John Goldie and The High Plains, Traverse

Goldie is one of Scotland's outstanding guitarists, covering a wide range of genres.  He can also lay claim to be something of a communicator, in his own self deprecating manner.

The first set was performed solo, and along the way he gave a potted history of John Goldie, explaining his lack of any musical background and how he adopted various styles of play - rock, jazz, blues and more - along the way.  He's funny, modest and informative.  His tale of taking home a guitar played by Django Reinhardt and realising it was worth more than his flat got a big laugh.

The set mixed up some of his own compositions with clever rearrangements of familiar tunes.  Close your eyes and you'd swear there was more than one instrument playing so commanding is his technique.  And any set that includes Django jazz with Marvin Gaye and themes from Postman Pat and the Teletubbies can not be accused of lacking variety!

After the interval John was joined by the High Plains, a classic string quartet line up comprising classical musician Alice Allen, folkies Kristan Harvey and Patsy Reid and jazz maestro Seonaid Aitken who also did all the arrangements.  Unsurprisingly, given those backgrounds, the mix of styles and material was even more eclectic.  From moments of tender beauty through to driving foot stomping rhythms there was plenty of variety and something for all tastes, fronted by Goldie's virtuoso guitar and rambling stories.

Hugely impressive, hugely enjoyable, and unique.