A History of Country
★★★☆☆ Crowd-pleasing
Braw Venues @ Grand Lodge (Venue 7): Fri 1 – Sun 24 Aug 2025
Review by Hugh Simpson
A History of Country, from Edinburgh Little Theatre throughout the Fringe, is a pleasing personal journey by singer Nicole Flynn featuring oodles of country songs.
The title of the show is a little misleading, as is the description on the Fringe website. This isn’t the history of country music, or even a history; it is more a series of short personal reminiscences used to introduce various songs. These include some originally made famous by Dolly Parton, Carrie Underwood, Shania Twain, Kenny Rogers and others – including one of Lady Gaga’s A Star is Born numbers.
Nicole Flynn performs A History of Country. Pic: Supplied.
Perhaps due to the Scottish and Irish influences that helped shape country music originally, it has been consistently popular in both countries, and there is certainly a market for this kind of show. This tends towards the more commercial – perhaps even schmaltzy – end of the genre, and the recorded backing, making much use of keyboards and electronics, does give it something of a karaoke vibe at times.
There is no doubting, however, that Flynn has a huge and melodic voice, and together with an impressive display of lighting – well handled, like the immaculate sound, by Ryan Mason, there is certainly a great deal of showbiz going on.
Perhaps too much, as it all fills the venue and then some. In a basement room that is smaller than the Freemason’s Hall’s toilets upstairs, it can be a little overpowering and threatens to bring on a headache. Certainly this show could easily be at home in a much bigger space. The more contemplative numbers are often more effective as a result, although there are also highlights in the more uptempo songs, not least a show-stopping Man! I Feel Like A Woman.
heartfelt and skilfully delivered
The personal stories that link the songs are well written by Flynn and Scott Watson, heartfelt and skilfully delivered, although they might have more impact if they weren’t delivered in a (admittedly thoroughly convincing) down-home Southern persona. After all, we’re all used in Scotland to people who sing in an American accent but don’t talk in one. The current format does make it sometimes feel more like a supper-club tribute act than a Fringe show – which isn’t a bad thing in itself, of course, but there is potential for something else here.
There can be no doubt about the value for money this show provides – many performers would struggle to get through a set of songs reaching into double figures inside an hour, even without the other bits. This is certainly recommended for country fans, and definitely has the possibility of growing into a bigger and better production.
Running time: One hour (no interval).
Braw Venues @ Grand Lodge (Studio), 96 George St, EH2 3DH. (Venue 9).
Friday 1 – Sunday 24 August 2025.
Daily: 1.15pm.
Tickets and details: Book here on EdFringe.com.
Nicole Flynn performs A History of Country. Pic: Supplied.
ENDS
