Matt Hodges & Ruthie Collins Cross The Pond Tour @Newcastle Little Buildings, October 23 2023
Country music’s always been about collaboration.
Inclusive, intuitive and instinctively creative, it’s a genre that encourages working together, playing together and celebrating together.
Like-minded musicians find common ground and opposites often attract.
Matt Hodges and Ruthie Collins tick both boxes.
One’s a six-foot plus, muscle-bound, bearded troubadour from West Yorkshire.
The other’s petite, polite and rooted in Nashville via New York (although she’s increasingly partial to spending time in the North East of England).
Yet Hodges and Collins are bound by a common conviction that country music can best express life’s rollercoaster emotions.
And on this evidence the pair might well be right.
Given that Newcastle’s become Collins’ home from home, headline status for this sold-out show at the Little Buildings was graciously conceded by Hodges.
But before either of the Cross The Pond performers hit their stride there was a chance for Katie Grace to enjoy a brief homecoming of her own.
Back from Greenwich for one night only, the winner of the 2023 Alan Hull Award took a troublesome cough in her stride to race through an unusually husky six-song set.
Wistful references to Greggs, Rake Lane Hospital and the eye-watering price of a pint in London implied the talented teenager might be missing Tyneside a little too much.
But reports from the Big Smoke suggest the opposite: two gigs inside a week down south (one supporting Hodges and Collins at Water Rats) won rave reviews and new tune Jodie could be her best since Thunder.
Country Music’s Sparkling Matt Finish
Hodges really should be a far bigger noise on the country scene.
The Wakefield Waylon can rock out with the best of them but it’s when he tones things down and takes his time that a true talent really shines.
Hodges has the songs and the swagger to take his post-lockdown revival to the next level: new single My Kinda Cocktail drops this Friday and it’s a typically tasty number.
Another fresh cut — The Truth Behind Your Eyes — is set for release between Christmas and New Year and his latest songwriting session with Collins in Nashville looks like yielding even more radio-ready material.
Keep Throwing Pebbles and the classic On The Road served as a timely reminder that Hodges has bolstered his back catalogue with some quality cuts during the last 12 months. And he would be back…
But first it was time for a beaming Collins to play her second North East show in two nights following an impromptu set in Gateshead the previous evening.
Last spring the voice behind breakout country hit Hypocrite rocked up at Gosforth’s Civic Theatre alongside Sam Outlaw.
And the affable and engaging Curb Records artist brought the house down with a mix of sweet country music and canny chat.
A lot’s happened since that memorable night and Collins returned to Tyneside armed with new tune Northumberland — a beautifully pitched, romantic ode to her adopted community.
Luxury is another exquisite song inspired by the new love of her life — its heartfelt theme familiar to any couple who’ve been challenged to sustain a long-distance relationship.
Collins called up a newly refreshed Grace for a cover of Kacey Musgraves’ Lonely Weekend before reintroducing Hodges for Cross The Pond’s fabulous finale.
Bouncing off each other like a latter-day Faith Hill and Tim McGraw, the pair showcased the fruits of their Nashville labours in the shape of rousing new tune The Reason.
And the duo’s poignant take on When You Say Nothing At All was, reassuringly, more Krauss than Keating.
Here’s hoping Collins and Hodges have plenty more to say, for a few years yet.
Main image by Simon Hant