There must have been something prophetic about the lyrics of a Drake White song back in 2016, when he sang “nobody’s talking but we’re all on the phone”. The song ‘Back to Free’ is a song from country artist Drake and he was one of the stars on Sunday at Kent’s ever more popular Americana, Country and Roots Black Deer Festival but I’m sure even he wouldn’t have foreseen the looming shadow of technology on music as well as our departure from the things that make life and making memories special.
Music is always evolving in the way that it is consumed; vinyl has given way to CDs and now streaming in a way that has hugely detracted from many things. Music these days tends to be cherry picked or consumed en masse in a way that makes music charts difficult to comprehend and the story telling capacity of the album a thing of the past. However, the devil at the gate is not the way it’s consumed but the way it could end up being created. AI has started to infiltrate our lives on every level in a way that popular TV series ‘Black Mirror’ could not have imagined in its bleakest moments and the most scary of these as a music lover is almost certainly music being created by AI.
Artists have almost always suffered at the hands of technology, the tiny reward from streaming and the near collapse of physical sales all contribute to an environment that is looking bleaker by the year and so the last thing that they need is something that might mean music can be created without them and merely follow an AI algorithmic approach to creating a hit song. Then, on top of this, the success of shows like ABBA voyage means that there may even be a situation where the artist isn’t required for live performance; could we end up paying to watch an AI approximation of what an artist should look like.
The Black Deer Festival in Kent this weekend is something that will help to turn the tide. For this and the many wonderful musical festivals we boast in the UK, the emphasis is very firmly on the thing that makes live music special. That shared experience of seeing an artist that you all love, or the wonder of discovery in that moment you see and hear something that you know will become part of the soundtrack of your life is all tied up with the beautiful human element of face to face interaction; gone is the anonymity of converse via social media replaced by the much more organic and earthy sharing of something we should never lose. Live music performed by live singers for our pleasure and for their creative release. The memories we create with each other, the chats and laughs with complete strangers and the insistence of not removing the wrist band that says ‘I was there’ is the cure for the disease that is AI’s replacement of our music. We must support the festivals that bring us all together and most importantly we must support the artist that you love; imagine your world without them.
Black Deer this last weekend brought together a wonderful line up of artists and I was lucky enough to attend on the Sunday to see some old favourites and to discover some new ones. My day started with an artist I’ve seen many times live. From the main stage at The Long Road festival and her appearances at the C2C festival, Laura Oakes is a shining star of our UK country scene. She appeared on a stage that she has graced many times. The Caffè Nero stage has for many years been a fixture at Cornbury Festival and I’ve been lucky enough to see many new and wonderful artists on its stage there. Indeed, Caffè Nero music played an instrumental role in bringing a once stage shy Jack Savoretti to our ears.
Laura has a long association with the pop up stage and it was fitting that she graced the stage as Caffè Nero start a new chapter with The Black Deer festival. Her lovely songs and clear voice started my day perfectly and her ‘Tip Jar Rockstar’ finale was a poignant reminder of how we supported our music during lockdown and how we must continue to buy music, merch and gig tickets to help them now.
My next stop was The Wandering Hearts. Their close harmonies and articulate songs were at times reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac and it was easy to see why they have built up a loyal following.
Since band member Tim Prottey-Jones left, the band have evolved and developed their sound so that fans of The Lumineers and Simon & Garfunkel would easily find something to love.
The success of their debut album and the follow up have firmly cemented their popularity amongst fans of Americana and their set on the main stage brought all those familiar hallmarks to wonderful life. It was the perfect way to open the main stage on Sunday.
Next up for me was an artist I have been hugely excited to see again. I was lucky enough to catch the Amanda Shires set at Country2Country Festival earlier in the year and the raw emotion she brings to her vocals was something that stopped me in my tracks.
Music for me must make you feel something and whether Amanda is singing something upbeat or raw, the emotion in her voice is always there. You can’t help but feel that there is real experience in every word and her high voltage stage presence makes it easy to see why she is so popular in Americana having already earned a Grammy for her music.
Amanda’s performance of her hit reworking of ‘Highwayman’ is a huge high point for me and the lyrical changes have made one of my favourite songs even more anthemic at its core; it’s impossible not to be moved by the story telling and Amanda’s faultless delivery.
I walked away from this set feeling that I had been in the presence of a very special artist and she won a huge reception from the Black Deer faithful at the main stage.
I have enjoyed the music of Elles Bailey for some time but never got to see her play live. Her set in The Ridge big top stage was a tour de force of bluesy Americana rock and the packed crowd loved her energy and the very slick band she brought along. Additional vocals were provided by Demi Marriner and it would be a sin to describe them as backing vocals. I can’t wait to catch Demi live in the future and hear more of that beautiful voice.
Elles was a revelation live and it’s absolutely no surprise she had such a positive reaction. Every song was delivered with real class and it was brilliant to see her prove that you can be a Mum and a kickass performer too. A touching highlight away from the music was her tribute to Vera Black, Country design royalty to anyone that attends regular country music festivals and designer to stars like Tom Hardy and Johnny Depp to name just two super cool clients. Vera helped reawaken Elles’ sartorial kick-assery and it’s evident that looking great helps to instil Elles performance with confidence and positivity.
Michael Caine, in his book ‘Blow the Bloody Doors Off’ says of his preparation for a role that ‘confidence makes you relax, and being relaxed enables you perform’; Elles has clearly worked this out for herself. Her performance was great !This will be another artist I look forward to seeing again.
After Elles, I made a beeline for Lukas Nelson and The Promise of the Real. Due to the order of play, this sadly meant I was going to have to miss Drake White who is also a favourite but I needed to be as close to the front as possible for Lukas. In honesty, I would have paid the entrance fee just to see him play.
I fell in love with the music, performance and approach to life of Lukas when I first saw him play at Cornbury Festival and I’ve seen him at every U.K. tour since. Lukas learned his stagecraft on stage with his legendary Father and with Neil Young and it’s clear that these two incredible artists have given him a hugely charismatic stage presence. He ran through a wonderful selection of music from all of his brilliant albums including some very cool music from forthcoming album ‘Sticks and Stones’, the title track was a huge high point.
To see Lukas play, is to be transported to another plane of excellence; there is no misstep in his performance and delivery and he manages that amazing feat of making everything sound fresh. He is superbly aided by POTR, all of whom are clearly outstanding musicians but to see Lukas play the guitar and get into his groove is a thing of wonder. Indeed, the legendary Steve Earle and Amanda Shires both came out to watch part of his set and could clearly be seen to enjoy themselves.
The performance of Lukas Nelson was accompanied by very heavy rain and it’s testament to how good he was that there was no run for cover. Simply put, Lukas was too good to miss. I can’t help thinking he should be headlining a UK festival soon as he’s a very hard act to follow.
After Lukas, wet through and cold I had to seek refuge in the dry and after drying and refuelling I looked forward to Ridge headline act and Festival closer Bears Den. I first saw them play at Barn on the Farm festival, a festival well known for launching some of our outstanding acts, and I was hooked.
I’ve bought all their music since and couldn’t wait to see them play at a festival for the first time in four years. Would they be rusty, would their well renowned close harmony be off? Not all all! Bears Den is a band of such complete musicality that even if you didn’t enjoy their music ( unlikely) you’d be blown away by the way the band drift between instruments and vocals with ease. The band has been nominated for several music awards including the Ivor Novello award and Americana artist of the year and song of the year and with four albums behind them they have a wonderful catalog of music to draw upon.
Their newest record Blue Hours, released last year, is a real favourite of mine at the moment. The band is essentially Andrew Davie on lead vocals and Kevin Jones on vocals and bass. Nowadays they are joined on tour and in the studio by Dutch artist Christof van der Ven on banjo, guitar and harmony vocals.
The quality of their performance was a triumph. It was great to see this band doing what they do best, headlining a festival, and I can’t thank Black Deer enough for giving the band the finale. It was a perfect end to my day in particular and, from the crowd reaction, to the weekend in general.
The Black Deer Festival did something very special this weekend and I firmly believe that if we are to protect live music, we must get behind all of the festivals we love. Personally, it has become increasingly evident to me that we must learn to appreciate every moment and draw as much from them as possible; there are simply no ordinary moments and nowhere is this more apparent than at a musical festival. Young and old being brought together at the altar of music is a wonderful church and our support for festivals like The Black Deer is the best way we can defeat the musical cancer of AI. We want those individual moments as we discover new artists and revisit old favourites, we want the laughs and chats over a beer or cider that will live with us forever. We don’t want something created for us by a computer, we want the humanity that we get from shared musical experience.
Live performance is the foundation of the thing we love and at festivals especially it comes gift wrapped in emotion. AI will never be able to recreate that; even at the ABBA Voyage, which is spectacular in its concept, the thing that makes it special is the crowd. At a festival you can interact with the artists because they’re alive and if you want that to continue, go and invest in that particular future by buying the early bird tickets to next years Black Deer Festival, because that way you know that investment will bring something money can’t buy and computers can’t create. Joy!
