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Rolling Rootsy Revue 2015 Oslo –  Photo Special

Rolling Rootsy Revue is a touring Americana festival visiting three towns in Norway (and four in Sweden) this June,  Bergen, Oslo and Trondheim.

I was lucky to attend The Rolling Rootsy Revue 2015 in Oslo last night, and what a great collection of artists we were served. Fantastic music for a reasonable price. I send a big thanks to Rootsy Live for bringing this show on the road in Norway. Crossing fingers and hoping it will be an annual event.

It started with Doug Seegers, a fine start. He is a good storyteller and is very true to his country music roots. I’ve seen him before and he is a good entertainer. It was surprisingly full at the start of “The Revue” and he brought out the smiles in the audience.

Then we got Handsome Family, always fun, and almost always great. I had very high hopes, every time I’ve seen them they’ve been fantastic. I was a bit let-down yesterday, maybe my expectations were too high. It was good but not as good as I know they can be.

I think I should tell you that the pictures are in the order from best to worst. Not that any artist was really bad, but some were better than the others.

This is my ranking of the night:

1) Justin Townes Earle
2) Rayland Baxter
3) The Handsome Family
4) Doug Seegers
5) Baskery
6) Dig Deeper (they would probably be higher if I had had the time to see their full set)
7) Judah & The Lion

Justin Townes Earle:

This was my second concert with Justin Townes Earle this year and last night’s show was much better than his winter concert in Oslo. The band was good and Townes Earle was fantastic. Easily the best concert for me at this years Rolling Rootsy Revue. He was in a good mood and he played good, his  mood was infectious and the audience soon fell into his spell.

Highlights of the evening were many but I will mention Mama’s eyes, Harlem River Blues and his great Fleetwood Mac cover, Dreams.

I left Judah & The Lion quite soon, really not my thing, and caught the sound check with Justin Townes Earle. That sound check was better than Judah and The Lion’s set, fact. That said, many would disagree with me on this, I heard many good words about Judah & The Lion after their show.

 

Rayland Baxter

The biggest surprise of the evening was Rayland Baxter. I have played his songs at home, but this was something else. Rayland Baxter is an American alternative country musician from Nashville, Tennessee. Baxter is also the son of musician Bucky Baxter.

His performance was very sincere and very, very good. Sometimes you just need to see an artist live to “get” his/her songs. This was the case for me with Mr. Baxter. Hope to see him again on a stage somewhere. I heartily recommend you to see him if you can. Great guitar playing and funny stories as well.

 

The Handsome Family:

 

Doug Seegers:

Baskery:

Baskery is a good band, but for my taste, they rely more on the show than the songs. That is all fine sometimes, they’re a great party band. It was my second Baskery show and they’re a better band this time around. The years on the road have made them into better entertainers. But has it made them better songwriters and artists? I’m not so sure…

 

Dig Deeper:

It isn’t fair to say too much about Dig Deeper, I heard one song and headed for the Hotel (had to) but what I heard was good. Hope I get a chance to see them again and give them a fair review.

 

Judah & The Lion:

Again, a very big thank you to Rootsy for making this Revue available, great great show!

And thanks for the opportunity to take pictures. Please leeave a link back to us if you use the pictures.

– Hallgeir