Into Live Music Review: Courtney Marie Andrews/ Brown Horse
This one felt special from the off. A support band I’ve seen and genuinely rate, and a main act I’ve admired for years but somehow never managed to catch live. There’s always a little extra buzz on nights like that — curiosity, expectation, hope. And a packed Saint Luke’s suggested that my expectations were shared by many.
Brown Horse opened and once again showed why they’re gathering so much momentum. Their Norfolk-infused Americana has a quiet confidence about it. Just a three-piece tonight, no drums, which gave the songs even more space to stretch, breathe and settle.
We got three tracks from their debut release — including their calling card Paul Gilley — plus two new songs from their forthcoming album. The stripped-back set-up suited them beautifully; the slide guitar in particular was exquisite, notes hanging in the old church air long after they were played. They feel like a band on the cusp of something momentous and it was heartening to see the venue packed out for them.
Courtney Marie Andrews is ostensibly a country-folk American singer-songwriter, but then again, she isn’t. Nearly a decade into her solo career, she’s carved out a space that is entirely her own. Genres come and go around her, but she simply follows the songs. And that voice — warm, fragile, sometimes commanding — can both melt and unsettle your heart in the very same breath.
Who else would open a show by playing a new album – barely a month old – in full? That album, Valentine, formed ‘side one’ of the evening.
Andrews clearly knows how strong these new songs are. Starting at the piano with Pendulum Swing, which carried gentle echoes of Sharon Van Etten, the set unfolded with quiet assurance. By the time she reached the album’s closer Hangman, with her acoustic guitar leading the band through rich, Nashville-honed arrangements, the audience was completely with her.
Backed by Taylor Zachary on bass, Matt Carroll on drums and Jerry Bernhardt on guitar and keys, Andrews had the perfect band for the stirring light and shade her music demands. Tight, sensitive, never overplaying.
The emotional peak of this first set came with the piano led Little Picture of a Butterfly flowing straight into Outsider, linked by a short passage of poetry. There were hints of Patti Smith in her phrasing and presence — strength wrapped in vulnerability. In the hushed beauty of Saint Luke’s, the lines from Outsider “Yes, I have my reasons / I’ve been burned before/You let them get close/Then they expose your core”, felt confessional.
Between songs she was relaxed, chatty, clearly happy to be back in Scotland. A fond mention of playing recently on Eigg (and instructions to say hello to the island’s only taxi driver if anyone was heading there) drew smiles from everyone including the band!
After the intensity of the new album run-through, ‘side two’ felt looser, a bit more comfortable. Forty-five minutes of fan favourites and older material brought a different energy to proceedings. Break The Spell showcased band harmonies that were flawless all night. Near You carried flashes of Crazy Horse grit, Bernhardt letting rip with a superb extended solo. And If I Told closed the main set with the kind of emotional clarity that encapsulates Andrews: open-hearted, reflective, unafraid.
The encore was everything one could hope for, with two songs from her breakthrough album Honest Life. The title track, just Andrews and her acoustic, felt intimate and reflective. Then Table For One, with the band back on stage (after a bit of coaxing from Andrews!) brought us full circle, with a plaintive vocal declaring “I’m a little bit lonely/A little bit stoned/And I’m ready to go home” Two songs, that together captured exactly who she is as an artist.
There’s been talk for a while about a potential country pivot from Lana Del Ray. As gifted as Del Ray is, it would take something remarkable to dislodge Andrews from her place at the head of this beautifully ethereal corner of country-folk and Americana.
On this evidence, Andrews is not just here to stay, she’s quietly flourishing.
Brian Davidson @weepeople1
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