Less than a month after her last appearance in Dublin, opening for John Craigie at The Sound House, Jobi Riccio is back in Dublin, continuing her headlining tour of Ireland with dates in Cork, Clare, Dublin and Belfast.
Colorado-born and currently living in Nashville, Jobi, signed to the Yep Roc label, was awarded the prestigious Newport Folk John Prine Fellowship in 2023, a nod to her talents as a songwriter, vocalist, and musician.
Jobi addresses the audience with “Dia Dhuit” directly after her opening song, Whiplash, the title track of her 2023 album. She is playing an acoustic guitar borrowed from her sound engineer, Paul, the previous day in the seaside village of Kinvara, Co. Galway. She recounts how he failed to tell her John Prine previously owned the guitar and adds that she feels privileged to be playing it. Modestly, she doesn’t mention her John Prine award but does include his song Blue Umbrella in her set. Ironically, given that song’s title, she admits that the two things she forgot to pack for her dates in Ireland and Europe were a raincoat and an umbrella, and that the umbrella she bought at a thrift store in London was soon defeated by the wind in Ireland when she arrived here.
Green Flash and Idaho, the latter inspired by her childhood memories of visits to the landscapes of that part of America, are also performed on acoustic guitar before she switches to an electric Fender for the next four inclusions, all taken from her latest album FACE THE FEELING, explaining tongue-in-cheek, that it was time to move on to sadder songs.
Those sombre songs include two outstanding inclusions from the new album that highlight both Jobi’s vocal range, guitar skills and impeccable songwriting. Recalling the devastation to her home state from climate change, she spits fire while shredding her guitar in Wildfire Season (“My hometown's a few short years/From burnin' down to the ground/So I drive up for an ice cream cone…./I've been havin' a hard time this week/The smoke is so thick and the news is so bleak”). In contrast but equally passionate, A Little at a Time is a heart-wrenching breakup song that only someone who has experienced that sadness could express.
Finishing on a more upbeat note, Jobi joined Roesy on stage for a cover of Joni Mitchell’s The Circle Game, bringing the curtain down on a first-rate Monday evening’s entertainment.
Sharing the bill this evening with Jobi is Roesy, the Offaly-born artist now permanently back in Ireland after spending fifteen years in Australia. He opened the evening’s entertainment with a laid-back, well-received set that drew on a wealth of tunes from his impressive back catalogue, plus a couple of new ones. Opening with Follow the Road from his 2015 album WOLF COUNCIL, he later includes the title track from that album. He responds to audience requests and plays Trailin’ the True Star, Aeroplane and Swinging Tree, the latter from his self-titled album. New material also aired, including two new songs, Into The Still Night and All The Spells, the latter of which he explains is a meditation on one’s inner thoughts.
Upstairs at Whelan’s reputation as Dublin’s finest listening room is well justified this evening, with an attentive audience in pin-drop silence appreciating two artists that succeeded in catching our attention and holding it with two hugely enjoyable sets.
Review and photography by Declan Culliton