Tom McConnville 14/11/09

This was another of the Centre Stage supported village hall gigs although in a neighbouring village of Thringstone rather than in Appleby. Tom is a long-established fiddle player from Newcastle with Irish roots and is a hero of Seth Lakeman so that felt like some powerful arguments to take in the gig. The band was a trio - an acoustic guitar bass, acoustic guitar and Tom on violin. He went for audience participation from song one and for a number of songs patiently taught the audience the refrain. He was best however when letting himself go on his fiddle as he was a superb player and had a range of different styles he could play with accomplished ease. His gentle geordie accent with some hints of Irish and his friendly banter played well to the village hall audience. He did some traditional Irish tunes and some traditional Northumbrian tunes and some Scottish ones and covered a Richard Thompson song (Beeswing) as well as a Mark Knopfler song ( Why Aye Man). The thing I took away was his playing - a master of the instrument.