Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
To step out of your usual routine is to explore a world of possibilities, it is to live rather that exist, and when we have the belief within our souls that along the unpredicted route we may find an adaption to our song, that our way of thought once dominated by habitual standards, can blossom further and with great effect on those we seek to entertain and inspire.
Accompanied by Andrew Stern, Andy Santospago, James Rohr, John Sheeran, and Mike Connors, Bob Bradshaw returns to the studio, but with a different purpose in mind than creating a new record for the fans which debuts original songs, instead, for his 11th offering to the music lover, he brings the live sound to the studio with his band of Boston musicians and across 13 songs he rips up the rule book and in a single day at Q Division Studios, the sense of fine tuning and reimagined tracks of his life and career that took him from his native Ireland, across Europe, and to the world of the Americana desire that had enthused and captured his heart.
The sets that played in bars across the country, the tireless nod to greatness that he took from figures such as John Hiatt and Nick Lowe, all find purpose in this deconstructed, unique perspective, and as the live set begins with the glory of Talkin’ About My Love, and follows through with lively discourse of spirit with songs such as Material For The Blues, The Art Of Feeling Blue, Everybody’s Smalltime Now, Somebody Told Me A Lie, High On Own Supply, and the evocative finale of Exotic Dancers Wanted, the power of this live/studio expression is one that frames the musician’s own warmth and feeling towards music and how it is delivered to the public.
Live In Boston is a fascinating insight into the world of the troubadour when placed within what the public may see as a confinement of the wandering soul, but is in reality an open space to expression, and throughout the album’s honest tempo and candour, that expression is undaunted and unflappable, it harbours a sound of songs caught in a vitally unusual way.
Bob Bradshaw releases Live In Boston on March 28th via Fluke Records.
Ian D. Hall