Following the success of last month’s sold-out show featuring special guest Canaan Cox, ‘Nash Nights’ will return to Under The Bridge in West London on November 10th with a performance from the rising star alt-country duo Two Ways Home. Two Ways Home are an acclaimed duo who have shared stages across both the country and Americana spectrum, performing alongside the likes of Phil Vassar and The Shires, as well as working with artists including Charlie Worsham, Twinnie and Liz McClarnon (Atomic Kitten). Entertainment Focus described the pair as “one of the leading acts on the UK Country scene”. Continuing to go from strength to strength, ‘Nash Nights’ has quickly become one of the must-see events on the country music calendar and, alongside the next instalment on November 10th, Under the Bridge have also confirmed it will return for a spectacular end-of-year country celebration on New Year’s Eve. Tickets start at £12 and are available from www.underthebridge.co.uk/nashnights  

Drake White & The Big Fire Koko, London Wednesday 24th October From the outset, Drake White’s energy is palpable. As he strides onto the stage at Camden’s Koko, joining his incredibly talented band, The Big Fire, his cool, calm persona soon gives way to an excited, erratic-dancing, performer. His spirit and liveliness is infectious. Opening his set with Heartbeat, the first track off his debut album, Spark, the hits just keep coming. White is not afraid to lose himself in the music— it’s a freedom you don’t always see these days. From the opening song to the final bow at the end of his second encore, White intersperses his powerful vocals with bursts of dance, legs flailing unpredictably. His second song of the night is Story, another upbeat, fast-tempo track, in which White’s vocal talents are matched by the wonderful fiddle section. Keeping up his high-energy set into the third song of the night, Equator is a feel-good track if ever there was one. This got the crowd dancing along and proved to show off White’s fun personality even more. Taking a slight break from the fast-paced numbers, White introduced the next song with a story he’d recounted when I first heard this song at a songwriters round in London. Despite knowing the background to the song, it’s always good to hear from the artist how their songs came about. Back To Free was inspired by one of his band member’s children, and the performance of it was powerful. Taking a detour from the ‘Spark’ album which dominated the first part of the set, Drake White introduced some new material, telling the crowd that he and the band had recently recorded some live music which would be coming out soon. The first of these was Raised Right, a catchy track that makes me eager for the upcoming release. Not a stark departure from his back catalogue, but hey, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. After a brief blues break when The Big Fire, with White at the helm, channelled James Brown with a rendition of I Got You (I Feel Good), the band left the stage for White to do a few songs just him and his guitar. One of these was Girl In Pieces, a track off his aptly titled 2018 EP, ‘Pieces’. When The Big Fire returned, so did the ‘Spark’ repertoire, with Livin’ The Dream. It wasn’t long before the night was coming to its extended ‘wrap-up’ section, with an initial encore performance of perhaps White’s most known song, Makin’ Me Look Good Again. The only commentary necessary for this one: what a voice! This was followed by a lively rendition of It Feels Good. As the band, and White, left the stage for the second time, I fully expected the house lights to come up and for the night to be at an end, but that didn’t happen. The band re-emerged – this time joined by hugely talented support act Ryan Kinder, to perform an unexpected cover of With A Little Help From My Friends. Drake White’s exuberant stage presence makes it nigh on impossible to attend one of his gigs and not leave feeling happy and energised. White stated during this show, “my goal is to do this ’til I die”, and I, for one, hope he keeps to his promise. Danielle Smith

Darius Rucker & Russell Dickerson Royal Albert Hall, UK Sunday 28th October   The Royal Albert Hall is a notably iconic venue in London, UK, and to headline is a major achievement for any artist. Taking to the stage on the 28 October was Grammy winning artist Darius Rucker, and he didn’t disappoint. Opening with Homegrown Honey, Rucker was greeted with just as warm a welcome as you would expect – and the love from the crowd only grew.  With such an extensive back catalogue, the hits kept coming. From Southern State Of Mind to For The First Time, Rucker had the entire place on their feet within just a few songs. Any initial resistance to the majority standing crowd was futile come the third or fourth song of the set, as everyone was up. One song that Rucker himself introduced as “one of those songs you write that ends up being a game changer”, If I Told You, certainly went down well with the audience. Taking a break from his own tracks, Rucker spoke about how some songs are just good songs, no matter the genre. This prompted an interesting line up of Friends In Low Places segued into No Diggity. An interesting combination, but one that the crowd seemed to enjoy. Rucker also introduced his latest UK release, a song he recorded with Charles Kelley of Lady Antebellum, and Jason Aldean: Straight To Hell. Despite only just being released in the UK, the dedicated crowd already knew the words well enough to sing along.  Rucker then invited support act Russell Dickerson out onto the stage again to perform a song with him, after which, he went on to sing his final song before the encore.  He introduced this song by saying that it is not a part of their usual set, but that he was inspired to sing it in Manchester the night before, and so wanted to replicate that. Rucker, his band, and the crowd then broke into a hearty rendition of Oasis’ Champagne Supernova.  As Darius Rucker left the stage, I can honestly say I have never heard such a deafening call for an encore. Expecting a highly anticipated version of Rucker’s most famous song, Wagon Wheel, the whole venue roared.  It was a surprise, then, when Rucker and his band returned to sing an impromptu verse and chorus of Adele’s Someone Like You;a set addition I don’t think even the band were prepared for. That said, it went down well with a crowd hanging off Rucker’s very move.  He then went on to sing Hands on Me, cruelly delaying the inevitable peak everyone awaited.  And, of course, he delivered. Rucker and his talented band ended the night with a crowd-pleasing rendition of Wagon Wheel, much to everyone’s delight.  Rucker described at one point, the significance of this performance, sharing how the Royal Albert Hall was the last venue on his bucket list that, until tonight, had yet to be ticked off. “This is one of the greatest nights of my musical career; playing at the Royal Albert Hall.”  It seemed to be as monumental a night for him as it was for his huge crowd of fans that sold out the venue. So much so, in fact, that they had to open up the choir seats to meet the high demand.  The audience were in for a treat as soon as the entered the venue, with Russell Dickerson kicking off proceedings in a brilliant way. Dickerson is a country showman: confident, talented, and endearing. He can bound around the stage like he owns the place, with the talent to match, making his perceived self-assured persona not only likeable, but infectious.  Opening with Twentysomething, it didn’t take much to have the crowd on his side. His bountiful energy was also matched by his genuine humility, pausing to express his gratitude to be performing on such a hallowed stage a number of times throughout his 45-minute set.  Dickerson has a voice that he commands with such ease, holding notes far longer than the crowd could match in their eager singalongs.  He was clearly having a blast, huge smiles beaming across his face, particularly as he got among the crowd to have a dance party in the centre of the floor.  He did an amazing job of warming up the crowd ahead of Darius Rucker’s headline set. In fact, he gave Rucker a bit of a run for his money.  Assessing the night as a whole, the buzz of adrenaline was palpable, and the roar of the crowd almost unmatched in my experience. Both artists brought their A-game, clearly aware of the gravity performing at such a venue entails, and they did not disappoint. There was a lot of fun to be had at the Royal Albert Hall on this final night of Country Music Week, and it was had by all – both performers and audience alike.   Danielle Smith

Warner E Hodges Boom Boom Club, Sutton, Surrey 23 October, 2018 It all started so, well…sensibly. The crashing, exuberant twin-guitar thrill of Right Back Where I Started, the lyrics “power chords on speed” particularly apt. Hodges has been through a world of country and rock, notably as guitarist in post-punk Nashville country ensemble Jason and the Scorchers and, over the last several years, as duelling partner with former Georgia Satellite Dan Baird in his band Homemade Sin. Tonight’s not a quiet night off from the real job. “If you were looking for Americana on a stool, that ain’t what I’m gonna do,” he chortles in a down south accent that belies the fact that he was born on a US army base in Germany. And he’s true to both his word and the title of his new Nashville-recorded album, ‘Right Back Where I Started’. Armed with a rip-roaring British guitar/bass/drums band, there’s almost two solid hours of what might have been southern rock, but what was certainly a lot more. There’s John Fogerty’s It Ain’t Me, the Scorchers’ If Money Talks, Hodges’ one gentle song, Time Marches On, and more – a melee of chugging guitar and razor-sharp breaks, dancing bass and neat, solid drums. Then it starts to get weird, as Hodges relives his youth… something, I’m not quite sure what, by AC/DC, the band that inspired him to play, a majestically doomy Wizard from the first Black Sabbath album, and a never to be beaten version of Back In The USSR. A set that’s like a home-made cassette keeps on rolling, through Tom Petty’s Running Down a Dreamthen finishing with a rollicking take on Country Roads, that I’d like to think would have had John Denver laughing rather than crying. Given how many youngsters play country that veers towards heavy rock, they could look to Hodges for true inspiration. Nick Dalton