Jim Lauderdale - The Anchor

Jim Lauderdale is reportedly ‘an absolute hoot live, a goofball showman, and a ladies man’. He’s also a Grammy award winning big-time Nashville singer/songwriter who has collaborated with Ralph Stanley (before he made his name when he was featured on the best-selling ‘Oh Brother Where Art Thou’ soundtrack) and has written songs for the likes of Patty Loveless and the Dixie Chicks. Lucinda Williams is one of his friends on his MySpace Web site.

2006 has been a busy year for Lauderdale with the simultaneous release of two albums, ‘Country Super Hits, Vol 1’ (which sets itself up for a similarly titled follow up) and ‘Bluegrass’ on his newly signed independent label Yep Roc records, after a two-year silence. He moved from majors Warner Bros and Atlanta in order to increase his creative freedom. Lauderdale plays tonight at the distinctive stripy marquee musical venue at the Anchor Inn with support from 'The Believers'. Barn D’Or promoter Mike Lance, who is putting on tonight's gig, describes the latter as a ‘bluegrass harmony duo, but with a more powerful modern sound than you would normally expect from Bluegrass music, more aggressive and up-to-date’. Lance boasts that they had built up quite a following in ‘spoilt for choice’ Brighton before he lured them away to try them out on Barcombe Mills. ER