Jenny Mitchell sings Alt-Country Folk with a soulful edge which is greeted by a hushed reverential audience tonight. Genuinely moving emotionally.
Jenny Mitchell is from the deep south of Gore and surrounds, the capital of Country music in New Zealand.
Tells us she was performing as young as four on a stage. Her father Ron Mitchell is also a country singer-songwriter, and she and her twin sisters (Mitchell Sisters, Nicola and Maegan) were raised on the Dixie Chicks, Johnny Cash and Slim Dusty amongst others.
Won numerous awards here and in Australia. She is a prolific songwriter, and she may have appeared fully formed the first time I saw her, at the Auckland Folk Festival in 2021. She had a confident manner, and her presence filled the Showcase stage as a headline act.
She previewed songs from her acclaimed Tug OF War (2022) album, but of this current one Forest House released a few months ago, she justifiably calls it her best so far.
Just finished an extensive Australian tour with an idol of hers, Casey Chambers, she is completing a short local Forest House tour.
The team was holed up in a favourite Airbnb namesake house to record the final versions. Family (father and the twin sisters) and her favourite bandmembers.
The band are on stage tonight. Mikey Muggeridge electric guitar and mandolin, Ryan Fisherman bass, and Joe McCallum drums.
Opening salvo from the album, Little Less Lonely and Square and Plain. The latter a heartbreak song which brings out the Patsy Cline in her.
One of her secrets is her phrasing, gently caressing out the lyrics, and from which she can lay out little incendiary detonating mines.
Like Cline and Willie Nelson, she is not strictly a Country singer, as she incorporates a lot of Pop and some Jazz elements. A musician’s musician.
If You Were a Bird is a love song off the previous album. Kick drum is dominant and opens the song up nicely with the percussion.
Eventually you notice the engine room lay the foundation and drive for the performance tonight.
Wives Who Wait requires a disclaimer from Mitchell. Great lyrics but these are the easily triggered times. Rhythmic drive makes this Country Rock with some tasty R’n’B guitar licks.
Not Pretty Enough is a Casey Chambers song they duetted with on the Australian tour. Mitchell plays this solo with an acoustic guitar, and it sounds like the soulful Pop of mid-Seventies Fleetwood Mac.
Another Chambers song brings longtime musical friend Mike Hood onto the stage. A banjo and some mean alligator shoes. I’m an old dog/ It’s no time to be slowing down. Wildflower rings the bells.
Daffodils. Mitchell wrote this about father. Peaceful back porch Southern style Country. I’ve got my book/ You’ve got your bait/ Talkin’ about Slim Dusty. Gentle and melodic with a mandolin break standing for dad’s whistle solo.
Katie Thompson from Hokitika steps up now and charges off with Straight Talkin’ Woman. Classic Rockabilly with train rhythms from the original Sun Studios of 706 Union Ave in Memphis.
Thompson has warmed up the audience just prior, and with a show of hands maybe 3 or 4 people have seen her before. Far too quiet and well-behaved to be Westies here tonight.
Thompson has a voice closer to traditional Country, and she adds a few yelps to a voice which has great sustain on the high notes.
There is a worthy album, Bittersweet (2019) to check out and we would like to catch her again.
Straight after Thompson, Jenny Mitchell is back again to sing a song of home.
Where the Water’s Cold. That’s Gore. Where folks don’t do what they’re told. The drummer leads off again, as he’s been laying down the law all night. it’s a Country-styled Blues.
Heart Like a House is dedicated to the Women’s Refuge cause this evening, and which sadly is one of the biggest social problems in New Zealand spanning both race and culture. Standing tall and speaking the truth. The vocal performance excels here.
This may be a companion to the award-winning song performed in collaboration with Tami Neilson, Trouble Finds a Girl.
Mike Hood returns to help with Up to The House, combining Cajun swing with a nice fat bottom bass.
Rounded out with two songs written around the younger siblings. Sisters and Snakes in the Grass. Country rock powered by the drums.
Jenny Mitchell lays it out in triumph.
Rev. Orange Peel
Photos by Azrie Azizi
