Kim Richey/Carla J Easton review: 'easy grace and wholesome lyricism'

Respected Nashville singer/songwriter Kim Richey often toys with the idea of giving up touring but audiences such as this one keep her coming back. There is a special loyalty and appreciation that comes from attendees of Glasgow’s Fallen Angels Club, an independent country night celebrating 21 years of quality Americana programming.

Richey was welcomed like the regular visitor she is. No awkward acquaintance-building, just a warm familiarity from the get-go. She writes with easy grace and wholesome lyricism, often with alt.country co-writers such as Chuck Prophet and Aaron Lee Tasjan, and sings with a smile. The empathy shone through on the Joni Mitchellesque Straight As the Crow Flies and the soothing nostalgic Chapel Avenue, her tribute to a “free range” upbringing, while she spun a touching portrait of vicarious thrills on Joy Rider.

She touched base with the some local chums, inviting Jill Jackson to join her for a mini-set infused with close harmony and the rhythmic texture of two guitars. Next, Carla J Easton guested on keyboards and Paul Kelly added melodic flourishes on electric guitar and some tremolo trills to Chase Wild Horses, one of several bruised-not-battered character sketches in the set, including closing singalong I’m Alright and Angels’ Share, her drinking-to-forget song which paired well with her encore of Kris Kristofferson's Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down.

Easton and Kelly performed their own opening set, with Easton debuting new material from a forthcoming album, including Threads, a song for enduring friendships. Like Richey, she is fond of a co-write; she and cult indie hero Darren Hayman have pooled their break-up experiences into the blunt Romance Is Dead. Most remarkably, her new songs have not been written on her trusty keyboard but on guitar, an instrument she took up only recently, inspired by the DIY attitude of the female musicians she celebrated in her acclaimed documentary Since Yesterday.