Thanks to everyone who turned out for Otis Gibbs; what a great night out that was. We had no idea that they would have rebuilt and decorated the room (for the benefit of those who didn’t make it – we had a brand new beautifully decorated room that was completed only two hours before Otis was due to play). I don’t think we’ve ever seen any artist shift so many CDs, T-shirts and posters at the end of a set before so that was testament to the quality of his performance. Although the room was full for the concert (even with the new extra capacity) Otis was an expensive night to put on for us but we still managed to break even on the night so thanks again for having faith...
So, as we announced last time... there’s a final gig before the summer and it is:
Alana Levandoski
Wednesday 1st July – The Horseshoe
£8 in advance, £9 on the door
Alana Levandoski is a singer-songwriter from Manitoba. Her second album has just been released and she will be over here for playing festival shows during July. This gig follows in the new creweroots tradition of Otis Gibbs – she’s travelling down from Scotland on the day to perform for us:
“Alana is truly gifted in penning exquisite songs, like poetry set to music. Her songs are very visual as she paints pictures with words describing Canada’s wide open spaces in such songs as the wonderful ‘Prairie Sun’ with descriptive lyrics: ‘And a prairie town has the heart of a working’ horse/Gotta have your hands in the dirt to stay on course.’
With such craft on display at times I was reminded of a young Nanci Griffith... A strong second follow up album is guaranteed.
Alana also performed several covers from artists who have influenced her career.
'Jesus Gonna Be Here' (Tom Waits), ‘Juanita’ (Gram Parsons), ‘Sing A Sad Song’ (Merle Haggard), a superb rendition of Steve Earle’s ‘Goodbye’ plus a nod to 61-year-old former Winnipegger Neil Young singing his classic ‘Helpless.’
At last year’s Canada Day Celebration host and David ‘Kid’ Jensen said: ‘Remember the name Alana Levandoski as you’re going to hear a lot more from this talented lady.’ I certainly echo those sentiments and I look forward to following the tapestry of songs and albums she plans to weave on her musical journey.” Andy Cole, Maverick Magazine. April 2007
You can see her video for “Jezebel’s Ringin’” at www.alanalevandoski.com/media.htm and you’ll start to see why we’re starting to get excited at the prospect of this gig. There’s another film (at the same address) of her playing the Canada Day celebrations in Trafalgar Square with Ron Sexsmith. By a fabulous coincidence, Canada Day falls on July 1st, the day of Alana’s creweroots gig! You can also hear some songs streamed live at www.myspace.com/alanalevandoski. She’s clearly got that rockin’ country-roots feel about her work but there’s also hints of Joni Mitchell, Carrie Rodriguez, Emmylou Harris and Ryan Adams (amongst several others in there) – should make for a genuinely interesting night. If you want tickets just let us know through the usual channels.
We’ve got more bookings for gigs starting again in September that we’ll announce soon but for now we’ll just tempt you with the news that one of the gigs at the end of the year will be our first ever ‘return’ booking and it will be the only artist (big clue) who received a spontaneous standing ovation from the entire crowd after their last performance). Now we KNOW you can’t wait for that one...
Happy Days,
Richard and Russell
