A cosy pub but one of the most loved music venues in Stroud, The Prince Albert plays host to some of the finest musicians especially in the UK country/Americana scene.

Last night we were treated with a wonderfully small setting for Anna Howie with support from Bella Collins. This show felt like an invite-only kind of event. Tables and chairs set out for that relaxed vibe, guests could order food to their tables as well as drinks making it really feel like a family event.

Everything about the evening felt casual and easy. Both Bella and Anna walking around the venue chatting to people, Bella Collins took to the stage at around 8.30pm accompanied by just her guitar. Playing a stunning set of original Blues material and the odd cover, Bella also played music from her duo Sister Bodhi. Collins’ vocals are flawless and I found myself getting completely lost in her performance to the point that I pretty much just zoned out. That’s a compliment as her music and vocals are somewhat hypnotic and suddenly all the troubles of the world disappear for those few moments. It was clear that Bella even loses herself in her music as she didn’t want the moment to end, I don’t think anyone did. Even Anna Howie could have stood there all night watching as it was that beautiful. It felt rare and for that I feel grateful.

Despite wanting to watch Bella all evening we couldn’t wait for Anna Howie’s set. Howie’s most recent album Good For Roses has been one of our soundtracks since its April release. Within just minutes of Howie’s set she projected her wonderful British humour to the crowd putting everyone at ease making them all feel like lifelong friends. Telling us how she is going to perform a song about time wasting, she then realises she hasn’t plugged her guitar in to which Bella Collins hilariously shouts “stop wasting time”.

Anna has a certain charm when she performs live that just makes you feel so good about yourself. Her honest, relatable and at many times witty lyrics are infectious and simply just make you smile even if they are sad. Introducing the song How To Stop Crying she says she wrote it over a friend google searching “how to stop coughing” and it autocorrected her to “How to Stop Crying” which made her feel sad that it was one of the most asked questions on google that day. This song, despite it’s sad title, had a great audience participation moment which, even though there were just a few of us, prompted us to all happily join in without hesitation. I actually felt more confident joining in with a small audience than I have done in a large one.

The story behind Peas was funny when Anna explained a young man chatted her up at a party. She went home and wrote a song about how she has peas in the freezer older than him. This was a great and very comical moment of the evening.

I was thrilled that one of my favourites from the Good For Roses album called Crazies for Horses was on the set list. In an interview we did with Anna a while back she said of the song

“So it was basically about a bad relationship that I was in for a long time, for most of my teenage years, actually, way too long. To kind of get me out of it, at some point, I went to stay with an old uncle and aunt in Somerset who were farmers, and my aunt was furious with me for being in this (relationship) and not getting out of it. She was furious and she kind of kept telling me off and calling me crazy and all those kind of things. My uncle, who was a farmer, man of very few words, he would just say “crazies for horses” and I think it means, that horses are termed crazy when they act on their instincts, when they kick out, or when they bolt, or when they do anything like that. They can be a crazy horse, whereas we don’t trust our instincts. I was, at that point, was staying in something I should have run away from. So just him saying that has just stayed with me. I mean, we’re talking a long time ago. We’re talking sort of 35 years ago. So it’s a long time, and yeah, but those words have stayed with me, and I’ve always sort of planned to write a song around it, and had never quite done it. And so I’m really glad that that I have done it good, and it feels really liberating, and I’m it’s going to be interesting to see.”

The song live was as beautiful as I could have imagined.

Following the story on as the track list does on the Good For Roses album , she performs Start Again and says how it is the song where she came to her senses, went to uni and sat alone with her suitcase, the paint was peeling off the walls, the tap was dripping but she thought “this is brilliant”.

Bella Collins joined Anna and the band on stage for the song Mind The Gap in which the pair collaborate on. This wasn’t planned but was beautifully executed. It was just another one of those special moments that we were very lucky to have experienced.

The evening continued with various more songs from the Good for Roses album and The Friday Night Club. One of the songs that really stood out was Sylvie Got Cash which was based on a great story about a babysitter who basically had cash hidden all over her house. This brought on another fun audience participation moment which we were delighted to be a part of. Just a Little Bit which closes her Good for Roses album was another highlight as is a song about positivity which really translated beautifully live.

As a massive over thinker at night, Opera House was very relatable. It was Last Call at The Old Buskers Inn however that completely had me in awe! A great traditional styled country song, the story behind it was moving as was about a man in a shelter who had the nickname ‘Old Country’ and was a busker.

The entire show was incredibly special, fun, emotional and overall good times. The band were exceptional musicians and it was a real treat to watch these gifted group of people play together with such ease and passion.

Anna Howie is a delight as a singer, a performer and as a person as her talent and personality make you want to see her again and again. Hopefully we can catch another set soon. Please do check out her live dates as she is worth seeing for many reasons.

https://www.annahowiemusic.com/gigs