Amy Raasch & Little Green, Gothenburg, 05.09.09

At Café KoM you always feel welcome. It’s a hole in the wall in the area of Linnéstaden, Gothenburg; a simple place; small, friendly and usually filled with the crying tones of a blues guitar, or two. The musicians are often local, but on this particular night there’s a guest from Los Angeles.

An older gentleman, with maybe one or two beers too much behind those tight shirt buttons, bends over our table, and says: 'that band [Little Green] doesn’t sound like blues to me'. But his disappointment soon turns into a big groovy smile.


Little Green starts the show with their brew of bluegrass-affected folk/americana. This night the band performs in the absence of their fiddler Fred. But on the other hand they have a new rhythm section, and boy, how it swings! At times with a beat that’s closer to some kind of free form jazz than country. The bands self penned songs are in the company of some nice covers. Excellent versions of Steve Earles 'Copperhead Road' and Keith Miles gentle masterpiece 'Road I’m On' are among the finest.

After a break Amy Raasch enters the stage with an acoustic Martin guitar, a hard banging 'Version Of Me' and a presence that reveals her career as an actress. Little Green is doing an excellent job as back-up band. Especially since they never met her before, and only learned her songs from her album and the Internet.

Amy brings us songs from the album 'Love Or Inertia' and her impressive project '52 Songs In 52 Weeks' (as can be seen & heard at www.youtube.com/amyraasch). And she has truly fine stuff to choose from; the touching 'The Nearness Of The Blade', inspired by a young girls letter to Martin Luther King, the beautiful 'Neverland' and my personal favourite 'Missing', with a great sepia toned refrain that so deeply touches the soul; 'do you wanna sell lemonade/from my front yard'.


Her songs range from the edgy to the rootsy, from tenderness to a rockin’ anger and I hear influences from folk, indie, jazz, pop and singer-songwriters with their hearts on their sleeves. Amy’s heart is up there on the stage. It’s in her songs; 'they say that when/it has no food/the heart will start/to eat itself'. The lyrics are strong, dark, personal, literary and even leaves some space over for some good time humor.

And even though she is haunted by a nasty cold this evening she gives us a memorable show. She charms us with touching stories, bittersweet melodies and some crazy homemade chords.

I walked home with a big groovy smile on my face that night!

Also published at Hemifrån.