C.W. Stoneking, Auckland NZ, 2019

C.W. Stoneking

20th February 2019
The Tuning Fork, Auckland, New Zealand.

Review & Photography by Sarah Kidd.

Nestled amongst the heavy red velvet curtains and rich brown bar tables of Auckland’s Tuning Fork, Australian artist C.W. Stoneking took the audience on a trip back in time with his solo set that included an array of songs, stories and murder ballads.

Also performing solo was New Zealand acid-folk artist Arthur Ahbez, who delighted the audience with a mix of both his own work and a few covers. Seated casually in a chair, Ahbez’s fingers danced across the strings as he serenaded the crowd with opening track ‘Stranger Song’ before performing a particularly striking cover of Neil Young’s ‘Broken Arrow’. Shifting seamlessly between acoustic and a stunning electric guitar Ahbez also delivered some newer pieces, including a song that he amusingly referred to as being written about moisturiser.

However, the highlight of his set was his rendition of ‘Railroad Bill’ a blues ballad supposedly penned about the African American outlaw Morris Slater. Performed by such artists as Riley Puckett, Joan Baez and Jerry Garcia, it was wonderful to hear an artist of our own not only put their spin on it but do it so well.

C.W. Stoneking walked out on to the stage in a simple white cotton shirt and grey slacks, a guitar and hand-written set list clasped within his tattooed hand; he smiled as the audience clapped and whooped for joy at his appearance.

Here just last year with his full band in support of Queens of the Stone Age, Stoneking jested of how he had suffered through the debacle of breaking a string, musing to himself that now he had spoken about it, it would probably happen again. Listening to Stoneking speak, it is hard to imagine that he was born in the mid 70’s in the Northern Territory of Australia, his drawling voice more befitting that of a man of the 1930’s living in the deep south of America. Perched upon a bar stool that he later refers to in the evening as his ‘big boy chair’ Stoneking opened with ‘Charley Bostocks Blues’ and the room was transported back in time to when women lamented their no-good husbands who languished in the bottom of a bottle down by the railway.

Intermingling humorous anecdotes with his songs, it is easy to see why Stoneking can not only draw but hold a crowd; his demeanour one that is guileless. Delivering ‘She’s a Bread Baker’ a tune that he tells the transfixed fans was inspired by the Delta blues singer Tommy McClennan, Stoneking reveals a little insight into the artists of the past who – along with his own broad travelling and intriguing life experiences – have shaped the man they see before them.

While he hasn’t released an album since 2014, Stoneking certainly has more than a wealth of material to draw from; his murder ballad ‘The Love Me or Die’ – supposedly written after his time as a voodoo doctor’s assistant – served with an amusing story of how murder ballads were often composed. Occasionally changing his voice to have conversations with himself as characters wandering through long ago markets of his imaginations invention, Stoneking fills the room with his presence. And while his famed banjo did not make an appearance, his guitar playing was brilliant and naturally animated, the occasional incorrect chord brushed off with a sideways smile and tip of the head.

‘Good Luck Charm’ rubbed shoulders with ‘I’m the Jungle Man’, his sweet ballad entitled ‘On a Desert Isle’ making way for a rowdy rendition of ‘Zombie’ that included audience participation that both impressed and amused him no end. Stoneking then showing off yet another vocal skill of his in the form of yodelling as he gifted the fans a thrilling version of ‘Talkin’ Lion Blues’; Stoneking’s ability to perform everything from Hokum, to Calypso, through to the great southern blues ensuring there was something for everyone. With the audience joining him on the final chorus of ‘Jailhouse Blues’ Stoneking gave thanks and bid goodnight, promising all that he would see them next time, ending the evening rather appropriately with ‘Jungle Lullaby’.

A better purveyor of the music of days gone by you would be hard pressed to find.

Were you there at The Tuning Fork for this lo-fi blues gig? Or have you seen C.W. Stoneking perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!

Setlist:

1. Charley Bostocks Blues
2. Goin’ The Country
3. She’s A Bread Baker
4. Dodo Blues
5. I Heard The Marching Of A Drum
6. Way Out In The World
7. The Love Me Or Die
8. The Thing I Done
9. Mam Got The Blues
10. Goin’ Back South
11. Good Luck Charm
12. I’m The Jungle Man
13. On A Desert Isle
14. Zombie
15. Jungle Blues
16. Talkin’ Lion Blues
17. HandyMan Blues
18. Jailhouse Blues
19. Jungle Lullaby

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