The music room at The Olympic Studios is a very intimate venue: in fact it’s a bit like staying in and having a live performance in your lounge.
Plunger had been invited along to hear Emily Barker perform songs from her latest album Sweet Kind Of Blue. Emily had recorded this album at the legendary Sam Phillips Recording Services in Memphis with a raft of top session musicians and a full complement of horns, strings and backing singers.
Tonight’s performance however was a stripped-back version with just Emily’s voice and guitar and Lukas Drinkwater on upright bass, acoustic guitar, a very twangsome Telecaster and some wonderful harmony vocals.
Emily and Lukas played two sets of country soul and Americana, with both songs from the new album plus some old favourites including the theme to TV’s Wallander and The Shadow Line. Having heard the songs in their purest form we’d love to hear them again with the full Memphis band but, to paraphrase Roy Scheider, “You’re gonna need a bigger room...”
http://www.emilybarker.com/
https://www.facebook.com/EmilyBarkerHalo/