It is so easy to forget the pandemic-induced pause to live music. In 2019 Jessica Lynn booked a UK tour for 2020; the New Yorker finally came across in summer 2023, bringing an energetic set to a venue I thought was going to be a sweatbox but which was so well air-conditioned that I had to put a jumper on.
Before Jessica’s set came a fine one-two punch to open the evening’s entertainment. Paris Adams seems to be challenging herself to write poppy songs with odd titles, like Psychopath and Stupid, and threw in a cover of My Church too. Backwoods Creek reprised their Buckle and Boots set with George holding a bass with illuminated fretboards and a sort of claw-shaped body. At the back, drummer Jack offered great cymbal work and at one stage showed off his prowess with an all-too-brief solo. They might be the best rhythm section in town.
Then come not one but two lead guitarists, Jonny and Yan, who either battle or double one another, sliding up and down the fretboard. No wonder singer Jamie gave Jonny a kiss at one stage! The band’s current line-up seems to be its final and finest form, like when a Pokemon evolves to its most advanced creature. The band’s newer songs like Lucy, Bless Your Soul and Alright are settling in nicely alongside old chestnuts like Morphine, while Walking In Memphis is a very well-chosen cover that shows off Jamie’s vocals. It has been terrific seeing the band take shape over many years and soon they ought to headline The Lexington in their own right.
‘We’re family!’ announced Jessica Lynn before introducing her mum on keys, her dad on a Hohner McCartney-type bass decorated with the pattern of the American flag, her husband on guitar and one of her ‘bridesmen’ on drums. The band had been due to play Tennessee Fields in 2021 but couldn’t fly over in the end due to someone in the band testing positive for Covid. George from Backwoods Creek was due to play bass that day and, two years on, was able to fulfil his commitment on the slow burner Better Than That, which was the highlight of a brilliant set.
That song and the positivity anthem Worth It were on last year’s album Lone Rider, while Jessica also aired sultry new song Mixed Signals and a poppy tune about having a ‘crazy idea’. I can’t remember the last time I saw such an energetic performer: Jessica punched the air, invited the audience to boogie with her and at one point sang a song called Something Good with the lyrics, ‘Clap your hands, sing with me!’
She also slipped in covers of Shania Twain’s Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under, which has one of the best key changes in country music, and a fabulously punchy Respect where the blue lights behind her went strobe crazy. She also delivered a soft take on Landslide, visibly emotional at finally being able to sing for her British fans. This was her seventh gig in the UK inside eight days, and the band are returning to the Continent to finish a tour which started in Germany at the end of May.
I am positive the gap between visits to our shores will be much shorter next time, and Jessica and family are a perfect antidote to media warfare and mortgage woes. Learn more about Jessica here.
A Country Way of Life 