The Globe, Cardiff - 22/05/2009
THREE of Nashville’s most celebrated singer-songwriters sit alongside each other on the stage, each armed with an acoustic guitar in front of a near sell-out crowd.
The stage backdrop suggests a boudoir and there is an air of easy intimacy throughout the evening as three wine bottles are uncorked and consumed by Matraca Berg, Gretchen Peters and Suzy Bogguss, a trio of friends who have not been corrupted by commercialism, while they chat and sing to each other with the audience almost voyeurs.
Wine, Women and Song is a country-tinged production. Peters sits in the middle and does most of the talking, but each takes it in turn to perform a song with minimal accompaniment from the other two.
This is both a strength and a weakness. The three recorded a six-song EP last October which the current tour is promoting but they are anything but a group and there is little interaction musically, at least until the end when cover versions of Wild Horses and If You Leave Me Now are dusted down.
Though similar, they also have marked differences, Berg more introspective and bluesy, Peters with the earnestness of a folk singer and Bogguss with the lighter touch.
It makes for a compelling whole. The three have been touring together for two years and, like the best wines, are maturing with age.
