BY MICHAEL CHOWNE
A fantastic afternoon’s entertainment at Lil’ Nashville in Chiswick for the 3pm Song Suffragettes London show on Sunday 5th July 2026, presented by Madeline Christy of Briar Bookings.
4 really great female singer-songwriters, only one of whom I’d seen live before, playing in Songwriters’ round format, all with interesting and very different voices.
Bonner Black, from Hot Rock, Tennessee (the one act I had seen before), hosted amongst the girls once Madeline had departed the stage, and had a lovely way about her. Bonner is a really interesting character who started birdwatching, almost as a joke, a few years back when she felt she needed a hobby to aid her mental health. Now she’s flying across the world to give talks on the subject! In fact, at Global Birdfair next week in Leicestershire, she not only gives a talk but presents a guided walk, sings songs and has a poster signing! Coming from very smalltown Tennessee – she says Hot Rock is more a sign than a town – her country music roots run deep. I loved all 4 of her songs here but ‘My Tennessee’, about those roots, and mashed up with a little ‘Hotel California’, stood out.
Gloria Anderson is another artist that’s country through and through. Hailing from Luling, Texas, but, like Bonner, now living in Nashville (they were meeting for the first time here in London!), Gloria likes to give off that girl-next-door who always has a story to tell image. Her album, ‘Run Of The Mill’ is a fabulous listen and the song that she played here that stood out the most was ‘Chisholm Trail Nightingales’. Love her voice and everything about the way her songs are put together.
Kay Iris is from Hastings, UK and is another with a really strong, slightly rockier, voice, whilst incorporating a country and americana sound. I think it was ‘Gold Rush’ that stood out for me. The Americans were suitably impressed and we’d like to see her again soon.
Katy for Kings I think normally markets herself as more of an indie pop artist but certainly wasn’t out of place in this country setting with some strong storytelling. A really interesting voice, she cites Taylor Swift and Kacey Musgraves amongst her influences and I detected a little Amy Winehouse in that voice too. Katy comes from Chelmsford, Essex and we’d love to see her in venues in that area in future. Her song that I most remember was ‘Hypochondriac’, from her ‘No Star Quality’ album that she intriguingly describes as ‘a mixtape’ (she doesn’t think of it as an album).
As is customary at Song Suffragettes, we finished with a collaboration of the 4, this time singing Joni Mitchell’s ‘Big Yellow Taxi’. These events also provide a great opportunity to talk to the artists after, and to buy merch, so look out for next month’s show going on sale very soon.
