John McCusker, Mike McGoldrick, John Doyle 25/2/2020

In the foyer of the still closed Colston Hall (now due to be closed for a further year due to problems with the rebuilding) and an absolute treat. Got tickets just before they sold out, arrived in the post the day of the gig but still managed to be in the front row when this trio of outstanding musicians came on stage. I think the best tune of the night was the air that started the gig featuring Mike on bagpipes with John D on guitar and John M on squeeze box thing. I love bagpipes. I had had a great gig at that point but of course there was plenty more. I was amazed to see the speed of John Doyle's chord changes close up and given that the other two are masters of their various instruments this is really a celtic supergroup. John Doyle majored on Irish ballads, the others on tunes and the whole gig passed by in no time at all. I particularly liked 'Factory Girl', 'Blathanna' and what I think was 'I never let you know' a song about lost love, all featuring John Doyle and pretty much everything else that featured Mike or John M. Mostly I do love those bagpipes though.....

Mabon 22/2/2020

Perhaps the last chance to see Mabon who kindly included The Narth Village Hall on their farewell tour after twenty years as a band. It was storming gig, high quality throughout and we will miss them although I am sure that we will see some of them at least on the local music scene in different guises. Standout songs for me were 'The tale of Nikolai the Dancing Bear' which features some great changes in tempo, a Russian-sounding wistful tune with a great combination of fiddle and accordion, the slow and sweet 'Hummingbird', of course the fast and furious 'Accordionist's Despair' and a set of new tunes provisionally called something like 'The cat's Monday'?, There was a storming set of tunes for the encore and then that's it for another very fine gig in the village hall. Thank you Mabon

Beth Hart 12/2/2020

I went on reputation and on a whim and it was a good show. Beth is a fantastic singer and had a touch of the Janis Joplin's about her both in the intense singing style and the high maintenance personality. First up was an acoustic duo who introduced themselves as half of the normally electric Kris Barras Band. They were very good playing high energy bluesy rock with Kris on lead and rhythm guitar and Josiah Manning on rhythm guitar and percussion/bass (via feet). I particularly liked the rhythm guitar from Josiah that was fast enough to be frenetic. The only song I knew was 'Midnight Rider' and it was a good version (although having heard Greg Allman perform it many years ago it was not the best version I have seen!) but all the stuff was enjoyable. Kris had a slightly irritating personality but a good singing voice. Beth's band comprised of her on vocals, piano and occasionally guitar, Jon Nichols on guitar, excellent drumming from Bill Ransom and Tom Lilley on bass. But she was front and centre for the show belting out vocals in fine style. I didn't know many of the songs but that wasn't necessary to enjoy the intense experience. I remember 'War on My Mind'(title track of the recent album), 'Sugar Shack' and 'Tell her you belong to me' but actually every song was delivered with power and emotion. There was an acoustic session which was particularly powerful in its understated style and a solo piano song to finish with 'Woman Down'. An excellent gig - 2020 is going well so far gig-wise.

Transatlantic Sessions 7/2/2020

First gig of the year was a Birmingham trip to catch the annual Transatlantic Sessions gig. It is always a treat - you are guaranteed superb musicianship from the 'house band' and the featured soloists are often new talents that you are delighted to be introduced to. That was definitely true this time - I had not heard of any of the five 'soloists' before the gig but I would probably go to see each of them if they toured here. Perhaps pick of the bunch for her all-round musicality and the strength of her songs and vocals was Rachel Sermanni who in the first half sang 'Breathe Easy' and the a Robbie Burns song 'Ae Fond Kiss'. Before her were firstly Cahalen Morrison whose second song 'Wealth of Sorrow' was a tour de force vocally, secondly Cathy Jordan who has a classic Irish voice and sang a beautiful Gaelic song and thirdly Sierra Hull,- American mandolin player and singer whose first song 'How Long' was a brilliant combination of vocals and mandolin. Following Rachel Sermanni was a dynamic performance from Australian (that's a first for Transatlantic Sessions) guitarist Tommy Emmanuel who entertained first by playing some seriously fast tunes that had the Scottish contingent right on their toes determined not to be outdone by an Aussie and then by covering 'I'm on Fire' from the Boss. Of course there were also tunes from time to time and various fronting performances by members of the band including a Phil Cunningham air featuring Mike McGoldrick, a mandolin special from Russ Barenberg, a John Doyle led song and starting the second half a Jerry Douglas/Tommy Emmanuel instrumental that was of course a highlight. The second half included further songs from the featured soloists including another stunning song from Rachel Sermanni ('Eggshells'). Perhaps the best moments of the night were saved for the encores - a spine-tingling rendition of 'The Old Churchyard' with the three female vocalists singing harmony above just an accordion accompaniment from Phil and then a riotous tunes finish form the extraordinary band that included the amazing Aly Bain, John McCusker, Donal Shaw, Daniel Kimbo, James Mackintosh as well as everyone mentioned above. Always a pleasure and a 2020 was a very good tour.