Ah America. For many across the world, not least those trudging through their 9-5 lives in this grey country, there is little more romantic than the endless mystery and possibilities of the 50 United States: the America of Whitman, Twain and Kerouac; the America of Richmond Fontaine. For bands don’t come much more ‘American[a]’ than Willy Vlautin’s now Portland-based band, with Nevada and the surrounding states soaked like bourbon into the fabric of the band and barely a song passing without a street, town, city or state name-checked – most notably Vlautin’s native Reno. Something Britons also love is a loser, and Vlautin’s songs and stories have got them by the casino-full. A morbid fascination with the fucked-up individual is a national obsession (not least in music where the rock’n’roll star on a downward spiral is perhaps the pinnacle of achievement) and it seems to be one that this particular American shares.
These traits might explain why, despite producing some of the finest Americana albums of their generation, the band has enjoyed more success on our shores than back home. In any case, over the course of two very different shows Willy Vlautin and his associates transplant Nevada onto two North London venues, demonstrating just why they deserve be revered on both sides of the Atlantic. The grim urban strait that is the Kilburn High Road and the leafy suburbia of Highgate are pretty far removed from the dusty western states of America, but for one night each side of the London winter The Luminaire and The Boogaloo are transformed into the sun-baked blue collar America inhabited by the motley collection of down and outs that wander nomadically through Vlautin’s songs.
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Almost all Richmond Fontaine songs are dark ones, telling the stories of people struggling to deal with what life throws at them, something the songwriter himself touches upon: “Half the songs depress me...I tried to be that guy... but I’m kinda glad I’m not” Vlautin smiles wryly between songs. But with the full Richmond Fontaine line-up on top form and playing loud at this October show at The Luminaire, the energy dripping from the band on the big country rock numbers (and the beauty of the gentle ones) means that this proves to be anything but a depressing performance.
Kicking off with the majestic instrumental ‘El Tiradito’ from latest album ‘Thirteen Cities’ (2007), the band rattle through a set showcasing both the talent of the band and the breadth of top-notch material a 14 year career has accumulated (this the first night of a two-show residency during which only three songs are played twice). Crowd favourites come in the form of trio ‘Barely Losing’, ‘The Longer You Wait’ and the title track from pivotal album ‘Post To Wire’ (2005), from which a fair bit of the set is taken. The reverential audience are treated to songs from across the band’s canon, though, including several from ‘Thirteen Cities’ (including an enthralling performance of ‘$87 And A Guilty Conscience That Gets Worse The Longer I Go’) an album that, despite the longevity of their career and relative struggle for acclaim, suggests Richmond Fontaine still have a lot left in their tank.
Vlautin himself is every inch the alt-country front man, coming across as an amalgamation of Springsteen and Jeff Tweedy in his plaid shirt. But while the band is undoubtedly built around its singer such is his presence as songwriter, frontman and spokesman, live they are at least the sum of their parts. Each member of the band more than pulls their weight, but it is perhaps Paul Brainard who contributes most to the success of the five-piece’s live success. His alternate pedal steel and trumpet work lift the already engagingly performed songs onto a higher plain. It is no exaggeration to say that every single one is played with the utmost skill and verve, and, despite the all-pervading gloom of the songs’ subject matter, witnessing this band on top of their game is as much fun as it looks to be on stage.
It is just surprising, and a little disappointing, when the door of the venue leads back out to the night air of Kilburn rather than the casino joints of Reno.
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Fast-forward some five months and Vlautin is back in North London, Paul Brainard in tow, this time promoting his second novel ‘The Northline’ with a reading and low-key acoustic set, the Boogaloo’s “The South shall rise again” Elvis poster providing a suitable backdrop to the duo.
Those familiar with the proselike, storytelling nature of Richmond Fontaine’s songs won’t be surprised that Vlautin has become a published author and it is by no means a generalisation to say his novels are an extension of his songs. The spoken word vignettes on Fontaine albums, the poignant snapshots of the lost souls of Reno and Vegas contained within his songs are simply given more room to breathe, the snapshots turned into half full old photograph albums. This is something endearingly proven by Vlautin’s reading of a particularly bleak chapter from ‘The Northline’, relating each line as if it is a line of a song – something it actually becomes when Brainard joins in with some atmospheric pedal steel.
Following this enlightening and personal glimpse into a man and his writing (something that at least equals his music), there is time for almost an hour’s worth of Fontaine songs. Hampered by a broken wrist suffered when his horse (“he’s a moody guy just like me”) bucked him on his last ride before going on tour, Vlautin is confined to playing only fingerpicked songs from the back catalogue, but in this intimate setting this is far from a short-coming as favourites from ‘Post To Wire’, ‘The Fitzgerald’, ‘Thirteen Cities’ and the instrumental soundtrack written to accompany ‘The Northline’ are beautifully played. Brainard’s pedal steel and trumpet again add exquisite melancholy to each one and songs like ‘Two Broken Hearts’, ‘Barely Losing’ and ‘Capsized’ are at their most affecting reduced to their bare bones like this.
As well as the reading and performance, we are treated to between-song insights into Vlautin (and Brainard’s) own life, like the story behind ‘The Fitzgerald’s ‘Exit 194B’, written about when Vlautin got drunk and listened to Merle Haggard records with his two housemates for a few years: ”Until we all started to fall apart. One of us fell a little harder than the others and so I wrote this song for him”. He also explains about Allison Johnson, the main character in ‘The Northline’ and the eponymous heroine of a song of her own, who is based on his grandmother, his mother and himself (“My grandmother had a hard time going out in public situations...my mother got lucky and found a good man...and I just used to dream and get drunk a lot”). You begin to realise that the characters that fill his songs and stories, the ones that appeal so idealistically (albeit perversely so) from across the Atlantic are the ones that have filled Vlautin’s own life. It is this honesty that gives the soul and emotion to his writing and makes the performance all the more affecting.
Following the closing number there is the chance for the crowd to chat to Vlautin and Brainard and maybe get a copy of ‘The Northline’ signed. There is also the opportunity to reflect on this evening and the one in The Luminaire several months ago. The two nights are very different, the first showcasing the energy and atmosphere created by a band at the top of its form, the second the contemplative songcraft of Willy Vlautin, and each one many more things in between. Above it all they both emphasise how and why Richmond Fontaine are a band to be treasured.
*****
First published on rockfeedback.com. See it here.
*Thanks to Tom from rockfeedback for sorting out the tickets for the Luminaire show and waiting 5 months for me to review it... 
