John McCusker - 11/4/2017

I have seen John McCusker play a number of times mostly with Transatlantic Sessions bands or Mark Knopfler bands. This was the first time with him as the star of the show. I was expecting it to be all Celtic music as featured on his latest album but was pleasantly surprised that he gave a lot of time and limelight to Adam Holmes who played electric guitar with the band but also showcased a number of his songs which had a Country feel to them - sort of Edinburgh meets Nashville. Also in the band was Andy Cutting on accordion, Innes White on acoustic guitar (who I saw recently in Karen Matheson's band) and Toby Shaer on second fiddle.(mostly). The gig had a great ambience with all the band seated in a semi-circle as equals and with some gentle joshing from John McCusker. I didn't know the titles of a lot of the songs but I did note 'Leaving Friday Harbour' as particularly evocative in that lilting Celtic style. The musicians were all excellent and dedicated to the overall sound. The accordion was understated but right on the money, the two fiddles beautifully meshed and the guitarists complimentary to each other and the band sound.