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AMERICANA-UK.COM (Liverpool UK) (October 25, 2001) Doug Hoekstra and Matt Hill - Live - Stamps Bar, Crosby, 23rd October 2001 - ***** out of 5 Free live music can often be a mixed
blessing. Sure, it’s free - the good bit - but there’s often a reason that it is
- the rub. It’s a complete discovery then to find the Acoustic Engine, running every
Tuesday evening upstairs in a small bar in suburbia Liverpool, providing some of the best
music around, free or otherwise. Hosted by singer-songwriter Steve Roberts,
it’s an open session but with headlining acts to focus proceedings, and it works
incredibly well. Tonight’s then were Matt Hill, alt-country singer-songwriter from
Manchester, and Doug Hoekstra, Chicago based songwriter whose new album
“The Past is Never Passed” has just been released. Hill really did provide
one of the best performances of his life - accompanied by Alan Cook (The Good Sons,
Jackson Sundown), as wonderful as always on lapsteel, the half a dozen or so songs filled
every corner of the room, with tracks like “Truth or Consequence” sounding as
accomplished as the best studio recording and vibrantly alive in a setting seemingly made
for them. Then it was Hoekstra’s turn, and anyone worrying how his complex
arrangements would translate into an acoustic set could soon put their fears to rest.
Doug’s voice more eerily than ever sounding like Grant McLennan, his guitar and the
spot on female vocal accompaniment actually made the songs even more likeable than their
recorded counterparts. Songs like “Laminate Man” proved just what a
talented and appealing songwriter Hoekstra is, and his sincerity of enjoyment at actually
being there on this intimate night was clear for all to see. It’s the kind of
night you couldn’t repeat as perfectly, but going to see Hoekstra live or heading
down to Stamps on a Tuesday evening would, you’d imagine, come pretty damn close. (Mark
Whitfield)
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