I passed on the chance to see American singer-songwriter Josh Rouse in Cambridge back in 2018 as it was the same night that England played Croatia in the World Cup semi-finals (in hindsight, I probably should have gone).
I was sure that the 52-year-old Nebraskan had been to Cambridge since then, but at the start of the show - on Tuesday, 25 June, at The Portland Arms - he said: “Thank you for coming out, I know there’s a big game on,” referring to England v Slovenia at the Euros.
He added that the last time he played in Cambridge was in 2018 when the World Cup was on, so I guess I was wrong and this was in fact his first time back in the city since then.
Anyway, it was great to finally see him in the flesh, having been a fan for more than 20 years (I clearly remember purchasing his 2002 album, Under Cold Blue Stars, as I was heavily into alternative country at the time).
The show, which was just Josh on stage singing, whistling and playing an acoustic guitar and harmonica (quite brilliantly, I hasten to add), began with Stick Around, a gorgeously melodic tune from his most recent album, 2022’s Going Places.
It was followed by the more uptempo and equally enjoyable It’s the Nighttime, off Josh’s more ‘countrified’ album, Nashville, from 2005.
The first cover of the evening came in the form of the very memorable Cruel to Be Kind, originally performed by Nick Lowe, which, Josh noted, had been a big hit in the US some 40-plus years ago but he wasn’t sure how well it did in the UK.
“Do you have tornadoes over here?” asked Josh, ahead of the tuneful Waiting on the Blue, noting that in Nashville, where he currently lives, they seem to have one “every other week”.
He also asked the audience whether we’d ever heard of American writer Henry Miller, by way of an introduction to his song, Henry Miller’s Flat, another top-quality tune. No-one raised their hand.
Josh recalled that he had been listening to Harry Nilsson’s Everybody's Talkin’ a lot around the time he wrote the gloriously mellow Quiet Town, and that he had ‘borrowed’ a couple of bars from it.
He noted that the track did well in Spain, where he was living at the time. Another real highlight of the show was when Josh got the crowd singing along quite spectacularly on the beautiful Love in the Modern Age.
A funny and engaging storyteller, his between-song banter was very entertaining and he commented at one point how quiet we were while he tuned his guitar. “Or maybe you’re all on your phones checking the game?” he joked.
By all accounts, England v Slovenia had been a less-than-thrilling match so I for one was glad I was watching this master songsmith in action instead!
“Did any of you go to Cambridge University?” asked Josh, adding: “Here’s a song by someone who did go to Cambridge University”. He then delivered a note-perfect rendition of Nick Drake’s Pink Moon.
The experienced musician opened up the floor to requests, which audience members duly shouted out. The best of these were probably My Love Has Gone and Salton Sea.
For the last song of the evening, Josh opted to play the title track of his debut album, 1998’s Dressed Up Like Nebraska \- an Americana pop masterpiece “that doesn’t really mean anything”. Still, in keeping with pretty much everything that had gone before, it was another extremely rewarding listen.
I hope that Josh, a talented singer-songwriter at the top of his game - with numerous albums of a consistently high quality to his name - doesn’t leave it another six years before performing here again.
For more on Josh Rouse, visit joshrouse.com.
