Liam St. John - “Little White Lies”

SXSW 2024 - OEB Score: 8; Popularity Index: 7

Pairs Well With…Gary Clark Jr., Marcus King, Nathaniel Rateliff

An acoustic bluesman with an electric performance, Liam St. John mines the roots of American music on his latest record All The Bad Things. Built off an acoustic guitar, a voice, and a mic, St. John’s minimal presentation rarely sounds small. A mix of originals and traditional tunes, All The Bad Things is consistently formed to highlight St. John’s gritty, natural vocal and tight acoustic licks. His sound is swampy and raw, the vibe of one-take cuts emitted even if these tracks were carefully constructed at their start. A couple songs give St. John’s music more of the full-band treatment, teaming up with Tori Miller and Beth & Barrow on “Lenore” and “Annabelle Mae”. It’d be interesting to hear this collaborative approach explored more and are key to balancing the purposefully stripped nature of All The Bad Things and his appropriately titled debut stripped back. (Kevin McStravick)