Daniel Bachman / Tom Settle / dbh @ The Castle Hotel, Manchester, 19 Jun

America is a big deal again these days. Every new restaurant seems to be a gourmet burger palace; we watch whatever HBO throws at us, and there has been, in recent years, an ever-growing interest in twangy, Appalachian folk guitar stylings, as exemplified in the work of William Tyler and tonight’s entertainment, Virginia's Daniel Bachman.

Two local support acts set the mood. Tom Settle opens with a set of scratchy, inhibited instrumentals played out through a deeply shy stage persona. Eventually, he begins to sing, in a soaring voice reminiscent of Elliott Smith, as he reworks a traditional folk song and a Jefferson Airplane cover in his own style. The subtly named dbh follows, with a more rigidly rhythmic style played out on classical guitar.

Bachman begins his set with a rousing number performed on slide guitar. He tells us that the piece is about his sister, who is presumably loose-limbed and brazenly unpredictable, if the song represents her well. He follows it with a party tune, which starts bright and steady, then builds into a fiercely pulsating rhythmic crescendo. The evening is a short one consisting of long songs, played with entrancing concentration and humility, and Bachman mumbles his stage banter at the floor – where audience members sit, as every seat in the house is taken. He finishes with the timely and seasonal Honeysuckle Reel; the song’s sprightly, melodious folk wafts over us, like the scent of a summer night’s flower. [James Hampson]