Review by Adrienne Meddock from Zub RecordsToday is the birthday of your author, and SHQ was an inspired way to celebrate the day. Robyn is resplendent in a purple floral shirt, jumping right in with ‘I’m Only You,” played on the very bright acoustic, you know the one with the light headstock and neck and dark body. Its tone is so bright, it just rings. They are still in Nashville, beaming from borrowed digs.
‘Acid Bird’ shows Robyn in great voice today, hitting the highs quite well. He’s picked up the Gibson and it is ringing. Borrowed digs are great for guitar sounds, including this one. Love the sound. Robyn points out on the heels of the song marking decay that he “didn’t instantly turn grey, I gradually turned white.” Me too, Reg.
Next up, ripe for July is “I Got the Hots For You,” and while London has been toasty, the wet air of the American South is nonpareil on the kind of heat that just bastes its objects. RH in TN and ME in NC. The song ends without a bang, RH proclaiming “instead of a butch John Lennon ending” we got a “rather exhausted diva on a lilypad in the middle of a lake, rehearsing.” We’ll take it!
Robyn coaxes his acoustic into delivering a wonderful, persistent drone for ‘Strange.’ RH announces “I’m requesting this because you (Emma) quite like it.” Aww. They duet on ‘Fifty Two Stations.’
We are in Newport Folk Fest prep mode, where Emma will sing songs from Blonde on the Tracks to Robyn’s guitar accompaniment. Emma gives her take on ‘Queen Jane Approximately’ and it is solid as ever. Emma says Reg is now a “Nashville picker like Dave Rawlings with a slightly more ambitious shirt and a slightly cheaper guitar.” Fair play. RH notes that on this short trip to the US they are without the Folds, so that they are like The Beatles without John Lennon or the Jimi Hendrix Experience without Jimi.” We do love to see the kitties!
The second BOTT cut was ‘I Contain Multitudes,’ which Dylan has never performed live. The live score stands at ES: 7 and BD:0 for live renderings. She might need to give him pointers before he trots it out on stage.
RH’s ‘Feathery Serpent God” gets the melodic, folky treatment; someone in the comments mentions Nilsson. That singer-songwriter feels summoned by this one. Lovely.
Robyn tells us the next album will feature “weedy, Nordic backing...weedy things in a clump.” After a stream of consciousness he informs us that the iPhone 17 will be part of us as we evolutionarily merge with our phones. I, for one, welcome the hands free convenience.
To get in “Newport Folk Festival mode” RH plays a song he recorded with “Gill and Dave,” ‘Television.’from Spooked. RH digresses on his failed attempts to woo the ladies with his Beefheart inspired lyrics.
That leads us to the lady in the room. We are in full-on Newport Folk inspiration, with another Bob number, ‘You’re A Big Girl Now,’ the final track on Emma’s Dylan album and the final track for us Groovers on this Friday SHQ.