Annabelle Chvostek – The Continental, Preston (November 2009)

Jen Blacker gets back to basics

I’m used to seeing Canadian singer Annabelle Chvostek with full band back up, if not with her ex-band mates the Wailin’ Jennys, then with her trio she brought to the UK last year. So a stripped down solo set was a real treat. It’s good to get a little raw. There is nothing I love more than seeing an artist break everything down to the basics, just their voice and a single instrument. Switching between mandolin, guitar and fiddle, she played expertly and really held her own. Chvostek plays the fiddle like she’s strumming a guitar and how her fingers aren’t bleeding at the end of Paintbrush Road is astounding (the magic of acrylic nails).

The night before, she’d played Ireby in the Lake District, to a packed house and a rowdy sing-along crowd. This evening at the Continental was less well attended and she had a hard crowd to work. Her first attempt to get us to sing was to a traditional Slovak drinking song A Ja Taka Dzivocka, translated “I am a wild girl.” Most of us joined in with the chorus “Tsingy lingy boom” with lots of smiles and giggles and one of the biggest cheers of the night.

That is as good as the sing-alongs got though, as I don’t think the audience quite understood the concept of repeating back the last line in the song I Left My Brain. She quit trying to get us to sing after that, which was a shame, as she has some really catchy tunes..

There was a good mix of songs from both her first album Water and the latest Resilience, plus from her EP Burned My Ass and her songs from the Wailin’ Jennys days. Thrown into the set were some covers too, and a traditional tune on the fiddle. Racing With the Sun a cover of an Ella Jenkins song and a Velvet Underground tune Some Kinda Love.

The sound was excellent apart from one, two, three… let’s say several feedback hiccups, but Chvostek’s voice was as rich and sweet as ever. There were plenty of songs about heartache, breakups, love, life on the road and political protest too.

Other than a group chattering at the back of the hall the audience were appreciative and attentive, if a tad reluctant to sing along. To encore she played Apocalypse Lullaby on request and finished with the foot-stomping Wait For It, leaving on a true high note and no doubt with a few more fans.

Jen Blacker

Check her out at www.annabelle.org or look for her on myspace.