Pierre Schryer and Sean Gray, Traverse

 Schryer is a versatile fiddler from Ontario, with a large dose of excellent in the French Canadian perciussive skill of podorythmie. Gray is a guitarist, flautist and singer from south west Scotland. Although they've known one another for many years, this is the first time they've toured together. And it looked like a lot of fun for them both.

The first half gave us a strong international flavour, with tunes from France, Canada, Ireland and Scotland, some old, some new, plus a couple of Ayrshire songs, in Lallans, from Gray. And a mix of sensitivity and speed from the playing of both parties. The fiddler dazzles with imagination and variety in his play, the guitarist matching him with deceptively simple accompaniments and surprise moments.

The quality was increased by the third member of the act, who put in a few appearances for appropriate tunes. Danielle Emblom is a Minnesotan step dancer who brings joy to her performance and another layer of percussive accompaniment to the sets. It's just a shame that, in the Traverse bar, only the first couple of rows were able to observe her flying footwork. But the sheer energy and accomplishment of her dancing was obvious to all.

The second set brought further international influences, with a Middle Eastern tune to open, and a Brazilian towards the end. The pace of all three performers increased as things went on, and when they audience called for an encore this one was heartfelt. It helped that both Pierre and Sean are entertaining speakers, give interesting introductions to their material, and frequently fire off one another.

A glorious evening.

Le Vent du Nord, King's Place, London

 "Folkies, eh - what are we like?"  Even now there are still those who associate the term folk music with something staid, moribund, old fashioned.  Maybe they need to see Le Vent du Nord, who blend traditional Quebecois tunes and techniques with modern instrumentation and arrangements.  And explode with life - this is a band that connects with it's audience the moment it walks out on stage.

Plug electric keyboard and bass into the mix of traditional instruments - fiddles, accordion, guitar and mandolin, jew's harp and the wonderful hurdy-gurdy.  Then add the Quebecois tradition of podorythmie, where the feet beat out complex rhythms, and five fine harmonising voices, including a triple choice of lead vocalist.  That's Le Vent du Nord.  Most of the songs are old, with a few modern additions to the canon, but the presentation is bang up to date, and almost theatrical at times.

The set list was heavy on tracks form the recent album, 20 Printemps, celebrating their two decades as a band.  Audience participation is encouraged.  It's hard to pick out highlights, but Ma Louise swings from joyous to heart wrenching, even if you understand little of the lyrics, and the mouth music of Turlutte du Mai, where two pairs of percussive shoes accompany an acapella rendition, makes you wonder how such rich harmonies can spring from only five voices, like a mini male voice choir.  Then there was the comedy turn of the drinking song L'Auberge, where four drunks surround soloist Simon Beaudry and sway in formation around him.  Or the podorythmie 'duel' between the two fiddlers.  Meanwhile the music accepts influences from jazz and classical and pop genres, featuring dazzling solos from all the band members.

The gig ends with the audience on their feet, dancing and whooping, and grins on every face.  A good time guaranteed.

The Good Lovelies, Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow

A Canadian Folk night, with pop and country and rock influences thrown in.  Opening were duo The Fortunate Ones.  Guitar keyboard and vocals, mostly self penned material that showed a variety of roots, with some strong melodies and interesting lyrics.  Gentle ballads through to a rockier sound.  They were funny too, an excellent starter act.

The Good Lovelies trio specialise in harmony singing and friendliness.  Aided by a sound, and at times inspired, rhythm section of bass and drums, and sharing guitars and banjo and keyboards themselves, they performed a strong set of their own and traditional songs with a strong pop influence in many of the arrangements.  A highlight was the threesome coming down off the stage to sing unamplified, the purity of their harmonies shown off to full effect.

Enjoyable.

Celtic Connections present Julie Fowlis + Le Vent du Nord, Leith Theatre, Edinburgh International Festival

Celtic Connections in August?  In Edinburgh?  In will still be back home in Glasgow come January, but for one night it was the backer for a double bill of two outstanding bands.

First up was Julie Fowlis and her band playing guitar, bouzouki, fiddles and Julie herself on whistles and harmonium (and joined for the final few numbers by 'Mr Celtic Connections', Donald Shaw, on accordion).  Renowned as one of the country's finest Gaelic singers, she also gave us songs in English and Galician, and reminders that she's a very talented musician too.  Traditional and modern numbers, slow airs and foot tapping reels, Scots and Irish tunes.  The arrangements don't break much ground, but deliver traditional music with flair and passion, strong solos and great ensemble playing.  And a beautiful rendition of The Beatles' Blackbird, translated into Gaelic.

Fowlis is a compelling front woman, amusing, interesting, one of our great national voices, and her puirt à beul singing offers a hard to believe rate of syllables per second!  A great set to open the night.

For all that Fowlis and co are a fully fledged headline act, in terms of stage presence they still fall short of the second act of the night.  I've reviewed Le Vent du Nord gigs before, in Glasgow and in London, and there's not a lot I can add to my previous descriptions of their musicianship, style of play and ability to bond with their audience.

They're now a 5 piece outfit, with the addition of the flamboyant Andre Brunet (brother of bass and accordion player Rejean) on fiddle, podorythmie, and vocals.  Both old and new tunes stick to the Quebecois tradition, meaning there's lot's of call and response songs, rich, sonourous, muscular harmony singing, and a storming beat to get the body moving.  All this delivered with a genuine passion and a clear sense of self.  This is music that defines who the musicians are, that is a natural part of their being.  There's plenty humour too, making both the audience and themselves laugh.  It's all infectious stuff.

Julie Fowlis joined them for a few numbers (adding French to her list of languages on the night....), on vocals and whistle, clearly swept up in the joy of the moment.  As were we.  I was still buzzing hours later.  A Le Vent du Nord gig is one of the world's great entertainments.

The Fretless, Tradfest, Traverse

Not your usual string quartet.  The line up - cello, viola and 2 fiddles - might be the same, but the heritage, and the music, is far from Mozart.  Drawing on folk music from various Canadian and American traditions, as well as Ireland and other sources, mixed with blues and country influences, and The Fretless - 3 Canadians and a cellist from Vermont - have developed a strong sense of their own identity and a unique sound.

Much of the material is traditional, some self penned, but the arrangements are very much non-trad, and often experimental, with a resulting freshness that removes any sense of predictability.  The viola gets passed from Canadian to Canadian between numbers, all four instruments and musicians take their turn delivering melody, harmonies and rhythm, and all four take turns to introduce the numbers and provide some laughs.  It's a well balanced set, a mix of tempos and styles throughout, with some beautifully melancholic slower pieces, and foot tapping dance music to raise the spirits.  The cries of encore were genuine enough because this is a band that definitely knows how to collect with their audience.

A highly recommended live experience.

Le Vent Du Nord, Kings Place, London

Quebecois quartet.  Four lead voices, four harmony voices, four great musicians, four jokers.  A foursome of rhythm and melody and passion and joy.

Le Vent du Nord are Nicolas Boulerice (piano and hurdy-gurdy), Simon Beaudry (guitar and bouzouki), Olivier Demers (fiddle and guitar) and Réjean Brunet (button accordion, electric bass and jew's harp).  They play in traditional French Canadian style, a genre that draws influences from the music of France, Ireland, Scotland, the US and beyond.   With one distinctive characteristic - Podorythmie.  Foot tapping, foot stomping, call it what you will, but it's a remarkable means of providing percussion.  A board is strapped to the floor, miked up, and the musician sits and raps out a rythym with their feet.

Brunet got his feet working on occasions, but the bulk of the percussive effort fell to Demers.  Remember the old childhood challenge of tapping your head whilst rubbing your tummy?  That seems a piece of cake once you've watched a man banging out a complex rhythm with his feet, melody from the fiddle in his hands, and backing vocals at the same time....

Songs and tunes are a mix of traditional standards, little known discoveries and their own compositions.  The majority of songs follow the call and response format, with the opportunities they bring for harmony vocals.  There are a few slower numbers, but the majority are rousing, uplifting.  That all the lyrics are in French mattered not a sou.  The distinctive drone of the hurdy-gurdy is increasingly a rarity nowadays, and makes the bands instrumentation readily identifiable.

Comedy there is too.  Well coordinated banter at each other's expense, clowning around the stage, amusing anecdotes within the introductions.  The humour went musical too when a Demers guitar intro turned into Stairway to Heaven.  Appropriate when a storming solo from Boulerice later revealed him to be the Jimmy Page of the hurdy-gurdy (a phrase I never imagined I'd ever be writing!).

At the end the band had the audience up on their feet, clapping and singing along, to leave everyone on a high.  Superb musicians, but also genuine entertainers, Le Vent du Nord are one of the best live acts you could see.

Le Vent du Nord & De Temps Antan, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Celtic Connections

Scottish fiddle band Session A9 opened the evening before a packed out concert hall.  A group that takes it's name from Scotland's principal northern arterial road is likely to have a decent sense of humour, and so it proved, with an enjoyable amusing few lines to get things going.  Keyboard, guitar, mandolin and percussion back up a powerhouse fiddle section playing a wide mix of traditional and modern tunes.  Belly Dance gave us eastern Mediterranean rhythms, there was a bluesy song from the pen of the late John Martyn, and lots of clever and imaginative arrangements.  Some beauty too, with a few haunting slower numbers, but it was the fast stuff that got the crowd really going and cheering the band from the stage at the interval.

I'd be more than happy to go to a gig with Session A9 as the headline act, but....

Famed French Canadian bands Le Vent Du Nord and De Temps Antan have joined forces to form a Quebecois supergroup.   Putting together the trio and quartet provides a range of seven excellent male voices, a wide variety of instruments, and, most crucially, four top class exponents of the foot tapping percussion that defines the unique sound of the region.  Oh, and a line up of charismatic jokers.

To the sound of Thus Spake Zarathustra the musicians emerged one by one, each taking away the solo spot from their predecessor, amidst much play acting.  And it was immediately apparent why they, and not the local act, were tonight's headliners.  Both of the component bands have been at the forefront of advancing the genre and the traditional melodies come with imaginative arrangements and instrumentation.  There was even a keyboard solo that owed more to progrock than any folk tradition.  But I don't think Rick Wakeman ever had a Jew's harp providing the beat!

The songs are mostly call and response, solos and harmonies, rich vocal quality.  A capella numbers had a compelling quality, and to hear that septet of vocalists accompanied only by the complex tapping of four pairs of feet was a special aural and visual experience.  The dexterity of the musicians has to be seen to be believed, for it's hard to imagine how one person can play a melody with their hands, complex percussion with their feet, and still have the brain capacity to sing backing vocals....

By the end they had the entire audience on their feet, caught up in the infectious excitement of the music and the joyful personalities of the performers.  This was one of the best gigs I've ever attended.  Simply fabulous.