Legends We Know To Be True

Legends of American Country

Theatre Severn

7th May 2025

The legends of American country they claimed and indeed it wasn’t a misnomer they really paid homage to the greatest Country Music singers of all time. Performed by three singers two male and one female, and a four-piece band; this show really did bring some of the greatest songs from the greatest acts in Country Music.

The singers had it in spades and they were so near the original sound in places, one had to see that the original artists hadn’t sneaked in and taken to the stage in disguise. They had a great sound, although the show comprised of mostly solo or duet work, so one didn’t get to hear them perform as a three for two long at all; which might have been nice.  But the voices, the timbre even the accent of the songs sound like it had all come from across the pond. It had the Irish pond in fact, as they were all Irish, one imagines the musicians were too, but they didn’t speak so it’s hard to know. .A lot of American Folk and Country music was taken over by the Irish immigrants or The Wild Geese, as the Irish who went off after a better life, were to become known.

So the legends were the likes of Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton, Tammy Wynette, Kenny Rogers and many many more. There were very few songs that one didn’t know and yet hearing them again done so well was a delight. This reviewer was a little less keen on the medleys as they truncated some really good songs to fit them into a medley. One also got rather annoyed at being constantly asked to clap our hands to the music. It’s a personal thing and it doesn’t hurt to be asked once or twice but every song, well that was just too much for anyone. It became to mean nothing and was an unnecessary and rather vacuous request and the show would be the better for it were they to abandon that device and just concentrate on the songs. Had that been the case one would have found relief, but alas!

The band were fantastic; they were so tight. In fact, the whole show was tight and ran well; but the music was a cut above your ordinary four piece that you may see backing country music. They were great, comprising guitar, bass, drums, electric keys and piano, the guys really knew their stuff. It was a delight as the slide pedal guitar kicked in and gave the music its trademark signature. The boys really could play and play so exceptionally well. There wasn’t a note played that shouldn’t have been. One did notice Dave the guitarist’s foot pedal develop a fault, but it didn’t impact, and it is unlikely anybody noticed as the sound didn’t suffer for it at all.

The show was dressed well from costume to a backcloth showing a depiction of the most famous country music venue of them all, The Grand Ol’ Opry, in Nashville, Tennessee. With acres of rhinestones and more sparkles than a bottle of pop it was very difficult to see what they had done wrong if anything at all. Well, I say that but Dolly Parton’s wig had seen better days and one wondered if it had been savaged by a gang of sheep. Maybe its time to invest in a new one?

This show is highly portable, easy to prepare and so solid when performed this is not the environment for mistakes and none were spotted. It was a well-produced, well-rehearsed and an extremely well-presented show and a must for all country fans.

Tonight, one saw the house thoroughly entertained and from the reactions from the audience it was easy to see everyone had had an exciting time and I would imagine that many of the crowd would have been happy to sit there and watch it all again. It was a great show.

This is a Four-Star Review

Sofia Lewis