The Troubadour: Jer Gregg; Gwendolen Chatfield; Don Gallardo & How Far West; The Genies

It was with much anticipation that I headed off to The Troubadour near Earls Court in London. The club has had some big names in music play there over the years including Jimi Hendrix; Bob Dylan & Paul Simon. Descending the stairs to the club I was surprised by the lay out, the club is circular, arranged around a support structure/staircase.
I was pleased to note the lighting; The Troubadour has the best lighting I have come across outside of a major concert.

Jer Gregg was first up a signer from the mid-west of the USA who's sound is reminiscent of Chris Cornell. Unfortunately I arrived towards the end of his set so didn't really get a good idea of how he performs...

 
Second on the bill was Gwendolen Chatfield an accordion driven folk rock band. There is a heavy Celtic influence to their music and the songs are story driven and quite eclectic. I enjoyed their music but did feel that they were a little too eclectic and didn't really fit in with the rest of the line up.

Next up was another American band Don Gallardo and How Far West. I was pleasantly surprised by their sound, Guitar driven Southern Blues with a good shot of rock thrown in for good measure. The songs are toe tappingly good (In fact some people even got up and danced) and the harmonies sent shivers up my spine. Chatting to Don afterwards (He actually approached me asking about the photos I'd taken) I discovered some of that fabled Southern Hospitality as we chatted about their tour here and where they were going etc. They will be back next year, I look forward to that tour eagerly.
The Band consists of:-
Don Gallardo - Lead Vocal and Accoustic Guitar
Travis Stoke - Bass Guitar and BGV
Clint Maine - Lead Guitar and BGV
Andrew Squire - Drums

The Headline for the night (& reason I was there) was The Genies. Sporting their new Drummer (Ryan Pincott.) Now these guys have become really good friends of mine (in the short month that I've known them) so there might be some bias in my opinion of their performance, but I really do think that The Genies are getting better and better every time they perform. In my last post about them I said that these guys will go far and it appears I may be right. They have been approached by a world renowned producer who has taken a few other bands to number one & apparently he only takes on bands whom he thinks are destined for big things... so watch this space.

These photos and more are viewable here