Truck Festival - Part 2 - The Saloon Bar Beckons

It is with sadness that I must mention that Truck Festival's bigger companion, Y Not Festival, was terminated this weekend not long after it had started due to both the mud and, perhaps more importantly, the dangerous electrical problems that the rain caused on the various stages. I'll say something that is actually very important. The festival support staff at Truck Festival last weekend went beyond what might reasonably have been expected in order to mitigate the problems and so did so many others on the campsite. Awesome is not an inappropriate word in the circumstances and yet I suspect that they didn't really get the credit that was due to them.
Thank-you!
We must regard ourselves fortunate for what we were able to see and hear last weekend.
Here then is some stuff from that most important of stages. Of course it is almost all about the music but without the audience festivals would be nothing. The vitality of this interaction is so very important; a challenge to all. Keeping an exact count of the artists that played supporting roles throughout the whole weekend certainly got the better of me. You'll probably start to see familiar faces however.

There is no better place to start than with a stalwart of The Saloon Bar stage in recent years; Paul McClure promoting his latest EP 'Paul McClure and The Local Heroes'.

The Saloon Bar stage, Saturday afternoon, 22 July 2017.

Included in this photo, along with Paul, is another of the many heroes of this stage last weekend - Tom Collison on keyboards.
No better way to continue with, all the way from St. Antonio, Texas and a second year on this stage, Rachel Laven.

Saloon Bar stage, Saturday 22 July, with Simon Kelly and Rebecca Rosewell.

Also returning to this stage, and I have to say that I much admire this sense of continuity, was Hannah Rose Platt with new songs.

Lunchtime, Saturday 22 July 2017.

There is of course an element of competition in all of this and I suspect that I'm mostly on the losing side, but the challenge is good.

New Music 2016 - Part 41 - Rachel Laven - Love & Luccheses

Yesterday morning I returned from Truck Festival, a fairly small festival held on a farm in Oxfordshire, that has as its smallest stage (there were seven stages this year) The Saloon Bar. I have mentioned it many times; to be quite honest it is pretty well the reason that I go to Truck Festival. Here is an artist, new solo album in tow, that I saw play there on Sunday afternoon with family members The Lavens (mentioned here).
I don't normally buy albums immediately after hearing an artist or act live for the first time. There are exceptions and this was destined to be one of them.

Rachel Laven - Love & Luccheses (self released, 16 May 2016 in the US).

• Finish Line
• Each Other's Shoes
• Do You Dare
• Love & Luccheses
• Only Thing Familiar
• The Moon (Rachel Laven & Jana Laven)
• Don't Put Me In A Town
• Something Like Heaven (Walt Wilkins)
• Someone Like You
• Wrong Time
• Song For Mary (Rachel Laven & Mary Cooper)

Eleven songs, all by Rachel Laven except as noted above, on which she sings lead vocals and plays guitar. 

Rachel Laven - live at Truck Festival. Sunday 17 July 2016.

I don't have the equipment to do live video. Indeed I think that I if I had I really wouldn't bother because I'm there to listen to the music. Still photography doesn't impinge on my enjoyment but I think that trying to record video certainly would. This therefore is not my work. It is the title track of the album and also explains 'Luccheses'. I didn't have the faintest idea either but at least I could ask there and then!

Rachel Laven is currently on tour in the UK. Dates and venues are here.
Note added 14 June 2017:
Rachel is touring England and Scotland in July and early August 2017, including a gig on The Saloon Bar Stage, at the sold-out Truck Festival 2017 on 22 July. The full list of dates and ticketing information is here.