Preview of Hank Wangford on Native Monster [Shropshire Star] website on 16th May 2014

Preview: Hank Wangford

As Hank Wangford motored up the M6, the veteran country singer had a message for anyone who doesn’t care for the sound of mournful ballads and slide guitars.

“I really like playing to people who don’t like country music, because I know that, by the end of the gig, a lot of them are going to come up to me and say, ‘I never liked country music, but I liked what you did there,’” he told Native Monster from his tour bus en route to Glasgow on Thursday.

The 73-year-old’s tour arrives in Birmingham on Monday, with Wangford promising an unusual twist on country music.

“There’ll be a good smattering of waltzes. We’re not going to do the album from beginning to end, because I think that would test the audience too much, but we’ll do quite a few,” he said.

The album in question is Save Me The Waltz, Wangford’s latest release, which is full of tunes in triple time, and features a mixture of originals and covers, including “Baby’s In Black,” an early Lennon and McCartney tune.

“They were really influential, so I wanted to do a Beatles tune that was a waltz, just to tip my hat to them,” he said.

Hank Wangford plays the O2 Academy 3, Birmingham on 19 May. See www.o2academybirmingham.co.uk for booking details

By Stephen Taylor