Tracey Nelson at the George Tavern

Tracey Nelson

Bloody Death

When

The George Tavern, 20 July 2026

I got to see the terrific Tracey Nelson playing his first London show at the legendary George Tavern last night, in support of his fantastic new album, Hercules, and it was his birthday too, making this is a really special night indeed! 

This was my first time at the George Tavern and I was slightly nervous as it's a little bit of a walk from Whitechapel station along quite a graffitied road but I arrived there safely just as the doors opened. The pub itself is quite an attractive old building apparently going back 600 years and even referenced by the likes of Charles Dickens and Geoffrey Chaucer in their works. Despite being Grade II listed and pretty legendary, there's been a fight to keep it open due to developers wanting the land but honestly it's probably the best looking building along Commercial Road and it would be a shame to lose it. Thankfully the current owner has been keeping it going with live music every night.

Inside it looks just like a traditional old pub but then I noticed the small stage right next to the door all set up and ready to go and to be fair, it was actually a bigger and more professional looking stage than a lot of small venues. A lot of people were sitting outside in the small outdoor area as it was a warm night, but I decided to wait it out inside as the pub has quite a friendly atmosphere plus the first band, When, was due on quite early, just 15 minutes after the doors opening.

When are a new band, I think this may have only been their third gig, consisting of folk musician Oscar Browne and the drummer from South London band Honeyglaze, Yuri Shibuichi and rounded out by bassist Corin Veitch. I'm actually not too familiar with Browne's output but apparently he was an original member of the rock band Wunderhorse and released his debut EP a couple of years ago. This new band is obviously an outpouring of his more rock and experimental side although I could definitely hear a bit of his unique folk sound in there too.

The band played about eight songs, which also included elements of post and math rock, with Browne's guitar riffs and warm vocals driving the sound. Near the end Browne swapped his electric guitar for an acoustic one and they played an instrumental song, with both Browne and Veitch each taking a seat as they jammed away on the twisty, folky tune. It all sounded pretty interesting and, more importantly, very good. There is hardly anything about them online at the moment aside from a pretty empty Instagram page but they are definitely one to watch.

Next was a five piece band from South East London called Bloody Death, which apparently is essentially the musical project of the lead singer, Ted Foster (who also goes by the name of Ted Faux). With a name like Bloody Death I was expecting either a thrash metal band or a noisy punk band, but when they actually started playing after a few technical issues, they reminded me more of a cross between The Allman Brothers playing that song Jessica (aka the old Top Gear theme) and Status Quo, although much more ramshackle.

Foster did look like he could be playing in a 70s rock band with his wiry frame, long blonde hair and moustache, and the dual guitars definitely added to that feel, although to begin with the songs seemed to end suddenly as if unfinished. As they went on they definitely expanded their sound to other genres and sounded more alternative than the pub rock start and there was even a bit of an Americana sound to a couple of the tunes.  

I wasn't a huge fan though of Foster's uneven vocals, so it wasn't for me but they seemed to attract quite a bit of a crowd for a support act and there were even a couple of people filming some of their songs (although they may have been with the band I suppose), so what do I know. It did make me even keener to see the headliner though.

When Tracey Nelson arrived on stage with his band (just a guitarist, bassist and drummer), he definitely looked the cool frontman with his tall, skinny frame, short blonde hair and an unusual shirt with a big cutout on the back, plus a Telecaster guitar adorned with stars. His real name is Austin Noll, who used to play guitar in rock band Hotline TNT, and Tracey Nelson is apparently his mother's name, so I'm not sure if it's really his stage name or just the name of the band but I'm going to carry on calling him Nelson for the rest of this blog entry.

With a smile on his face he launched into New Years Flowers, the lovely shuffling opening track from his debut self-titled EP which came out last year. I must admit I didn't discover him back then, it was only after hearing the first singles from his MJ Lenderman produced album, Hercules (which was also mixed by Colin Miller and features Karly Hartzman on backing vocals as well as other members of Wednesday), that I began to sit up and take notice. Hartzman even called it the "album of the year" on her Instagram when it was finally released a couple of weeks ago. 

By the second song Nelson had pulled down his silver shades and looked every inch the rock stage, kind of reminding me of Lou Reed during his blonde hair era, and began treating us to songs from the fantastic Hercules, which, like Hartzman said, really is one of the best to be released this year, starting with The Can, a slightly bluesy, laid back jangly tune with his distinctive warbling and plaintive vocals from Nelson, as he sang "I just need to let some demons in."

Nelson had a selection of harmonicas and chose one for his next song, 86, a gorgeous country lament with that would make Neil Young proud, with a lovely harmonica break in the middle (replacing the fiddle on the recorded version but working just as well).

The ballad That's More Like A Lover is reminiscent of Townes Van Zandt, but a more lo-fi, slightly ramshackle one, whereas Two Brothers picks up the pace for the hopeful sounding Dear Brothers, where Nelson sings "you make me feel like Florida in the summer", again adding some rootsy harmonica at the end.

Two Feet was easily one of the highlights with its laid back yet swirling chorus, whereas the upbeat Pedro's Joint had a cool foot-tapping guitar riff and had Nelson marching on the spot as he strummed his guitar.

I think he must have played most of the new album, bar maybe two songs, but I was particularly thrilled to hear his ode to Dolly Parton's Coat Of Many Colors, with its upbeat harmonies (and its nice little reference to Neil Young's Helpless), with Nelson singing "Take my crows feet, I’ve been smiling, laughing, surprised."

There was also a surprise cover of Lucinda Williams' I Just Wanted To See You So Bad from her self-titled third album. It was pretty faithful and captured Williams' cool and raw delivery. I think the band particularly enjoyed playing this one, with Nelson himself bouncing around the small stage.

The band looked like they were having fun the whole way through though. At one point Nelson debuted a new capo he bought that day. At the end of the song he jokingly told us it was a bad capo and told us not to buy it (don't worry he eventually recanted his warning and told us the capo was fine). He later held up a bag emblazoned with "Love Me Do" which he told us he had bought the last time he was in London and still looked very pleased with it. There was something very warm and friendly about Nelson and it definitely came through in his songs and his performance tonight.

He kept the best for last though with the fantastic country shuffle of Just Shoot Me Now, with its earthy harmonica punctuating the song. MJ Lenderman turned up to sing this with Nelson when they recently played North Carolina and while he wasn't here tonight it definitely felt like his spirit was.

Finally we got maybe his best song of all, the warm yet melancholic Hercules, which features the affirmation "whether you go, I'll carry you with me wherever I go" in its singalong chorus and ends with some twangy guitar playing at the end.

There was no encore because none was needed but because earlier we had been told that it was Austin Noll's birthday, the whole crowd suddenly burst out singing Happy Birthday to him and he stood at the side of the stage with a big grin on his face and crashed the cymbal on the drumkit when we had all finished. It was definitely a nice way to end the show.

After I bought a copy of the new album on vinyl from the man himself, who seemed to have no end of admirers coming up to him telling him what an enjoyable show this was, before he got to manning the merch table. He seemed incredibly sweet and genuinely grateful at what a good response he got at the show. Hopefully more people will catch on to Nelson as he definitely deserves more praise as his new album is a great one and this show was a genuinely lovely surprise too.