Rumours of Damon Gough's creative avalanche have been circulating since the release of his latest album, the less than invigorating One Plus One Is One. Yet on stage as part of the inaugural Bud Rising event Gough was in his element, writes Tony Clayton-Lea.
He has said he's getting better at inhibiting stage nerves, and this proves so: gone are his between-song ramblings and musings, in-jokes and out-takes. In their place is confident, blokeish, man-of-the-people stuff, wrapped up in concise, intelligible bites between music that spreads itself from Gough's early EPs through to the new album.
As back catalogues go Gough's is quite strong: naive bits and pieces connect the dots between four albums (which rightly include his soundtrack to About A Boy), showcasing a talent that looks to be mutating from maverick amateur into assured professional. The trick, of course, is to maintain his core appeal from one state to the other, which Gough appears to be doing without difficulty.
All bases are covered: tracks from About A Boy, from his studio albums, nods to Elliott Smith, Bono and Hugh Grant - pretty much everything is included in a small gig that benefits from Gough's big-hearted demeanour.
The surprise is in the way Gough's music - essentially an astute combination of US singer-songwriter styles and 1960s-inspired UK folk; Jackson Browne and Bruce Springsteen reared on a diet of Pentangle - manages to stay connected and grounded throughout. No rock-star poses, no rock-star statements and no rock-star clothes - just plain, utilitarian, simple and, for the most part, utterly compelling.
