Support came from Hannah Read, a young Scots singer/songwriter now living in the USA. Sweet voiced, at times reminiscent of Joni Mitchell in her tone and phrasing. A self penned set of songs, with some nice lyrics, but unremarkable melodies, apart from one about her mum. Decent guitar accompaniment, and some very nice fiddle, especially her pizzicato playing. The one cover in her set, of John Hartford's Tall Buildings, was also the best, with wonderful fiddle accompaniment.
The set as a whole needed an uptempo injection of pace, and her excellent rendition of a Swedish fiddle tune was the nearest we got. The talent is certainly there, but as a live act there's a frustrating sense that Read could be so much better.
Which is certainly not something that could be said of Kris D. I've reviewed several of Mr Drever's gigs before and it becomes ever harder to find superlatives that meet the steady upward curve in his performances. On this occasion he was still recovering from some problems with his voice, so the set was carefully chosen not to overly strain his vocal chords. The bonus to this was a stronger reminder of why he is recognised as one of our finest guitarists.
So many good songs to sing, he both writes and chooses well,and has a strong back catalogue to select from. And the stories to go with them. Funny, self deprecating, dry. Standouts from the evening included a recent composition, Scapa Flow 1919, looking back at the famous scuttling of the German fleet from an ordinary sailor's viewpoint, and the wonderful Capernum.
But any chance to hear Drever singing and playing is always going to be one of the highlights of the year. The man can do no wrong.
No comments:
Post a Comment