Gig review: Ben Bedford, Glasgow

A FORMER historian by both training and trade, Illinois native Ben Bedford nowadays channels his affinity with the past into pursuing his muse as a singer-songwriter, a marriage of skills that’s earned him increasing critical praise over the course of his three albums to date.

Star Folk Club

****

The title track of his latest, What We Lost, hauntingly exemplified key aspects of his approach, imaginatively evoking his late grandfather’s thoughts towards the end of the Second World War, following the death of a brother in the Normandy invasion. Delivered with deceptive simplicity and eloquence, highlighting the softer, lyrical side of Bedford’s seemingly artless vocals, it merged period vividness with contemporary reflection.

Bedford visited an array of historical junctures during the set, including the US Civil War, Amelia Earhart’s maiden transatlantic flight, the 1955 lynching of Emmett Till, a mysterious early Mississippi civilisation and the last year of blues legend Charlie Patton’s life.

Bringing their stories to life with adroitly chosen imagery and sensory detail – animated by guitar accompaniment tightly tailored to each song’s melody, mood and movement – Bedford also framed them with deftly sketched context, enabling their wider resonance to reverberate.

A well-digested and crafted blend of country-folk and country-blues stylings reflected the influence of Bedford’s cited heroes – including the likes of Townes Van Zandt, John Prine and Guy Clark – with echoes too of Paul Simon’s soulful songcraft and Loudon Wainwright’s narrative force.