Now it has to be said that a packed and happily noisy pub in downtown Swindon on a Saturday night is not a finger-style guitarist and singer/songwriter’s natural habitat, but Andy Oliveri goes about his craft with a mixture of great professionalism and dogged determination.
His recent debut album ‘Pay Your Respect To The Rose’ is one of the finest things I’ve heard this year and amid earnest and animated discussion of whether Swindon Town are a ‘selling team’ (they had to discuss that?) and the serious business of getting hammered with your mates, he lays it out in front of us.
The guitar technique is excellent and the voice rich and melodic – difficult to pick highlights out of a set so full of quality, but for me the recent single, ‘A Heart That Sings Can Never Bleed’ probably topped everything tonight, it is an exquisitely lovely song.
He’ll have more receptive audiences – make sure you’re one of them – he’s a very, very good performer.
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The images, which were taken in available light, are Copyright Geoffrey Head 2015. Please do not reproduce without permission and a credit. Thanks everyone, it’s important.
