I think it’s safe to say I had a musical drought for a few years. It wasn’t intentional and in fact I didn’t even know it had happened. One day my 20 year old niece came to stay and asked why we didn’t listen to music. Somehow in the midst of work and family we’d become too busy and had forgotten about it!
But music is like colour. Without it life is a pale version of itself. Music has the power to transport, to distract, bring joy, inspire, give hope, build community and above all else it makes you feel alive. You just can’t stay away too long…
So of course I’m happy to say music is back in my life and it’s also of great importance to the Blog. We want to bring you as much of what we can of what’s on locally and a big part of that of course is live music.
We were lucky to discover recently the Ramblin’ Roots Revue in its’ second year at the Bucks Student Union in High Wycombe. It’s described as festival of Americana, Blue-Grass and Alt-Country. To be honest, if you like listening to live bands you will love this!
The festival took place over three days starting on the Friday and ending on the Sunday with the majority of the acts performing on the Saturday. As well as the Americana music there was also American themed food stalls and beer from local producers Rebellion. With the Student Union as home, the British weather was given no chance of spoiling plans so we were free to drink beer and whiskey, eat brisket and sit back and enjoy the show.
There were three stages –the Main Stage, the Whiskey Saloon and the Earbelly outdoor acoustic stage. The acts performed alternately between the Main Stage and the Whiskey Saloon, so you never felt you were missing out. The acoustic stage ran all the way through and located outside was a welcome change of scene – particularly for its’ proximity to the food stalls (those Dutch Balls seemed to go down well!)
Some of the bands had travelled internationally to attend the event, including the Lucky Lips from Norway and Jess Klein from the US. The standard of all the bands was consistently high and we enjoyed each one as much as each other. Stand out moments however for me were the almost painfully heartfelt performance by Jess Klein, in particular her Chicken Soup poem, which moved us both to tears. Also loved the gritty rawness of the Rails and the quirkiness of Alan Tyler who performed with Angela from the Magic Numbers.
So back to where I began! Don’t be like me and forget to love music. Standing in front of these incredibly talented bands and listening them sing about life and love and heartbreak you absolutely feel alive. The rest of the world disappears and for a moment you’re there with them feeling the things they’ve felt and going on that journey with them. Sometimes music is just background noise in your life. I know for me it’s hard to associate with the never-ending faceless X Factor style music in the charts, but there are still fantastic performers out there so seek them out.
Ramblin Roots Revue is already confirmed for next year, so check it out – you won’t regret it!
12-14th April 2019 www.ramblinrootsrevue.co.uk