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"Lonesome Highway sounds like a version of country music that was dreamed up somewhere far away from the rest of the world,” we wrote about Rainy Eyes' latest album when we featured her in our 10 Artists You Need To Know back in August last year.
This Summer though that sound isn't going to be all that far away from us, because Rainy Eyes is bringing her fresh take on classic country over to the UK for a three date tour in Manchester, London and Brighton presented by JOY Concerts & Holler Live.
A Norway native, Irena Eide, AKA Rainy Eyes, grew up dividing her time between the urban congestion of Bergen and her maternal family’s sheep farm in the country’s rugged, western islands. After spending a few years embedded in the Bay Area folk scene in San Francisco, where she spent time teaching children old-time folk songs, soaking up bluegrass and roots music and her nights at underground jazz clubs in the Tenderloin, befriending Pete Seeger, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott and Peter Rowan and running a music space in San Francisco, while hosting camps and kids’ music classes, she has since moved to South Louisiana, where she forged a collaboration with noted Lafayette musician and producer, Dirk Powell.
It was in his studio on the bayou that they recorded Lonesome Highway, an album mainly written and recorded as demos while she was still in North California as Rainy reflected on the joy of motherhood, while simultaneously confronting a troubled relationship that had turned toxic.
If you're already familiar with Rainy Eyes we won't need to convince you to buy tickets for these shows in the UK, but fans of Esther Rose, Courtney Marie Andrews and Madi Diaz will find a lot to love in the music of Rainy Eyes if you're not.
The dates are below.
6 August - The Grace, London TICKETS
7 August - Gullivers, Manchester TICKETS
8 August - The Hope and Ruin, Brighton TICKETS
Rainy Eyes has performed at New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival two years in a row, as well as Festival International de Louisiane, Bajaja Music Festival, AVL fest, SXSW and more. She has shared the stage with legends such as Joan Baez, Ramblin Jack Elliott, Peter Rowan, Willie Watson, The Mother Hips, Dirk Powell and opened for Jackie Green, Jon Cleary, The Steel Wheels, JD McPhearson, The Heavy Heavy, Dylan Leblanc and many more.
In addition to Lonesome Highway, this Fall Rainy Eyes will release a collection of 70 original and traditional folk songs for children, entitled Little Folkies on Smithsonian Folkways.
Tickets available here for all shows here.
