You know those ‘intimate acoustic shows’ where it’s so quiet, and you find yourself sitting so uncomfortably close to the stage, that you become incredibly self-conscious and are afraid to move for fear of disrupting the ambience of the room, not to mention the mood of the performers? Well, this stripped down set from Edinburgh’s Dean Owens could quite easily have been such a gig, but thanks to our host’s easy-going charm and self-deprecating wit, which immediately put everyone at ease, the small crowd was able to simply relax and enjoy. Even Owens’ penchant for name-dropping the many famous folk he has worked with (and there are a few – The Mavericks, Irvine Welsh, Al Perkins, Emmylou Harris all got a mention) came across as the disbelieving tales of a disarmingly awestruck fan, rather than the dull boasts of a diva.
As this set illustrated, he has some fine tunes at his disposal, as well as what my granny would probably have called “a pair of lungs”. The first half of the evening saw Owens play whatever came to mind and take requests from the crowd, including songs from his time as frontman for cult country heroes The Felsons, with American radio hit ‘Joseph Black’ receiving a particularly warm welcome. However, it was only when he was joined onstage by guitarist Stuart Nisbet that the set really took off, as Nisbet’s flawless playing and understated backing vocals provided the perfect accompaniment in Owens’ country-tinged portraits of Scotland such as ‘Raining in Glasgow’ and ‘Years Ago’, both from forthcoming release Whisky Hearts. Although perhaps lacking that certain indefinable something which makes good songs great, Owens clearly has the tools at his disposal to cement his position as one of the country’s leading singer-songwriters and you get the feeling that it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.
