Live Review: Carrie Elkin and Robby Hecht

Carrie Elkin and Robby Hecht were the guests of the Barnsley House Concerts at the Wheelhouse tonight, their gig being the climax of an eventful day in and around Wombwell in the heart of the Dearne Valley. During the afternoon, the nearby Old Moor RSPB Nature Reserve held its first ever charity music concert in a specially erected marquee, which was positioned right next to the visitor centre in the sprawling 250 acres of wetland. The bird and nature enthusiasts who visit the reserve from all over the country, were treated to a different kind of song today, with an afternoon of contrasting musical styles and weather conditions.

The musicians that gathered together today were only too pleased to lend their support to such a worthwhile cause but were slightly concerned that their varied warbling might frighten the neighbouring birds. Marie, one of the volunteers at the reserve and organiser of the 'Voices for Nature' event, reassured everybody that the birds would probably welcome an afternoon of acoustic folk music and likewise the binocular laden 'twitchers' in attendance, not normally associated with the music.

Carrie Elkin and Robby Hecht were already booked for the Wheelhouse in the evening but made a special appearance during the afternoon, sharing a bill alongside a handful of more familiar performers to the area, Kellie While, Charlie Barker, Ray Hearne and the WW.Combo, all of whom brought along their own distinctive voices to the afternoon's event.  
 

Ray Hearne

Being so close to nature, all four of the classical elements were with us this afternoon, in the space of three and a half hours. First 'Air' made itself known as Ray Hearne kicked things off, with the wind violently rattling the marquee, threatening to uproot the pegs at any given moment. Marie and her team knew the marquee was going nowhere, having spent several hours the previous day harnessing the thing to the Reserve lawn. Ray must sometimes wonder why he is always being asked to kickstart festivals, charity events and fund raising gigs but to be honest, it's simply because he's so good at it. Ray's local knowledge combined with his charismatic personality and abundance of warmth sets the tone for any event and on this occasion provided a friendly link throughout the afternoon as Master of Ceremonies. Frankly, I can't think of anyone who does it better. Ray opened with a few of his own songs including "The Day The Waters Came", a song about the recent local floods in such places as Toll Bar on the outskirts of Doncaster.

Charlie Barker

Such a song was almost prophetic as Charlie Barker took her guitar from its case, after a lovely introduction by Ray, who said 'here to wow you all with her voice and her songs and her beauty.." (I told you he was good). 'Water' was in no short supply as the heavens opened during Charlie's set, which included songs such as Nanci Griffith's "A Hard Life Wherever You Go" and Jo Dee Messina's "Even God Must Get The Blues". 'It might be chuckin' it down but it's boiling in here isn't it?' said Charlie as she introduced one of her own songs "Not the Way", a song about her days in a soul band. Indeed it was warm in there. As the rain came down, the marquee was bulging with just about every visitor to the site, huddled together to keep the rain off but the heat in.

Kellie While

In keeping with Britain's weird and wonderful weather patterns, 'Fire' soon replaced the rain in the form of the scorching sun, which came out once the clouds passed by and the audience was swapping their brollies for parasols as the marquee sides were raised to let more music out, and more people in. Kellie While didn't only bring along the sunshine, but also a handful of well chosen songs from her impressive repertoire, including the beautiful Paul Metsers song "When Lady Music Holds, You Sway" and "36 Miles Away From The Sea", a Julie Matthews song that she handles just as well on her own, as she does when her mum Chris While is around.

After a short break, where beer, sandwiches and cakes could be consumed in what turned out to resemble a sun-drenched village green, WW.Combo brought everything back down to 'Earth' with elements of homespun bluegrass and a couple of songs from the pens of messers Liam and ol' man Wilkinson (yours truly) aided and abetted by a bass-toting Gary Wells, providing their own brand of harmony singing and the odd Guy Clark song. I don't really relish writing anything in connection with my own performing endeavours, but on this occasion I will say that the other two were not half bad. "Breakfast on Bourbon" and "Crocodile Island", both requests, were played and received with presumably equal amounts of pleasure; a nice way to open the second half for our visiting American friends, Carrie and Robby.

The two singer-songwriter friends normally work separately but have teamed up on this particular tour, to share the stage and alternate between songs from their respective repertoires, each joining in on the songs they know, and often improvising through those they don't. I dare say by the end of this tour, they'll be more than familiar with every one of each others songs. Carrie and Robby played a short set to round off a successful and entertaining afternoon of music with songs including Robby's "Freight Train Lady" and "A Reckoning of Us" and Carrie's "Roots and Wings" and "Landeth By Sea".

Lou Marriott

Later in the evening, the Barnsley Concerts played host to a further two sets from Carrie and Robby, with an opening spot by Lou Marriott, whose singing and playing was just the thing to settle us into a nice and intimate night of songs and stories. The Wheelhouse suited the occasion perfectly, which was just the right environment for Robby's sensitive ballads, sung in the manner in which they were intended to be heard, up close and personal. Carrie has a much harder edge to her voice but managed to temper it by often singing to the side and sometimes to the back wall, which gave the desired effect.

Carrie Elkin and Robby Hecht 

Starting with "Two Tickets", Robby eased us into a night of mellow music, which included most of the songs from each of the songwriters' current albums, Carrie's 'The Jeopardy of Circumstance' and Robby's 'Late Last Night'. A well travelled troubadour, Carrie has spent the last ten years in various locations throughout the States, spending time in Cleveland, Athens, Taos, Steamboat Springs, Colorado Springs and Boston, but now resides in one of the music capitals of the Southern States in Austin Texas, whilst Robby, a native of Knoxville Tennessee, has recently set up home in another major music capitol, nearby Nashville. 

Carrie's song "Ode to Ogallala" indicates precisely how well travelled the singer is, which was preceded by an elaborate story of how her VW bus 'Sandy' broke down in the middle of Nebraska, which led to the singer being taken in by a bunch of cowboys for a couple of weeks, whereupon they soon had her riding horses, knocking back beer and fixing fences. You get the feeling this girl can handle herself.

The Wheelhouse decor pays homage to many previous visitors to the little cabin at the bottom of Hedley Jones's garden, including Stacey Earle and Rachel Harrington, but the unmistakable sneer of one Bobby Dylan is most representative on the Wheelhouse interior walls. Many of the artists take this on board and most nights the audience will hear at least one of the whining bard's songs and tonight was no exception. Carrie's impassioned take on "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" could not have been more earnestly sung and that stunning performance brought a memorable evening, and day, to an end.