A who's who of local musicians joined the bill for the launch of Dylan James Tierney's new and debut album Old Misty Road at the Ironworks Inverness on Friday for a five-star performance
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Dylan James Tierney album launch
Ironworks, Inverness
5 stars
In the title track of Dylan James Tierney’s new album Old Misty Road, one of the lines goes ‘The memory will live on and I will never forget’.
Friday’s event featuring many Inverness musicians in a night topped by a set of Dylan’s songs was one of those.
With the Ironworks set out cabaret-style with round tables laid out across the floor and people flowing in with small groups of friends or family from just after 7pm, KENNA ROSS’s lovely piano instrumentals made a perfect opener, sophisticated and relaxing as people greeted each other, got their drinks and sat down to listen on this night all about celebrating music.
In some ways the night couldn’t have been more different from the event the night before when Public Service Broadcasting’s crowd had stood shoulder to shoulder packing out the place as a cutting edge light show mixed with live film footage from the stage itself, created a hi-tech and literally awesome spectacle.
But Friday’s bill – local acts coming and going from the stage in little 20-minute packages that showcased many of the talents our city, and this venue, has nurtured – showed off another important face of the venue.
Banter from the stage celebrated the presence of "the Smithton massive" as Sara Bills put it, and the Hilton boys like Iain McLaughlin and Josh Mackenzie and the many talents from the Inverness area who have been able to put music at the heart of their lives aided by the dream and the reality of playing a gig like the Ironworks – creating a warm, supportive atmosphere for Dylan’s big night.
There was a welcome surprise cameo from singer songwriter JEMMA TWEEDIE as Kenna’s set drew to a close, her keyboards accompanying Jemma for a special cover of Oasis classic Wonderwall, sultry and transformed in Jemma’s all-too-brief performance.
Then with a remarkably quick changeover – it was like that all night – masterminded and under the watchful eye of MC Ben Hesling, LAUREN MACKENZIE & JAKE BOLT of Chancers treated us to some classics from their well-observed, country-tinged songwriting, I’m Still Here With You topping their micro-set with the rose-tinted glasses off in a lyric that celebrates the reality of a caring relationship – “You still can’t read me, but you help me fight my fears”.
And as Jake commented: “It’s a long time since we’ve played the Ironworks, probably the last. It’s been such an asset to Inverness and it’s such a shame it’s going.”
CRAIG ROBERTSON’s performance crackled with fiery energy, his strong gravelly vocals powering Best Of Me, a song he told us he wrote after his divorce.
“Aye, get divorced, write a song!” he grinned afterwards. And the self-nurturing message of his final song “This one goes out to anyone who struggles with looking after yourselves!”, is summed up with a voice that comes from the heart, hinting at a hard-won understanding that “All I know is I’ve got a life worth fighting for”.
SARA BILLS & COLIN CUMMINGS – half of Sara Bills & The Hasbeens – “The better half, obviously," grinned Sara, added the band’s signature quirky, feisty presence to the night. Underground has never felt more tuned in to the mood of the world around us than now – “It’s a protest song – if any of you know the chorus, feel free to sing along,” Sara invited. And we did. But the set also included another favourite highlight, The Morning After The Night Before, wistful and vulnerable under its brave face.
It had been three years since IAIN MCLAUGHLIN had played the venue, he told us, as the singer-songwriter, producer and power behind the IMOUT label sang with guitar to treat the crowd to some of his classic songs such as Falling Through The Dark and Don’t Speak, poignant to hear how much that voice and the acoustics of that venue love each other as Iain’s vocals stretched out and powered up
ROBIN ABBOT & ASHLEY MACKAY from The Market Bar resident institution that is Ashley And The Cosmonauts and all the bands from The Voyeurs to The Lush Rollers to Stetsonhead that Robin has graced over the years, brought it all to their classy set of songs, Ashley’s voice swooping through standout Behind Those Eyes.
JOSH MACKENZIE flicked through his band personas, starting with Lional and Moonlight, before a couple of Joshua Hotel songs, the slightly sinister stalkerish Somebody New and the as yet unnamed song where Josh invited us to add to the whistling bits as you muse on the words “It’s OK to make mistakes, when you’re golden and you’re young”. And just as he’d hoped, his cover of the Arctic Monkeys’ Mardy Bum also seemed to be bring back the schoolday memories Josh talked about for a section at the back of the crowd!
Then DYLAN JAMES TIERNEY finally hit the stage, one man and guitar and a set of his album songs to share – Marc Clement who produced and played keyboards among other things on the debut album, joining him for a few songs.
“First of all, I want to say thanks to every single one of you for coming along, it’s greatly appreciated. And to all the musicians for playing. It wouldn’t have been a special night if they weren’t playing!” he greeted the room, before opening the set with one of the album’s highlights, poppy love song Lovers Hold Hands.
Dylan’s voice is strong and uniquely able to connect emotionally with his audience. At a small intimate gig, watch an audience quiet down in seconds, pulled in to Dylan's performance – and silenced.
His songwriting has always been able to hit home too from those first teenage songs with melodies that sometimes sound like rediscovered folk songs from decades ago (Old Misty Road), other times pure pop (Lovers Hold Hands). His lyrics share experiences and feelings we’ve all had (Live The Dream – “I want a one-way ticket to LA”), that paint pictures but that create sometimes unsettling images that hint at something darker or troubles just out of the picture (Have You Ever, Down By The Water – “Take me to the place where you will sleep tonight down by the water on a rainy night/ tell me what's gone wrong and I will put it right”). And for someone so young, Dylan’s songs suggest a lifetime’s experience behind them. Enjoy The Ride – one of a few new songs not on the album that Dylan played – is like that: “I tell you nothing but the truth … Freedom fighting for so long, it’s time to put the weapons down.”
On the night, all his years of paying his dues and stagecraft learned playing solo, showed in voice and guitar and in his confident performance where new songs such as Campfire, Enjoy The Ride and his last number of the night, the encore The Boat Song, hint at what will come with the next album he hopes to record, again with Marc Clement.
Marc joined him onstage – Dylan proudly introduced him saying “This is the guy who produced the album, I’ve got a lot of time for Marc!” – for a couple of numbers to add piano to Winter Blues – and also maybe the most moving song of the night, the album’s closer Paradise.
It would be great to hear a whole set of Dylan, guitar and Marc on piano and backing vocals, some time.
It was hard after all that for anyone to resist the urge to rush out to the Ironworks’ foyer and pick up the album after hearing Dylan’s performance.
Maybe predictably, the foyer was buzzing when the gig finished as Ben Hesling – who had played a big part in this night happening – was kept busy at the merchandise stall.
You can find Dylan James Tierney’s album Old Misty Road on bandcamp: https://dylanjamestierney.bandcamp.com/
Also on Spotify and iTunes. Follow Dylan: https://www.facebook.com/tierney.dylan
