From Western to Welsh
Laura Evans has been getting some very decent airplay of late on BBC Radio 2 and with new album “Out of the Dark”, released in October, she was raring to show the Omeara audience all the heart and soul and fine-tuning that has gone into this her second studio-recorded LP, writes Eleanor Thorn.
Taller than Dolly Parton by just a couple of inches, Laura is slighter, and it is her American-accented patter (less drawl!) and immense singing-ability that invites the comparison, not to mention her beauty-pageant looks. It is not until, after the second or third song, that she, mid-sentence, makes the switch to the Welsh accent she grew up with, and offers a connection to the Welsh men and women who’ve come out to hear her. By this time, she has already shown us she is confident in a Nashville kinda-way, and has learned a thing or two in that mecca of songwriting.
Songs “What I’m Made of” and “ATM” (the latter’s video they filmed on a Woolwich sunset-lit rooftop) have all the defiance of Miley Cyrus in her recent “Flowers”, and indeed she lets on it was penned after ‘a bit of a crisis’.
They’re not the only songs that refer to relationship woes but this show is essentially a celebration, for trouble is a thing of the past and she is very much in a good place now, she tells us, head held high. A year on from tying the knot to her “Superman” (another album song), Laura is presenting an album about home-coming, emotional coming-of-age and romance, mixing elements of pop, rock, Blues and Americana.
With her on stage are Daisy Pepper on bass (with an appealing Suzie Quatro thing about her), Jake Loosemore on guitar and AJ Roussell on drums: a tight set-up on which Laura can go to town on vocals, and she does. An earlier virus-induced blip in the tour (rescheduled dates are showing sold-out) that was culminating in this London show and the seven-hour drive to get here are not things we’d have known about had she not shared them.
Elated to be playing in London, which she used to call home when she wasn’t in Nashville, every one of Laura’s songs are strong, and most, but not all, are her own. “Running Back to You”, “Fire With Fire” and “I’m Alright” are catchy songs from her 2022 album. She sings of “Arkansas”, a Chris Stapleton number, as well as of Aberdare in the Valleys, in “Take Me Back Home”. For a brief moment her attention turns away from Nashville to Liverpool, delivering a fantastic “Come Together” (The Beatles) with its distinctive bass line. “Fool” is one of a couple that are more ballad-like, Bluesy and beautiful: she sure can hold a note. The rhythm turns groovy in “Always and Forever”, her wedding song (replacing a ‘first dance’ song) and again unashamedly romantic, both slow, soaring and catchy, “Nobody Loves Me Like You”. Towards the end, “Honest” is a perfect pop song just right for radio and shows some of her strongest influences, which after the show she tells me are Bonnie Raitt, Maggie Rogers, Maggie Rose and John Mayer. It’s clear a lot of talent and a lot of love have gone into this album, the live performance of which she absolutely nails. “Stevie Nicks meets Shania Twain, with even something of Bonnie Tyler” decides my gig-companion.
The only dampener to the night, which opened with good sets by first Abi Farrell and then Danny Starr, is the news that Omeara will close by the end of the year, which explains why no programme beyond mid December was showing. It is not the only London venue to be facing financial crisis. Be quick if you want a taste of the action: this represents a great loss to Southwark’s music scene.
Tour dates and information: https://thelauraevans.com/
