Sam Bartells plays passionate Americana with healthy doses of Folk and Country, a powerful voice which captivates throughout this concert.
Accompanying him tonight is ace fiddler/violinist Pascal Roggen, familiar as part of Albi and the Wolves, but also a respected session musician and a gun-for hire.
After a short hiatus, Kumeu Live has had a makeover and a broadening of their operations, to Kumeu Arts Live, as longtime manager Guy Wishart explains.
The boutique music venue in the West continues to ride high, despite the persistent floods in the area in recent years. They had to contend with the covid years too.
Sam Bartells has a warm and familiar presence, as he thanks the many friends and family that are here tonight. Making sure to tell us NOT to talk about the rugby tonight, the all-important match with the All Blacks playing the Springboks at Fortress Eden Park.
With acoustic guitar, he kicks off the evening with Our Love May Go Away. Full of angst in the modern Nashville style, with lyrical fiddle lines, and I am suddenly transported back to October 2020 at the Anthology Lounge on Karangahape Road in Auckland.
Bartells was playing with a full band. This was Year Zero of the pandemic madness and before the mandated vaccines.
Originally from Hamilton and spending a lot of his time playing music in Auckland, he had been gaining good traction in Nashville as a singer-songwriter.
A powerful soulful voice that night, and original songs which evoke the sounds of the Outlaw Country style of Waylon and Willie, as well as touching on Springsteen, Mellencamp and Petty in their reach.
Morning Light is driven by a percussive guitar strum. Burnt a lot of bridges/ Explored the wild places. Celtic swing from the fiddle, and otherwise quite Country.
Stand By Me is the classic written by Ben E. King, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Always a deeply soulful number and here we hear some of the Boss’s phrasing with some high yodels.
The covers are revealing. Fleetwood Mac’s Landslide adds a poignant fiddle lament, and Bartells covers this with a little of the soul ache of a George Jones.
He could have been a contender to replace Lindsay Buckingham instead of fellow Kiwi Neil Finn. Just saying.
Then there is the Creedence cover song Have You Ever Seen the Rain, which gives us another clue to the quintessential sound that Bartells can evoke.
In the fraught and fractious ’68 to ’72 of America, which these current times resemble so much in spirit, John Fogerty and band were the heart and soul of Americana.
Blessed and Broken brings this spirit all together and drips with pain and anguish, and you hope there is some redemption at the end. The Devil walks beside me.
Emotionally moving and gains some audience praise.
Alone No More delves deep into Southern Country style, and White Wolf, whilst being closer to Folk, is hit with big passionate vocals.
Let’s Go did well in Nashville. It’s a drive all night listening to Rock’n’roll on the radio song. The violin steps in, in lieu of a full band, with some great swing lines.
One more cover, Chris Stapleton’s Broken Halos’, sounding close to the original in spirit.
The closest he gets to the wild spirit of Rock’n’roll is Bring You Down, where fiddle player Roggen gets passionate and flails away.
Great spirit and passion from Sam Bartells, and a good reboot show for Kumeu Arts Live.
Rev. Orange Peel
Photos by Wendy Fenwick
