Rachel Croft Live in Concert

One of the best things about the stripped-back solo show is the talky bits between the tunes. It's a great way to learn about a new artist, and in Rachel's case it reminded me that artist is the only apt word. As well as writing and performing her music, she animates her own videos and designs the artwork on her CDs and records too. For all the drawbacks of being totally independent, it does favour artists who can be inventive and transcend the music itself.

Rachel Croft grew up in Nottingham and went to university in my neck of the woods, York, before graduating and heading down to London to become a professional musician. She literally busked for her rent in York, which gave her inspiration for at least a couple of songs, sometimes about mansplainers. I got a sense that those years on the streets gave her the resilience and quiet confidence that she really could make a go of an unusual (risky?) career.

Last night kicked off with an unreleased track called Brown Eyes, before moving to the more familiar territory of Weaver Bird, Only Dreams and Reap What You Sow, songs I had on rotation in the car all week.

Rachel's music has been described as cinematic, and Weaver Bird stood out to me. It's like an Edith Piaf French café classic. It gives indie film noir, and brings a complete atmosphere and state of mind. It's quiet, but it's one of my favourites.

One of the hallmarks of treading the independent path is the strange coincidences that can arise. I found this out myself a year ago, when I started this platform by accident. Rachel had played a show at York Barbican and some BBC Snooker producers were in the audience. They asked her to play a tune, which turned out to be Only Dreams, to introduce their BBC2 Snooker coverage the next night. Surely nobody could have engineered such a circumstance?

What about this one? Reap What You Sow appeared in a teen series on Netflix called Get Even. The explanation is complicated but boils down to this: someone knew someone who knew someone who just happened to want female indie music for their Netflix show.

One more story, and possibly the best of them all. Rachel was invited to El Salvador to meet local musicians and take part in a half-hour documentary. The first trip to the country (it is in Central America, by the way) involved a 4 AM trek to the top of an active volcano followed by some prancing around in a white ballgown... in high winds. On a precipice.

Back to last night. All the songs I hoped for were there including A Mind Made of Sky, Failure and Dead Horse. It was a full-length two-hour session that built nicely from some quieter acoustic beginnings to the amazing roar of Rachel's louder rock tunes. There was plenty of humour, and some of that was provided by our attempts at audience participation. In Rose Tinted, one of her catchiest tunes, we were supposed to ting on a glass or ceramic object but most of us ended up saying the word ting instead. It still brings a smile. Perhaps you had to be there, and you should have been!

There were some rarities too including Can't Replace Your Perfect, Youth is Wasted on the Young and one from the drafts folder, which might become a song called Come & Go. Rachel also played her new single, Bittersweet, due out on 10th April, and it was cool to hear that live after first hearing to it a month or two back. As you would expect, there will be a hand-animated video to go with.

Rachel Croft is available everywhere you listen to music, including Bandcamp and YouTube and on her own website which includes merch and tour tickets. You can watch Get Even on Netflix.

Kingsmead House Concerts

I have started adding a note about the venue to my show reviews. When you imagine a concert venue you might understandably think of a dark hall with a stage and a spotlight or two. Fair enough, but the venue is the first and last thing you see. It sets the mood. And I've found the smaller venues really do add to the evening.

The idea of the house concert is not culturally established here as it is in America. To be fair, they probably work best when surrounded by 50 acres of prairie to protect the neighbours' ears. But Paul Kemp over at Kingsmead in South Bucks goes out of his way to make everyone feel welcome.

Indeed, as myself and Calmer Sounds arrived in Paul's kitchen, pizza and sausage rolls were being handed out. My first memory of seeing Rachel Croft IRL is therefore of her standing in the kitchen, shouting for Paul. Man, I had literally just walked in. How could she have known?