I don’t think country fans get out enough. Take the party sitting in our wonderful seats at the packed Hammersmith Apollo – honestly oblivious to the fact that ticket numbers actually mean anything, sitting there comfortably with spam and sandwich-spread sandwiches packed neatly in foil, and a flask of tea, milk on the side in an old cough-mixture bottle. Very homely, and given the way they wolfed it all down, very hungry. Then, judging by the reception they gave to support act Kimmie Rhodes, not only hungry for British haute cuisine but also for anyone with a Texan twang and a tragic tale of woe to sing.

She has a voice that plucks right at the strings of the heart; sorrow, guilt, pain, regret and lost love all echo from the sound and intonation of her singing, and that’s before the almost universally depressing lyrics come into play. There’s no room for funny stuff here – it’s unremitting hardcore country blues, without let up, all night. “Here I am” is pretty heavy stuff, but nothing compared with ‘Broken man’s lament’ from her excellent new album “All I intended to be”. And that pales besides Merle Haggard’s ‘Kern River’ – “This is my favourite Merle Haggard song, just because it’s so sad”. She’s not joking. But this is country music at its most engaging, not least because Ms Harris is supported by a band of the very highest quality, the Red Dirt Boys, named in homage to Oklahoma’s particular genre of country music. Bryan Owings and Chris Donohue, both from Buddy Miller’s band, are on drums and bass. On keyboards and accordion, composer and producer Phil Madeira, on fiddles, mandolin and electrifying harmonies Virginian Bluegrass prodigy Ricky Simpkins, and on guitars Canadian singer-songwriter Colin Linden.

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