Eve Selis Band at The Ravenswoo - pic 2

Eve Selis Band at The Ravenswoo - pic 3

If some of you music-lovers out there are still labouring under the illusion that Acoustic Sussex is just another folk club, then think again. Since I have been doing the reviews (about nine months), I have been surprised at the variety and professional qualities of the performers that have graced the various stages associated with Acoustic Sussex. I will admit that most of the artists who have appeared have not been full on rock ‘n roll, but there have been a few who have got very near the mark. The trio who run the Acoustic Sussex set-up must be congratulated for the shrewd picking of artists who have provided us with many a good musical night out. Martin Snodin, Pete Spencer and Paul Farrell are doing a grand job. 

Fairly recently we have lost one of our venues, but have found one that more than makes up for the loss of a good venue, and that is the Ravenswood Hotel, near Sharpthorne, West Sussex. This venue can suit all kinds of musical acts, The Baronial Hall for the small intimate gigs and the magnificent Princess Beatrice suite for the larger audiences and acts. The acoustics seem excellent and I have rarely met anyone who, on seeing the venue have not been knocked out by its magnificence, which is a perfect venue for gigs, situated in beautiful grounds complete with lake. 

Eve Selis was mightily impressed and it was the first thing she said as she took to the stage on this balmy July night. The Eve Selis Band, from San Diego, California includes musicians who have played with some of my all time favourites, Kenny Loggins, Kim Carnes, America, Dan Seals, Chris Isaak, Crosby, Stills & Nash, The Doobie Brothers, Jewel, and last, but not least, Johnny Cash. So that establishes their credentials with me.

I will freely admit that three months ago, I had not heard of Eve Selis and her amazing material. And then I heard whisperings about her like distant thunder and then along came Bob Harris and the distant rumbling became like a storm, headed our way. Well that storm broke on Thursday night. Eve has one of the most powerful voices I have ever heard and displayed so much energy and charisma. The harmonies were exquisite and the three guitarists, Marc "Twang" Intravaia, Ricky Nash and "Cactus" Jim Soldi provided some driving virtuoso guitar work with Larry Greenhough’s driving rhythmic performance on drums. Not to forget Sharon Whyte on accordion, who providing some nice touches to add extra colour to the music. This gig was supposed to be a stripped-down, semi unplugged version of their normal act and if this is the case I would dearly love to see the full electric version as their sound was amazing. 

My favourite numbers were My Back Pages, Someday and The Ballad Of Kate Morgan. There were some amazing guitars solos and Jim Soldi even got a fairly accurate rendition of that wonderful Rickenbacker sound which Roger McGuinn gave us on the Byrds version of the Dylan song, My Back Pages with Jim’s semi- acoustic Line 6 guitar. Harmonies were extremely tight and beautiful and I drank in every nuance of the evening’s performance. By the reaction of the rest of the audience, they too had an amazing time ensuring that Eve Selis’s name will be on many peoples lips for quite a while. 

I spoke to all of them after the gig, except I couldn’t find Ricky Nash and soon discovered what incredibly nice, down to earth people they were. Bob Harris said of their performance, when he saw them “One of the best concerts I've ever seen in the UK, Quite breathtaking" We all thought so too! 

Songs performed; Angels And Eagles, It’s A Beautiful Day, Russellville, Mr Lincoln, Love Letters, Catch The Wind, Hot Dog, Hit The Road segued with Folsom Prison Blues, A Pocket Full Of Stones, My Back Pages, The Ballad Of Kate Morgan, Ain’t Got Nothing, Heart Shaped Tattoo, Someday, Love You Away From Me, Passin’ Thru and Honky Tonk Town. 

The evening started with an unexpected appearance of Brooks Williams, who now resides in Connecticut but originates from Statesboro, Georgia. Martin had been trying to book Brooks for some while, when suddenly his agent rang and arrangements made. Brooks played and sang mostly self-penned songs with some well known 12 bar blues numbers by the likes of Lightning Hopkins and other blues artists. His picking was superb and he doesn’t really need to support anybody, he should be a headliner himself. Songs performed; Weeping Willow, Working Dawg, Shady Grove, Belfast Blues, Half The Grace, One Day, Honey Babe and Don’t Get Around Much Anymore.

Excellent!

Review courtesy of Bob Preece