Doin' It Live!

The Beehive, Swindon March 20th 2007

Dirty Vocals, Slide Guitar, SnakeBite and Pickled Eggs!

Unsure what to expect, I trudged my sorry bits off to Swindon on another recommendation from the good guys at SPFanzine. They are normally pretty reliable, but to drag me out on a Tuesday night is usually unforgivable, and the gig had better be good!

Once again they proved they know what they are talking about, this was worth every inch of the 60 mile round trip. Rachelle VanZanten is a charismatic Canadian accomplished performer - her first offering on CD which she is busy promoting across Europe and beyond really does not do her live act justice. The polished production of the studio gloss is replaced by

her raw talent and edge on stage. A fine guitarist with more than enough panache with a slide is equalled only by her exquisite voice. The blend of her effortless vocal and superb guitar technique is born from over 250 live shows and her interaction with the local audience adds to her presence as a brilliant entertainer.
There are certain things a young woman should NOT ask a local audience - particularly in Swindon! one of which is, what is the best local drink and delicacies? The answer, her introduction to Snakebite with Pickled Eggs, is no doubt something she will learn from. Thankfully, this dish was administered after the gig, even Swindon knows better than to give it up during a brilliant show.
As a musician there are few better. Rachelle has a feeling and sympathy for both her instrument and her material and mixes them together perfectly. The title track of of CD is performed with mixture of clean and dirty vocal sounds and her array of open tunings for her guitar style added even more colour and texture to her sound.
No-one can be excused for not getting to one of her gigs - she is playing plenty of them, Bath Fringe Festival beckons in June with gigs in Bristol and Glastonbury again on the agenda - bookmark her web site and her myspace page and see her live - you will be glad you did. And if you have to consume Snakebite, please wait till the end of the show - that message goes out to everyone, including Rachelle.

Robbie Wyborn

Words on seeing Billy Joe Shaver perform
at the Luminaire Club, London.
By Cheyne Pride.

Many of you have been singing the praises of Mr. BJS for years. I have memories of his name as a child. Vaguely known as some sort of hell-raising rebel-type songwriter...As I am a "voice" person, he's slipped under my radar, but not anymore...Jim Dog gave me a compilation cd a few months back and I started listening and slowly but surely getting into it...
Now BJS's voice isn't a George, a Conway or a Willie, that is, a separate entity, but rather it is the extension of a personality, a life. It's full of little whoops and yodels the perfect vehicle for his songs.
I saw him perform last Thursday 3rd August 2006 and here's a man in his seventies as youthful, energetic, vigorous as people less than half his age. He knocked out countless invisible opponents, roped and tied up an imaginary calf, slapped many invisible butts and a few other things that I can't remember cos I was shrieking with laughter, wiping away tears of sadness, hiding behind my hat with embarassment, and dancing most of the nite away.
GREAT BAND!!!!!
When he did ‘When Fallen Angels Fly’ a searingly honest grown-up relationship song and he began to flap his arms as though they were wings...slowly, controlled, gracefully ...in time to the music for what seemed like a good few minutes, this seemed to me to be the most emotionally naked thing I've ever seen done on stage. He was fearless, powerful, and child-like at that moment; his eyes were closed as he flew and I felt a thousand different things as I watched him. Joy at his freedom, sadness for the awareness of the lateness of the hour, momentary self-consciousness at my inability to take my eyes off him. Was I being a voyeur or flying with him? I don't want to watch I want to join in...
Very few artists make me re-think about how I perform... Mr. Billy Joe Shaver did that in a way that I did not expect, nothing to do with technique, everything to do with honesty, passion, openness and connecting with other human beings. Thank you, Sir. Go and see him as soon as you can....
PS Cheers, Jim....