The Southern Thing

In 2004 I listened to an album called Americana 2004, it was distributed with Uncut magazine. Few albums have opened as many new musical doors for me. Most obvious was my introduction to Richmond Fontaine, however tucked away on the album was a track called "Static on the Radio" by an artist called Jim White. The track had a haunting effect, once played you wanted to play it again, it became implanted in your memory. It wasn't long before I experimented with the album that this track was taken from , and I discovered The Girl from Brownsville, Texas and Bluebird.

Jim White became a firm favourite and this album " Drill a hole" became one to which I regularly returned . I t was some years before I had the opportunity to see Jim White in concert but in 2009 he played the Union Chapel London.

This week Jim returned to London and played a concert at the Jazz Cafe in Camden Town. It was a new venue to me, and i sense they probably don't have artists like Jim that often. Jim played a wide variety of tracks from his various albums, accompanied by an up right bass and electric guitarist, Jim augmented the sound by a drum machine and the clever recording of vocals and harmonica and hand organ.

Jim White is unlike your usual artist. Part of him doubts how he got where he is. He wants to talk about life in anything but the fast lane of the USA. It's a story of back lane and small towns, evangelical churches and local stores.

At the end of the evening he thanks the audience for helping him provide for his family, he auctions his shirt for a chosen charity, because in his words, in these days charities are finding it hard. For two hours Jim had enthralled us with his music, tales and experiences. For those minutes rural north-western Florida came to North London.