with Oh Susanna at the Talbot in March 2002, and we felt it was high time she returned.

California-born in 1981 of an American/Greek mother and an English/Welsh father, Liz moved as a small child with her family to England. Her musical career has progressed from an early composition competition win, via involvement with theatre, to growing recognition as 'a rising star of the folk scene' (Acoustic Routes 2003), with numerous acclaimed festival appearances and two impressively ambitious CDs (2001's 'Sacramento Orange' and 2003's 'On the Neon Highway') already to her name. Liz's multi-instrumental skills include guitars, harp, and keyboards among others, while her songs show melodic and lyrical maturity far beyond her tender years. Add to that a voice of astonishing range, and it's clear that Liz Ryder fully merits a prominent place in the new wave of British folk performers.

'This clearly talented multi-instrumentalist/singer is the latest in the Kate Rusby/Bill Jones continuum' - froots

Review

An intriguing pairing of markedly contrasting acoustic singer-songwriters, one from each side of the Big Pond, drew the now-customary selective audience of discerning folks who, quite rightly, understand that every now and again there's more to Live at the Talbot than just bopping and drinking. Each was making a welcome return visit to the Talbot stage.

Liz Ryder, now in her final year at Bangor University (a music degree, natch), has moved along some since her 2002 opening set for Oh Susanna. No harp this time (a guitar case is quite enough to handle on Railtrack's meandering service from North Wales to Aberystwyth), but her distinctive stroking right-hand touch on guitar reveals much that's borrowed from her harp technique, and she uses a brave range of open tunings. Her chosen traditional folk material aside, there's a new maturity about her songs, especially apparent in 'House of Changes' and '44th Street', but it's her voice that registers above all, with a phenomenal range that she's quite unafraid to exploit to the full: as an aspiring contender on the UK folk scene, it's a strong element in her armoury, one that sets her apart, and we await her upcoming third CD with interest - there's much more to come from Liz.

Our favourite US troubadour Kreg Viesselman made such a strong impression - and so many new friends - on his shared billing (and first-ever UK gig) with the majestic Eric Taylor last October, that a return visit to headline his own evening was a must-have. Take one part Mississippi John Hurt, one part Mark Twain (not my observation, but very apt), add some flavouring from the finest sepia-toned US songwriter greats (Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, the reclusive Bob Martin), and season with a disarming stage presence that has the articulate warmth and wit of a hobo Garrison Keillor, and you have the recipe for what makes an evening with Kreg such an absorbing pleasure, for those with the time and wherewithall to 'get' it. As one reviewer has shrewdly written, there's no way these songs could have been penned by a man who expects - or chooses - to sleep in a warm bed every night; the yarns and acecdotes that intersperse and inform his touching, yearningly observational songs, such as 'Rain Clouds & Burns Bros.', 'The Return', 'The Conch', and 'New Hampshire Snow' are the work of a man who's opted for a rambling lifestyle - sailor, mountain guide, occasional teacher, farmhand, trapper (beaver tastes like pork, by the way) - in the service of his craft.

As Kreg carves and finger-picks away at his well-patinated vintage Gibson, you can hear the grain in the wood, and his occasional harmonica work is the stuff of a well-lubricated backwoods bar-room session. Again, it's the voice that seals the deal: a gruffly expressive wind-parched affair that's a couple of decades older than its relatively youthful owner ... Kreg treated us to some new songs, slated for inclusion on his work-in-progress third CD: in particular, 'High Times & Low Times', the heart-wrenching bag-lady vignette 'Louise', and 'Tomas O'Crohan' (product of a night out under the stars in deepest Ireland last year) suggest that like its predecessors, it's going to be another life-enhancing disc that most sentient beings should possess.

Call it nepotism, call it the perks that go with the job, but clambering onstage to participate in the playing of Kreg's best 'road' song, 'Gone to Lewiston', was just as much a buzz as it was last time round - after all, if you can't play a little music with your good friends when they happen to be visiting, then what's the point?