It can be tough for a young, largely unknown artist to open the show for an established band, but Parker Millsap demonstrated how it should be done with his appearance alongside Old Crow Medicine Show in London last weekend. He’s 21, from a small town in Oklahoma, but gave a powerful performance, matching his gutsy and soulful voice against sturdy guitar and harmonica playing, and was helped by his enjoyably original songs, several of which appear on this set. He was brought up in a religious family, and is fascinated by the southern Bible. Old Time Religion is a finely told American horror story, while Truck Stop Gospel is a stomping study of an infuriating evangelist. Elsewhere, At the Bar turns The Wizard of Oz into a weepie country waltz and Quite Contrary tells of nursery rhyme characters breaking bad. He deserves to become a new Americana hero.
