Transatlantic Sessions - 12 February 2022

Of course this annual gig was missed out last year due to Covid although we had caught the 2020 version which was a month or so before lockdown. It is always excellent and always interesting to see which new vocalists/songwriters/musicians are going to be showcased by the 'house band'. There was a slight disappointment when Aly Bain did not appear amongst the 13 musicians who walked on stage to start the gig. It turned out he had become ill mid-tour so we had to do without his extraordinary fiddle playing. The remaining musicians coped! The usual suspects were in the band - McCusker, McGoldrick, Shaw, Cunningham, Mackintosh, Douglas and Doyle with Daniel Kimbro on bass who I don't remember from previous gigs. The guests were Paul Brady, Dirk Powell, Siobhan Miller, Leyla McCalla and Sara Jarosz. Paul Brady was Irish and on the slightly rocky/poppy side of Celtic folk - a joy to listen to and he was having a ball as well. Dirk Powell I'd seen before with TS and plays southern US stuff expertly whether on banjo or guitar. Siobhan Miller has a beautiful voice and sings Scottish songs, Leyla McCalla is ethically Haitian and brought a different vibe to the gig both in Haitian music and the first time I've seen a cello at TS. Sara Jarosz is a consumate musician, plays stringed instruments superbly and sings beautifully and writes good songs. She played some lovely little fills while on guitar and as well as singing on her own spots snag 'guitar' with Jerry Douglas on dobro to open the second half. And of course we had the tunes every so often with the usual ramping op of the speed particulalrly towards the end of the gig. Not forgetting an air from Phil. Another great TS show.

Teddy Thompson - 2 February 2022

The first gig for 2022 (which was originally booked over two years ago) turned out to be a cracker. The support Roseanne Reid was an excellent Scottish singer songwriter with a raspy yet very tuneful voice and a good line in original songs. She started with the excellent 'All I need' and it was great all the way through her half hour set. Teddy Thompson came on with an acoustic guitar and a lead guitarist ( Zak Hobbs) and went straight into a song I must have heard before perhaps on Transatlantic Sessions and I am sure the reason I booked the tickets in the first place. It is 'Delilah' ( but not the famous one) and it is a lovely song that immediately highlighted his soulful voice backed by chord changes that hit the spot. I suppose that was the big takeaway for me from the gig - how strong his vocals are, full of emotion, whereas I sort of thought that being the son of Richard Thompson there would be a guitar focus. Of course he is also the son of Linda Thompson so I should not have been surprised. At times Teddy Thompson recreates an almost perfect Buddy Holly vibe and sometimes he sounds quite Everly Brothers but I particularly liked the stuff off his latest album 'Heartbreaker Please' which is his own sound. Near the end of his set he did the title track and he finished the encore with 'Record Player' both outstanding songs. For the first few songs I was a bit unimpressed with Zak Hobbs as the timing and the accompaniment seemed slightly off but about four tracks in he had a solo and suddenly he was spot playing some original stuff both in solos and fill ins from then on until the end of the gig. He was a big plus to the evening's music. I also enjoyed Teddy's stage presence which was sort of Eddie Izzard surreal chat plus some attempt at a very specific sound with many tunings and instructions to the sound engineer. An A star gig to kick off 2022.