Get Willy

Willy Mason at the Shepherds Bush Empire, 16 May 2007.

Willy Mason is the kind of singer/songwriter that makes you feel all warm inside. That is to say his songs are incredibly heartfelt, and ‘real’ in the ‘not at all pretentious’ sense of the word. He’s sings what he knows and knows what he sings, thereof, etc, etc. He’s a rough diamond and a good ole chap. I imagine him at home chewing on some old tobaccy and swinging on a front porch, with his guitar swinging right there beside him ready for a bout of creative inspiration (or maybe this is all just my fantasy world). In fact, both myself and my friend, redwineaddict, decided by the finale to this evening’s gig, that we’d rather like to just fold him up and put him in our pockets; that’s how down-to-earth charming he is.

Although young in age, he’s old in wisdom and learning- only 22, but about 65, if you just listened to his voice. It’s an earthy blend of bootleg whisky, solid virtue, denim dungarees, and political idealism. If that’s not good enough for you then I guess I’d say he’s part Johnny Cash, part Bright Eyes, and part Grandpa Walton. Whatever he is, we loved him. His performance is passionate without being manic. He talks to the crowd in a ‘gee, it’s so good that all you London folks came out to see me’ kind of way, and displays an attractive sense of modesty and bashful coyness. You feel ‘safe’ in his presence; protected in a mutual sense of altruistic good will and homespun philosophy.

This evening he takes the opportunity to play nearly ALL his material, both old and new albums, and I find myself singing along to almost every tune, especially my favourite candle-waving, uplifting ballad We can by strong with its swaying, deceptively simple lyricism. It’s like he really doesn’t want to leave us at all; he’s so taken with us, and we’re so taken with him. Everything feels so personal with Willy, and that’s what creates the afterglow of neighbourliness and civility that extends as far as the Shepherds Bush tube and into the next morning. There’s political content there, with the most obvious manifestation being his torch song Oxygen, with its overtly political message, but its never crammed down your throat- rather he leads to the message with a outstretched, beckoning hand.

The boy is just too good to be true…(and I got through the entire review without making a pun on his name). BRAVO.