Live Review: Justin Townes Earle, Ruby Boots, Joshua Hedley

What better way to celebrate the opening night of Fremantle Festival than an evening spent with three headline acts together, equally dedicated to the art of writing beautiful songs. A three-course delight of Joshua Hedley, local Ruby Boots, and Tennessee-native Justin Townes Earle each individually owned their moment on stage at the Fremantle Town Hall. A night of country, folk and Americana delivered beautifully in each artist's own unique and personal style.

Joshua Hedley's emotive songs were the perfect entree to open proceedings. The historic venue only added to the atmosphere as his awesome solo performance took all those who were privileged to witness on a journey back in time to a bygone era of pre-electricity showmanship. His powerful, soulful voice filled the openness of the hall and his acoustic guitar quietly accompanied the beautifully sad songs. An awesome display of songwriting lapped up by a mesmerised, pin-drop silent crowd.

Homegrown troubadour Ruby Boots turned on the electricity and upped the pace when her talented four-piece hit the stage. The once respectfully quiet audience danced and sang along to the catchy, upbeat music Boots is great at delivering. Hip-shaking, alt-country music one minute became a spine-tingling unplugged solo performance of Tom Petty's I Won't Back Down, which culminated into a crowd singalong. This, followed by an emotional rendition of I Am A Woman from her new album performed solo and a cappella, was a remarkable display of Boot's versatility, amazing voice and superb songwriting. This had everything!

Friday night marked the final show of the Justin Townes Earle tour in Australia. Earle casually introduced himself to the welcoming Fremantle crowd and launched into the satisfying opener Champagne Corolla. What followed was a memorable night consisting of all the fan favourites from a singer-songwriter at the top of his game. One More Night In Brooklyn, Memphis In The Rain and the hilarious Short Hair Woman all went down a treat.

Move Over Mama was a bluesy strut that had the fans smiling, but it's Earle's songwriting and stories that are his trademark and fans were not left wanting. A solo acoustic dedication to his mama and pappy were perfect examples of songcraft while also highlighting his fantastic fingerpicking skills. Earle's voice is so pleasing and easy to listen to but is truly stunning when he lets loose. The duo of Earle and Paul Niehaus were fantastic: Earle leading with that iconic voice of his and Niehaus supporting beautifully with harmonies, melodic guitar licks and pedal steel guitar.

The laid-back persona on stage and engaging banter between songs made Earle instantly likeable and a pleasure to watch. Multiple tours to our shores has made him so comfortable here he almost appears home. Great anecdotes and serious subjects were touched upon during the breaks, the latter no doubt stemming from his own well-documented experiences with addiction.

A no-frills, cheery wave goodbye wasn't going to be accepted by the enthusiastic crowd whose foot stamping and whistles dragged the obliging star back on stage to finish the night with a rousing rendition of Harlem River Blues. A perfect start to the Fremantle Festival.