Friday, November 30, 2007

Sunny Melbourne Country Blues

Shannon Bourne & Kerri Simpson - Basement Discs - 30/11/07

On this pleasant sunny Melbourne afternoon, I took the opportunity to wander down to the Basement Discs for yet another in-store.

Today it was Kerri Simpson, who has been around the Melbourne music scene for something like 20 years. This was the first time I had seen Kerri perform as far as I remember, but she is a well known artist in blues and gospel circles, having one of those great singing voices that suit those genres down to the ground. She can however sing anything and performs all types of roots music.

Kerri Simpson

However, today she was promoting her latest CD Maybe By Midnight a tribute to alt country music. Accompanying her was guitarist Shannon Bourne who is regarded as one of the best guitarists in Australia. This was amply demonstrated today where his playing practically eclipsed the supposed feature artist.

It was an enjoyable half hour of music, the penultimate in-store for the year. Next week Canadian singer songwriter Oh Susanna plays the last show for the year. She is quite wonderful and has a very appealing voice that sounds irresistibly sweet and sad as she sings her languid folk songs.

I picked up a new CD today as well. It’s Alison Krauss & Robert Plant’s collaborative album Raising Sand which has been receiving rave reviews. Alison Krauss is a well known bluegrass artist. A child prodigy on violin she also has a superb singing voice. Robert Plant was the lead singer for Led Zeppelin. This unlikely partnership has produced a very likeable album. I haven’t heard it all the way through, but the bits I’ve caught when Basement Discs have been playing it in the shop, have intrigued me so I decided to get the CD.

No comments: