NRR caught the legendary guitarist, songwriter, and founding member of The Black Crowes on the European leg of his solo acoustic tour.

Rich Robinson takes to the stage of the Jazz Café in the heart of Camden, London for a packed yet intimate solo show. “I don’t normally play without a band,” he says while introducing himself, but the man and his five guitars are the only necessities for this special evening.

Supporting Robinson this night is special guest Ben Ottewell, the unmistakable voice and lead guitarist in British rock band Gomez. Ottewell pleases audiences with songs from his two solo releases – Shapes & Shadows (2011) and Rattlebag (2014) – as well as performing a few Gomez favourites.

Robinson kicks off with “I Remember” from his third and most recent solo album, The Ceaseless Sight, released in 2014. As he continues to reel the audience in with his treasure chest of solo material spanning more than a decade, he tells the story of a flood a couple of years ago. He lost a lot of his lyric clad papers, therefore taking “the liberty of rewriting some of the stuff I didn’t like.” It feels less like the ‘show’ of a multi-platinum selling artist and more like Rich invited us into his home for some drinks, laughs, and tunes.

The Atlanta, Georgia native wore his country-folk-rock crown as he blasted through a handful of mesmerizing renditions, including Buffalo Springfield’s “Kind Woman,” followed back to back with Bob Dylan’s “Sign on a Window” and Velvet Underground’s “Oh! Sweet Nuthin’.”

Pausing to tune between songs, Robinson jokes about the difficulty experienced by his guitar technician. “Randy hates this guitar. The truth is a rocket scientist built it. True story!” he says endearingly of his Danny Davis acoustic (Tangled String Studios).

Robinson completes the night with classic soulful Crowes “Oh Josephine” and “What Is Home.” “This is the part where’d I’d normally walk up the stairs and back to the dressing room, but I’m not going to do that. I’m just going to play and then I’ll be done,” says Robinson. The crowd cheers for an encore. “I didn’t know if I’d come back down from the dressing room,” he played along, “but then I heard that applause.” And with that our evening with Rich Robinson drew to a close much too soon.

See Rich in action in this clip from the US leg of the tour here.

Rich Robinson
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Ben Ottewell
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The Jazz Cafe – Camden
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