"April Showers" by Greg Brice
Review
After the success of the first of six singles scheduled over the next few months, (a cover of Blind Boy Fuller's 1939 "Weeping Willow Blues"), Greg Brice is back with number two today.
It's called "April Showers" and this time it's one of his own.
Greg has quite the reputation for his sensitive & authentic versions of often very old blues songs, but I'd venture to suggest that he is equally adept at contemporary autobiographical ones, to which he brings the same emotional sensibilities. One might think of "Together But Long Distance" from his eponymous debut album (it also appears on ‘Hot Music Presents Volume 9').
His wife Steph co-starred in that song as she does in "April Showers" but this time it's set in her student flat in Aberystwyth where they lived for a time.
Like the Elvis Costello song "Shatterproof" (recorded by Billy Bremner of Rockpile), it concerns the tribulations of a young couple in cheap, substandard & unhealthy accommodation (Greg & Steph called theirs "the cave" and his comment "fun fact - there are more species of lichens and mosses in Wales then there are ANYWHERE else in the world" must surely have direct relevance) but it's a more optimistic song than his as it's "largely about waiting for the good times, in the face of 'bad weather' ".
Given that he's opting for a Friday 13th release date, such positive thinking should hopefully dispel any danger from any araskavedekatriaphobic direction.
The song itself is quite a jolly one: the sort which defies chronological identification. If someone had told me that it came from the 1930's, that would seem plausible to me. Perhaps it will to you too. It might have been a big hit back in that day too, though the absence of autotune probably counts against it doing so now alas.
Though inspired in West Wales, there is no requirement for Greg to lock it into that location & the guitar creates a setting much more Appalachian. I'm pleased though how his love of American music has never led him to adopt one of those often ludicrous fake US accents (the more risible of which are quite capable of turning me off a track within an instant) beloved of third rate purveyors of "Americana". His use of his own voice is one of the many things I respect about him & if I've never said that before, I ought to have. Thankfully I say it here.
While saying that his USP has two distinct attributes, it's probably sensible to find ways to see how they work together & I suppose that he's demonstrating to us the timelessness of this tradition, that it continues unbroken & can be just as appropriate a vehicle for ideas in 2024 as in 1934. He certainly writes his own songs in as simple, honest & accessible ways as those in the classic blues canon and to me, a strong song should be capable of being conveyed in a stripped back arrangement as with "April Showers": despite his virtuoso technique, he does not try to distract from any inherent weaknesses by flashy playing: he ensures that there are none of them to begin with & uses his skills more in service of tone & colour: subtle, tasteful stuff & not ego driven showing off. And that's another aspect of his USP….
Have a look too at another splendid linocut from Alix Almond on the cover.
