Maybe it’s the time of year or the long summer days but on this warm(ish) July evening I find myself down a rabbit hole finding gems, not from long ago, but from performances given only days ago.
I’ve been on summer holidays and slightly removed from events at home so I was keen to catch up on some of the Glastonbury moments and found instead that the truly great Van the Man has been performing some lost gems at his recent outings over in Ireland. Van was on great form at the Dublin show where he essentially ‘supported’ Neil Young and I half wondered whether he’d pulled out more stops on the simple basis of proving he should only ever be the top of any bill.
However I gather Neil himself was on great form too and I love the fact he surprised so many by playing a fairly accessible set list on his recent European outings. The great thing about great artists is they are always able to pull a rabbit from a hat just when you don’t expect it. So on this week’s AC we shall have a great new moment from Van Morrison as well as a great country tinged moment from Neil Young in the twenty first century.
I’ve been hearing great things too about the recent Zach Bryan show in Hyde Park from one of my family who made the trip down to The Smoke just to see the show. If that wasn’t testimony enough one of the newest members of the family, my nearly 3 year old grandson, has been vibing to a Zach Bryan song he can’t get enough of. We’ll have some cool Zach on the show too.
If these legends aren’t enough then we’ll bring you a fabulous new track from country legend Rodney Crowell and remind you of the genius of George Jones, Guy Clark and The Wilburn Brothers. I do love realising that the great artists are great for very good reasons and that, even though they’re slightly less nimble on their feet, their minds and voices are still able to conjure up magic. Chuck Prophet is not of course in the same age bracket as the above legends but he is great and we have reached that time of year when Chuck’s summertime epic just needs to be played. Do tune in and join me live on this week’s show which begins at five past eight this Tuesday evening on BBC Sounds and BBC Radio Scotland.