The O’s. Thunderdog. Electric Honey Records

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Another act appearing at Celtic Connections, The O’s have the distinction of supporting Del Amitri at Glasgow’s latest venue, The Hydro. Their Celtic Connection appears to be that their latest album, Thunderdog, is to be released on the local Electric Honey label, adding their first U.S. band to their increasingly handsome catalogue.

Taylor Young (guitar and kick drum) and John Pedigo (banjo, Lowebro (like a lap steel, fact fans), harmonica and tambourine) constitute the two man O’s and between them they conjure up a fine sound swapping vocal lead and harmonising like a tougher version of The Lost Brothers. In fact they’re quite a lot like the Irish duo with roots in the Everley’s and Simon and Garfunkel but there’s a Texan swagger in their countrified stomps and at times it’s hard to believe that there’s just two of them kicking up this almighty mess of sound.

Young’s kick drum propels many of the songs while Pedigo’s banjo flails along adding a sense of urgency. Several of the songs have a very hummable and clap happy pop sensibility evident from the album opener Outlaw which sounds as if it were The Proclaimers backed by The Pogues, don’t believe me, see the video below. This rollicking and rolling thrill is repeated on several of the songs including Dallas and Go With Me which defies the listener to sit still. Secrets is almost power pop with Beatlish harmonica and a catchy as hell hook.

While their up-tempo numbers are quite exhilarating they take time out to offer some moments of respite. When The Levee Breaks is a dramatic love song seared by some stinging guitar work while Found The One is relatively straightforward country rock with some fine banjo picking.

The O’s are at The Hydro supporting Del Amitri and The Big Dish on Friday 24th January and the following night at The Arches supporting The New Mendicants. I reckon The Arches gig should be a belter.

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Celtic Connections – Fraser Anderson.

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Fraser Anderson appears to be a well kept secret. A Scottish songwriter who decamped to rural France several years ago he’s appearing with Wilson, Swarbrick, Gaughan & Ellis at Oran Mor on the 23rd January. His most recent album, Little Glass Box came out in 2012 and it’s a very fine, warm and woody wisp of an album. It’s perhaps lazy to describe it as sounding a little bit like John Martyn circa Grace and Danger but there are definite similarities in the vocal style. Anderson doesn’t have the mumble and stumble that Martyn occasionally employed and his voice definitely is not as gruff. However his sweetly strained falsetto does recall some of Martyn’s work. Add to this the always excellent Danny Thompson on bass (and he sounds great here) along with Max Middleton’s Rhodes piano and some flugelhorn from time to time and we have a musical landscape that Martyn also inhabited.

Perhaps too much comparison there so it’s important to say that Anderson is no mere copyist. He runs the gamut from pastoral folk to noirish jazz on the album while the title song is a curious hybrid of banjo frolics and tooting trumpet as he almost scats with a Scottish burr. Listening to this I was reminded of Paulo Nutini but without Nutini’s wearisome vocal mannerisms. The album opens strongly with Rag and Bones where Anderson’s guitar picking is enveloped by Thompson’s supple bass as the song unfolds at a sedate pace. Never Know recalls another lost soul, Nick Drake. It doesn’t sound like Drake per se but the mood and arrangement recall his melancholic style. It’s a restrained piece with some excellent interplay between guitar, keyboards and bass. Warhorse maintains this level of playing but slows the pace to a crawl, perfect late night listening here. This laid back midnight feel persists throughout for the most part although the aforementioned title song might be the time to get up and stretch for a moment or two. Anderson ends the album with an understated flourish. Run These Lines is a fragile and tender love song with bare accompaniment which shows that Anderson can captivate without the accoutrements which adorn the other songs. He backs this up with two unlisted songs that close the album. One is a showcase for his guitar playing and vocal acrobatics while the final piece is a minor beauty with wistful violin winding around his voice and guitar. I reckon if you’re heading to Oran Mor next Wednesday be sure to get there on time to catch him.

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Beth Nielsen Chapman. Uncovered

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Released in time for her appearance at Celtic Connections, Uncovered is pretty much the obverse of the usual covers record. With a healthy reputation for penning hits for others in addition to being a fine performer in her own right Beth Nielsen Chapman has delved into her bank balance (sorry, her notebooks) to deliver a selection of songs she has written but not recorded before, the majority of which were hits for the lucky recipients. To cap this she’s rounded up a host of luminaries to guest on most of the songs she’s chosen. The roster includes Duane Eddy, Vince Gill, Kim Carnes, Gretchen Peters, Suzi Boguss, Darrell Scott and our very own Phil Cunningham.

Given that many of these songs were written (perhaps) with an eye on the market I have to confess that several of them are not what would normally rock Blabber’n’Smoke but Chapman usually wins out even on her version of This Kiss, a hit for Faith Hill although Pray did test our endurance somewhat (despite it being one of the songs recorded in Scotland). However there are some cracking moments here with Sweet Love Shine (a co-write with Waylon Jennings and which features Jennings’ widow Jessie Colter and twang master Duane Eddy) featuring Chapman in sultry mode with Eddy adding his own eddies of subdued twang in the background. Strong Enough To Bend (written for Tanya Tucker) is a fine bluegrass romp while Meet Me Halfway wears its Bonnie Raitt origins proudly on its sleeve as Chapman, Bekka Bramlett and George Marinelli get down and dirty with guitar and organ mining a Southern groove.
Chapman excels herself on the tremendous rush that is One In a Million with guitars scrubbing away and a chorus that rings to the heavens before the countrified lament of Five Minutes offers an opportunity to hear what a fine singer she is as sleek pedal steel skirls around what is an almost perfect example of a strong female ultimatum to her man who done wrong. It might be bias but for us the standout song is the other one recorded in Scotland. Nothing I Can Do About It Now was written for Willie Nelson but Chapman, Phil Cunningham, Duncan Chisholm, John McCusker, James Mackintosh, Euan Burton, and Matheu Watson offer up a rollickingly good honky tonk cut with some excellent clamorous pedal steel and of course Cunningham’s accordion which adds a peculiar Scottish lilt to the Texicali feel.

Chapman appears at the opening Celtic Connections show at the Royal Concert Hall today before her own show on Saturday 18th January at the City Halls.

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More Celtic Connections………………

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There’s around 2100 acts appearing at this year’s Celtic Connections so we’re paying attention to the ones we expect to see and those lesser known folk who we except to be well worth seeing.

Canadian “powertrad trio” De Temps Antan are a cert to satisfy the traditional folk crowd with their robust and infectious sounds. Singing in French, Éric Beaudry (guitar), André Brunet (fiddle) and Pierre-Luc Dupuis (accordion/harmonica) need no translation as they switch from rambunctious drinking songs to beautiful traditional airs with each excelling on their respective instruments. Their latest album, Ce Monde Ici-Bas (The World Below) is a fine introduction to the stomping, wheezing and danceable storm they can whip up. They’re appearing at The Mitchell library on 31 January with support from Gria.

De Temps Antan website

Elephant Revival, a Colorado based five piece, open their first UK tour with an appearance at the Old Fruitmarket which is our favourite venue of the festival. Multi instrumentalists all the five band members conjure up a cornucopia of sounds weaving intricate and at times stately set pieces. While guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle and washboard are all employed the songs and vocal harmonies are tightly arranged with an almost chamber folk feel at times. With several vocalists on board it might be unfair to pick one out but washboard player Bonnie Paine has that Karen Dalton touch to her voice. Although they excel on their well mannered hymns to nature and spirituality they can turn out a good old fashioned earthy number such as Spinning from their forthcoming album, These Changing Skies, due for release in March. Grace Of A Woman, again from the new album has a sparkling Paul Simon snap to it as the band step up their pace and almost rock while they do whip up a fine gospel inspired frenzy on the closing song Rogue River. As stated they’re at the Old Fruitmarket on Friday 24th January supported by Salt House.

Elephant Revival website


And finally it’s time to land slap bang into the middle of good old fashioned American Honky tonking with the news that Sturgill Simpson is playing at the festival as part of his UK debut. Who? Well it’s just been announced that he’s been signed to Loose Records and that’s just about as good a recommendation as one can get. Loose will release his debut album, High Top Mountain in February. We’ve precious little information on him other than that he’s from Kentucky and evokes the likes of Waylon Jennings with his hard edged sound and listening to the album here we can only agree with that. Simpson is playing the Tron Theatre on Saturday 18th January supporting the highly recommended Lindi Ortega.

Sturgill Simpson website

Celtic Connections 2014 – Jenny Ritter

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Second artist we’re featuring is the Canadian Jenny Ritter. Blabber’n’Smoke reviewed her album Bright Mainland back in April. Here’s what we said then…

Ritter’s acoustic guitar and voice supported by a lonesome pedal steel introduce the first song They Can’t Tell where a separation crisis highlights the gulf between her island and the mainland. Pretty soon the band stomp in with a driving percussive beat and the songs builds a momentum that is pretty thrilling. Not for the last time the listener is reminded of fellow Canadian Kathleen Edwards as Ritter swoops and soars throughout. Five Nights captures some of her early experiences of life in the city with the band capturing a late night feel while Ritter has a sense of wonder and yearning in her voice. There’s an uplifting sense of joy and happiness in the following We Must Sing as banjos flutter, guitars soar and the lyrics celebrate the power of song. Resolute is another opportunity for the band to cut loose with a fiddle to the fore and while Ritter is singing of a lost love again the overall feel is optimistic. You Missed The Boat has an almost doo woppish 50′s rock’n’roll swing and according to Ritter is another “breakup” song written during that time when one is getting over the emotional upheaval of a failed romance. again Ritter transforms what could have been a lament into a redemptive song casting aside the ex lover and again celebrating the power of song, literally so in this case as a massed chorus swells up at the end. Throughout the album the playing is exemplary with producer Adrian Dolan playing several instruments while Lucas Goetz of The Deep Dark Woods delivers incendiary pedal steel and also drums. Ryan Boeur and Bear Erickson add electric guitar on some songs and Elise Boeur plays viola. In addition there is a host of backing singers most of whom are members of the Kingsgate Chorus, a “rock’n’roll” vocal collection of local Vancouver musical luminaries. The band shine brilliantly on the enigmatic Ghost, a song that is central to the album as it ponders the duality of the duplicitous male and realises that a girl’s best friend is ultimately her mum. The music churns and boils along with some fine guitar effects to create a fine musical conundrum. Scattered through the album are a few songs that reflect Ritter’s folkier roots as accompanied by guitar she delivers a childlike set of beliefs in It Is What It Is while Weathervane shows that even without her musicians she can deliver a rousing message.

Usually I write reviews after a couple of days (fairly) intensive listening and to be honest most of the time they get filed away as new stuff comes in. Today Ms. Ritter was retrieved and spun again and if anything the album sounded better given that the old memory cells were kicked into action with the result that I was almost anticipating the highlights. Anyway, Jenny Ritter plays The Mitchell Library on January 18th supporting Joy Kills Sorrow, a band I’ve reviewed on americanaUK. Fine as they are it’s Ritter we’re rooting for here.
http://www.jennyrittermusic.ca/

Celtic Connections 2014 – the Stray Birds

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It’s that time of year again when we shake off the post festive blues with some energetic gig going. Blabber’n’Smoke will be attending several shows for a feature on americanaUK, if you’re interested you can read last year’s write ups here and here.
Celtic Connections has a habit of imprinting some artists onto the public’s collective consciousness especially if they get the chance to appear on the extensive television and press coverage that accompanies the festival offering these choice acts a fine opportunity to build their audiences up when they return under their own steam. So over the next few days we’ll look at a few bands and acts and here’s hoping that some of that Celtic Connection luck rubs off on them.

First up are the very fine Pennsylvania based The Stray Birds, a trio whose debut album has been gathering praise since its release at the tail end of 2012. An acoustic trio featuring primarily banjo, guitar, fiddle and double bass they convey a relaxed sound that harks back to traditional country and folk although on the album they wrote all of the songs. All three sing and harmonise excellently with the song Wildflower Honey (which does feature some stinging telecaster work) being the highlight of the album. It’s a song that stands up well against the likes of Sandy Denny and the Fairports. My Brother’s Hill meanwhile features their harmony singing and listening to it you could be mistaken for thinking that the Eagles had got their Mojo back and delivered on the promise of their first two albums. All well polished and good but the band conjure up older and darker spirits with the instrumental Give that Wildman A Knife/Bellows Falls where the twin fiddles of Maya de Vitry and Oliver Craven are chilling and sinister. Capping it all is de Vitry’s song Wind & Rain which ventures into Gillian Welch territory and comes out a winner. If these are any indication of their live show then we’re in for a treat. With a new covers E.P just out (featuring songs by Townes van Zandt, Susanna Clark, Ira and Charlie Louvin, Jimmie Rodgers and Nanci Griffith) they are appearing at St. Andrews In The Square on 25th January.

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Mary Dillon and Heidi Talbot

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Catching up on some Celtic Connections related items here’s our take on a couple of albums released by participants in this year’s shindig.
First up is Mary Dillon with North, a fairly traditional album of songs from this Northern Irish singer and sister of Cara Dillon. Mary was a member of Irish band Deanta way back in the nineties but retired from the music business for the past decade or so to raise her family. Stepping back into the fray North is a fine selection of mostly traditional songs on which she sings beautifully and is supported by a very talented group of musicians including former Deanta band mate Neil Martin who arranges the strings on the very affecting lament Edward On Lough Erne Shore. With all of the songs having a connection to Northern Ireland and having grown up with the majority of them Dillon seems to live and breathe by them and this is apparent in the delivery. Her voice appears as if out of a mist, clear as a bell, intimate and warm whether it be unaccompanied on the haunting Ard Ti Chuain which closes the album or the gently lilting and mildly ribald When’s A Man’s In Love which open the proceedings. This is an album that’s as warm as a glass of whiskey on a cold winter’s night, to be savoured and taken at one’s leisure.

Heidi Talbot chose to have the official release party of Angels Without Wings at Celtic Connections, fittingly enough as it was recorded in Glasgow’s new Gorbals Sound Studios. While she’s backed in the main by her regular band including husband John McCusker and Boo Hewerdine the album includes contributions from such luminaries as Jerry Douglas, Mark Knopfler, Tim O’Brien, Karine Polwart and King Creosote. While stellar line-ups don’t always guarantee a result Talbot has hit pay dirt here as the album is as swell a selection of modern folk songs as one could wish for. From the Hurdy Gurdy folksiness of the title song to the bare boned The Loneliest the playing is excellent and Talbot’s voice hits home with its childlike vulnerability. When The Roses Come Again is perhaps the most traditional sounding song here but the best is saved for last with two heart tugging songs, My Sister The Moon and Arcadia that are sumptuous and beguiling. Pillows of sound waft from the musicians while Talbot sounds vulnerable, cosseted by the very sympathetic playing. All in all a fine showing from a singer who deserves to be held in the same regard as Sandy Denny and Linda Thompson.

Celtic Connections. The Two Man Gentleman Band/The Kilcawley Family The Piping Centre. Saturday 26th January.

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2mgb
It was a bit of a light relief to attend this show and to be thoroughly entertained (and at times laugh out loud) by the very dapper two piece Two Man Gentleman Band who are, interestingly enough, a two man band. The two members, Andy Bean (guitar and American four string banjo) and The Councilman (double bass, kazoo) sang about food and beverages, girls, guys and food and beverages with Bean wisecracking with a terrific comedic sense of timing while the Councilman was the perfect foil. The problem with being seen as a comedy act is that folk might end up more interested in the jokes than the music but The two Man gentleman band proved they were no one trick pony as they blitzed the audience with a dazzling display of virtuosity on their instruments and a great vocal rapport. The humour was merely the topping on a very tasty cake.
Working in the same vein as the late Slim Gaillard’s celebrated duo line ups there was little of Gaillard’s hipster slang ( although one song did celebrate reefer), rather it was as if two Connecticut Yankees had turned up at the Cotton Club as opposed to King Arthur’s court. And while most of their songs did refer to food and drink with Pork Chops getting some belly laughs from the audience we were invited to join in songs about President William Taft’s girth and were regaled with some fine mock trumpet on Bye Bye Blues. All in all a great set and a fine night.
kilcawley family
Support was provided by another two piece, The Kilcawley Family from Tyneside. With autoharp, guitar and harmonica they delivered a fine set of old time American folk songs that portrayed their influences such as the Reverend Gary Davis and Doc Watson. Somewhat trepidatious at times they did win the audience over with renditions of 500 Miles, Railroad Boy and Dink’s Song. A particularly spirited Wildwood Flower showed them at their best while a self penned lament based on the reflections of an elderly Morecambe woman (they currently reside in the faded Lancashire resort) showed some promise with the intimations’ of mortality contained within showing that they have learned from their forebears.

Celtic Connections: Cowboy Junkies/John Murry. Kelvingrove art Gallery and Museum. 23rd January 2013

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Celtic Connections uses a variety of venues spread over Glasgow and the prospect of a show in this venerable Victorian pile was tantalising. Unfortunately, the reality was that as a venue for live rock music it failed dismally. The seating arrangement for anyone in the back half of the hall meant that the view was of some upper torsos of the artists. Worse was the sound, lost in the echoing galleries it was muddy and indistinct, similar to what I imagine the sound in a swimming pool might be like. Nevertheless the prospect of seeing John Murry, high on the acclaim of his debut solo album, The Graceless Age was indeed a tantalising prospect and despite the sound problems he put on a fantastic show. Backed by a three piece band (Sean Coleman, guitar, Michael Mullen, keyboards and Will Waghorn, drums and horn) Murry played several songs from the album and engaged in some lively banter with the audience (or at least the front rows who could hear him). He cut a clumsy and uncoordinated figure in between songs, fiddling with his pedals, at one point unable to choose which guitar to play, but when he played he did so with a passion that burned through the muddy sound and reminded the audience that he has lived the majority of the songs he played. The graceful and well produced elements of the Graceless Age were ditched in favour of a raw naked power with the guitar solos and feedback on Southern Sky raising hairs. At one point he asked if we wanted to hear a thin Lizzy guitar song and blasted into a frenzy of Neil Young like guitar thrashing which morphed into Penny Nails before climaxing with a Thin Lizzy type duel guitar workout. This was tremendous stuff. Murry paid tribute to the late Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse with a tender version of Maria’s Little Elbows but none of the songs had prepared the audience for his final piece. Introducing it as “a true fucking story”, he put down his guitar and sang Little Colored Balloons, a song which documents his near death from a drugs overdose. Without his stringed breastplate he seemed uncomfortable and unsure as to what to do with his hands. However his delivery of this harrowing and beautiful song was spine tingling as, voice wracked with emotion, he seemed to be reliving the trauma. This was raw, close to the edge drama, powerful and unsettling and when Murry abruptly left the stage leaving the band to close the song there was a small niggle at the back of one’s mind wondering if the emotional effort on show was just too much, too close to home. As a performance this was riveting and made one think of Neil Young’s stark Tonight’s The Night tour, teetering between brilliance and disaster. Oh to have seen this in a proper venue.

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After the psychodrama of John Murry The Cowboy Junkies were like a juggernaut that ploughed on despite ongoing sound problems. The lengthy blues soaked Working On A Building, all crashing guitars and cymbals, was the template for much of the night with Shining Moon featuring a harmonica solo that seemed to last forever. While there was plenty of Sturm und Drang, supplied by guitar, electric mandolin and drums throughout the set with Sweet Jane introduced by a thunderous rumble and clatter the best moments were when they eased up and laid back a little. With the middle section of the set dedicated to a brace of songs from their recent Wilderness collection two Vic Chesnutt covers, See You Around and Square Room were delivered with an appropriate delicate touch. Damaged From The Start benefited as a mainly acoustic piece and when Margo Timmins, brother Michael and Jeff Bird on mandolin delivered Townes Van Zandt’s Lungs and their own Remnin Park as a trio the instruments sparked as Timmons sang beautifully. Back to a full band they gave a fine rendition of Blue Moon Revisited while the encores, Misguided Angel and Neil Young’s Don’t Let It Bring You Down showed that by then they had got to grips with the sound and had the audience enthralled. A very static band compared to Murry’s hyperactivity The Junkies surely pleased their fans and Margo Timmins was a commanding and gracious presence. However on the way out most folk I overheard were talking about Murry and his astonishing performance.

Heidi Talbot at Celtic Connections

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Another Blabber’n’Smoke favourite who’s appearing at Celtic Connections is Heidi Talbot. Irish born she was a member of America’s Cherish The Ladies before returning to the UK and hooking up (professionally and personally) with John McCusker. With a new album, Angels Without Wings, set for release she plays the Old Fruitmarket on 27th January, sharing the bill with Paul Brady. We haven’t heard all of the album yet but the four songs on display below show that she’s building on her fine 2010 debut , The Last Star which found her finding her own songwriting skills.
Angels Without Wings was recorded in the Gorbals Sound Studios with her regular team of Ian Carr (guitars), Phil Cunningham (Accordion), Michael McGoldrick (flutes/whistles) James Mackintosh (percussion), Boo Hewerdine (acoustic guitar) and Ewan Vernal (bass). It features guest spots from Mark Knopfler, King Creosote and Karine Polwart.
When we reviewed The Last Star we thought that there was a similarity in the sound and feel to Richard and Linda Thompson’s early recordings and the title song of the new album confirms this as the accordion and brass would sit easily within Hokey Pokey. When The Roses Come Again meanwhile has that heartaching quality that Linda Thompson was so good at conveying.
Proper Records have autographed copies of the album for sale at http://www.propermusic.com/product-details/Heidi-Talbot-Angels-Without-Wings-Ltd-Autographed-Edition-146125

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