Tag: Debs Hanna

To mark their 20^th anniversary – where does the time go? – Stu and Debs Hanna return home to record a live album. The title, Live On Teesside, tells you all you need to know really. Go-to double bass man John Parker joins Megson on stage to lay down a solid foundation with piano accordion, guitar and mandola providing the top lines plus, of course, Stu and Debs’ vocal harmonies. So, here we have thirteen tracks drawn from Megson’s extensive back catalogue.

If you know Megson at all you’ll be aware of their skill of dressing up a serious subject in a upbeat tune. The opener, ‘What Are We Trying To Say’, is a perfect example. You can sing along happily while the underlying idea takes root in your brain. ‘The River Never Dies’ takes a slightly different approach, telling the story of the decline of the Tees in a song that still exudes optimism and another bouncy tune.

Megson can write jokes too as ‘And Finally’ proves but you start to wonder if there is a hidden message in there – there probably is. It’s back to optimism with the singalong ‘We Are Better Than This’ – whatever “they” are up to, we are better than this. Although released in 2023, it could be referencing Thatcherism but it applies equally to any time in the political world since then. ‘To Get Home’ is one of their newer songs while the dramatic and serious ‘A Prayer For Hope’, featuring John’s bowed bass, is about ten years old but nothing much has changed in that decade. ‘The Keach In The Creel’ is a Geordie folk song that Stu describes as a ridiculous story and makes a good closer for the first half.

The second set begins with the bluesy, traditional ‘Every Night When The Sun Goes In’, which also appeared on their first live album and features a wonderfully restrained arrangement. In complete contrast, ‘The Barrington Judo Club’ which they wrote about a village near their new home in Cambridgeshire and is a “true” story that probably isn’t. Even here, the story is one of triumph over adversity and John Parker gets to take a solo. ‘Burn Away’ and ‘The Longshot’ return us to Teesside, both excellent but very different songs. ‘Generation Rent’ was a digital single and older than I remembered – when did that term come into common parlance? Finally, ‘Good Times Will Come Again’ brings the set to a close with the sort of optimism that Megson always bring to their work.

Live On Teesside is a cracking live album with a fine selection of songs, excellent performances and the sense of bubbly good humour that permeates their work.

Dai Jeffries

Artists’ website: www.megsonmusic.co.uk

‘The Longshot’ – live (but without John Parker):