C Venues
Aug 12-20 (21.20)

The Other Guys is a show that grabs the torch that should be a Fringe show, thrusts it in the air with the poise of one of those Olympic posters & says, ‘lets do this, guys, lets have some proper fun.’ Four youngish gentlemen, friends from their academic years apparently, have forged a feisty star turn based upon the songs of high-pitched warbler, Franki Valli, who with his band ‘The Four Seasons‘ have sold an incredible amount of records since their inception in 1960. That’s not to say me & the wife were fans, we’ve always found Valli’s voice a bit whiney, a bit lost baby goat in the woodsey, but a little dickie bird told us to check out the show, so we did.

Of course at the end we were dancing, as was the rest of the relatively small & cozy room. Because of the size of the auditorium, the show’s quality was in fact enhanced; there was a great intimacy, for example we were sat right behind the bass player & the keyboardist, the latter fellow directing the music with consummate ease. The band are in house, & accompany other acts at C Venues. They told us they’d only had one full practice with The Other Guys, but you couldn’t tell, it all sounded great, & it was nice to see the singers occasionally sweep by the band & give little winks of appreciation. They were actually pulling this one off.

The Other Guys did more than pull it off – they have created something that transcended Valli’s own work, an amazing blend of pop tunes – mainly Valli’s, but some modern – & choreographized chemistry coming from four great mates dancing to old tunes together in their student bedrooms. For Valli fans, all the classics were there – Sherry, Big Girls Don’t Cry, Oh What a Night – & it was exhilarating to see the crowd singing along, & swaying in lines, & standing together at the end in one happy, clapping, gospelesque clanjamfrie.

The Other Guys is steeped in the halycon days of vocal harmonies, when in the days before wah-wahs & keyboards, the only way to improve a group’s sound was through the human voice. Roll on seven decades & luckily there are purists still out there who are capable of four-part rock & roll harmonies, & it is sheer serendipity to stumble across them. As we were leaving, a couple of young fiances turned up asking if The Other Guys could play at their wedding in St Andrews. ‘We’re only together for Edinburgh,‘ replied the bass-player, & I urge anyone who is up for being entertained this August to catch their ephemeral orgy of honest, incandescent brilliance while you can. Time is running out, fast!

Reviewer : Damo

Assembly George Square Studios
Aug 13-14, 16-28 (17.40)

Baba Brinkman spits a massively entertaining lesson on the science of consciousness at Fringe Fest 2017. Baba’s raps deal with neuroscience, philosophy and general musings on what it means to be a thinking human being. Our rattle-chanting shaman pontificates on a number of cool topics, the first being the philosophies behind the thought-experimental mind, when he relays a story of a girl born deaf, who spends her whole life learning all the hip hop available through inaudible means. An incredibly intelligent platform for the Baba’s new piece. Our rapper then wonders: If the woman were to gain hearing after all this learning, and had the chance to finally hear hip hop, would she hear something new or would she have already known hip hop through her non-hearing experience?

Not only does Baba Brinkman display tight rhymes, he also gives us tools to better understand ourselves. He is “the first peer-reviewed rapper,” and for this show he worked with Anil Seth, Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience at the University of Sussex, who made a guest appearance to improvise some lines about the critical stages of neural development. Science rap could easily be cheesy, but Baba brings serious skills to the stage. The information he presents will keep you thinking for a long time after – maybe a lifetime – and help you understand your mind in a new way. A show, a lecture & a concert all tangled in one enigmatic ball of brilliance. Baba is out there, for sure, but anyone can take a trip to visit him & he welcomes all-comers.

Reviewer : Michael Beeson

Hello ladies, so where ya from & where ya at, geographically speaking?
ANNA : Hello! We’re born and brought up in Glasgow, with all of our family hailing from northwest Donegal in Ireland. It’s a dangerous combination!

What for you makes a good song?
SHEILA : Something with good feeling and a melody that doesn’t leave your head
From a singers point of view a gem of a song would have lyrics with real purpose, passion and poetry. Songs that make you think, love or challenge you are equally as important as songs that capture a by-gone time or important event in history. From a musicians point of view the air has to be as captivating as the lyrics. We all have a soft spot for an air that is in a minor key, there is something other worldly at times in those airs!

Do you herald from a musical family?
ANNA : Our family on our mother’s side is very musical, our grandmother and her brothers and sisters would play the fiddle and could all sing. We’re very lucky to have had such a background that this type of music is just what we are naturally drawn to. Our uncle is a great musician, but not so much in the traditional music scene. He plays everything and used to play in a number of excellent bands, including playing bass with Scottish band Simple Minds.

What do the Friel sisters like to do together when they’re not being all musical?
CLARE : We love to travel, which is perfect because we’re always away playing! We spend as much time as possible in Donegal with family and friends. Anna and Sheila are dentists as well, and Clare has just finished a degree in Pharmacology and Biochemistry so we’re always up to something!

How do you select the songs for your repertoire?
CLARE : We got a lot of songs from our family they would be older songs from northwest Donegal. We pick our tunes from old recordings, or from tunes we play in sessions with friends or even just tunes that are in our head. It’s nice to reflect on friends and family in our music and a mix of what’s old and new. We’ve started writing a few tunes ourselves recently and we’re excited to have some of that material included on the album and in our live shows.

Which instruments do you each play?
SHEILA : Anna plays the flute and whistle. Sheila plays the uilleann pipes, flute, whistle and Tibetan singing bowl (bit of a curveball yes!) Lastly, Clare plays the fiddle and mouth organ. We have other instruments that we mess around on but only dare to take them on stage once in a blue moon! Singing is a big part of our music too – we sing mainly together in unison. Our lineup also includes a guitar player – the amazing Hajime Takahashi. He’s from Japan originally, but lives in Ireland. He’s amazing and has brought so much to our music. On occasion we have other musicians guesting with us too – we love incorporating bouzouki and bodhran whenever we can.

What is it about traditional music that makes you tick?
CLARE : The feeling. It could be a fast reel or a slow song, but it can make you feel every emotion. The music is so vibrant, whether it’s fast or slow there is so much bite in it. It’s also an incredible living link to the past and the generations of musicians that have come before us. It’s a really special art form in that sense. Much of it has been passed down without being written down and learned from ink, which gives it a real sense of life and resilience.

You have toured Europe, America and Asia, which has been your stand-out performance on each of these continents?
SHEILA : Wow, this is a tough one. Gigs normally stand out when you have an audience that appreciate the music and enjoy themselves – we love to see people up dancing or being totally drawn into a song. We couldn’t possibly begin to narrow down one stand out for each continent because it might start an almighty argument between the 3 of us! One recent gig stands out for all of us though – winning the prestigious Loïc Raison Trophée at Festival Interceltique de Lorient last year. The crowd was incredible and it was a bit of a shock for us. A very memorable night for us!

Can you tell us about your Edinburgh performances: where & when & what?
CLARE : We’re playing two gigs, Saturday 12th August and Friday 25th August, both at the Acoustic Music Centre @ UCC (Venue 138). We played as part of the Acoustic Music Centre series last year and really enjoyed it. We even had a bus come from Glasgow come over filled with prosecco. It sounded like a party bus! That’s happening again this year so I’m sure it’ll be a great couple of nights.

This year you will be recording your second album, how is going & which pieces are to we look out for?
ANNA : The album is going well! We are in the mixing stage at the moment. We put a lot into it and have a lot of material. It’s just cutting back now that is the really hard part and trying to put across the energy we have when we play live!

What will the Friel Sisters be doing for the rest of 2017?
SHEILA : Playing! Plenty of tunes and gigs, as well as getting the album out.
2017 has been a very productive year for us behind the scenes this year so we are really looking forward to getting all of our new material out and showing people what we have been up to. We don’t have a launch date fully secured yet for album 2 but that will be a highlight, as will the tours we are planning to launch it. We also have some new videos in the pipeline, which is a new thing for us, and very exciting as we worked with some really talented friends on the project.

You can catch the Friel Sisters in Edinburgh this August 

@ the Acoustic Centre, Saturday 12th & Friday the 25th

Hello Jess, so where are you from & where are you at, geographically speaking?
I’m from New York City with Woodstock, Santa Fe, and occasionally a red van, in the mix (the perils of hippie parents!). Now I live in lovely Edinburgh.

When did you first realise you were musical?
I started performing as a child, so I don’t think I ever ‘realised’ as such, it’s just been a part of life as far back as I can remember. I would perform for family and the myriad of colourful characters hanging around our loft.

When did you first realise you could sing?
Again, no realisation as such. But the biggest influences were certainly the music I heard growing up. At my grandparents house I heard all the great big bands and musicals (West Side Story is a family favourite) and singers like Judy Garland, Ella etc. And with my mother it was Joni, Miles, Coltrane, Cat… I used to sing along to everything. I then started performing in musicals – loved it all!

What for you makes a good song?
First and foremost it’s the composition itself both melodically and harmonically. After that, and as importantly, it’s about well-written lyrics. For example, in the song ‘If I Should Lose You’ by Ralph Rainger there is a beautiful, poetic line: ‘With you beside me, a rose would bloom in the snow’. What a great line to get to sing (and mean-see below!).

What does Jess Abrams like to do when she’s not being musical?
Luckily, everything I do has something to do with music. I am a Music Practitioner running music workshops with young people who are at risk. I also teach part-time in the music and sound production Dept at Edinburgh College. Love it all! But when not working (I’m always ‘working’ but if I love it, why not?!), I’m with friends anf family (head back to Ny as often as possible).

Can you tell us about your Edinburgh performances : where & when & what?
My show is called ‘A Love Letter to New York’ and it is truly a labour of love; especially in the current political climate the States are facing. It’s a love letter to a city that embraces diversity in all it’s glitz, glamour and grunge! I get to sing such a diverse set of tunes – from the 1920’s al the to the 70’s. Imagine getting to sing West Side Story tunes and Walk on the Wild Side in the same show?!

We play two more gigs in Edinburgh
14 & 28 August 7pm
AT The Jazz Bar, Chambers Street (venue 57)
(tickets at the Fringe box office

Who is your in band & what do the play?
Huw Rees on Piano
Tom Lyne on Double Bass
Doug Hough on Drums
and for the first time, I am working with strings!
Kate Miguda on Violin
Pete Harvey on Cello

You have an extremely eclectic range of materials. How did this come about?
That’s easy – an eclectic upbringing! And I’m open to taking from all genre’s (see the storytelling question). Teenhood was spent hanging out on the lower east side in NYC in the Hardcore scene (CBGB’s was a second home!) so from the grandparents and hippie parents to friends and scenes there is wonderful (and meaningful) music to be found – check out ‘Hungry Wolf’ my version of a tune by ‘X’.

What are the keystones to good storytelling?
For me it’s about authenticity. To really mean what I’m singing. With that in mind, I only choose material that has meaning to me. When I sing ‘with you beside me, a rose would bloom in the snow’ I think of my niece Phoebe and I standing in the snow seeing a pink (her favourite colour!)rose in full bloom. Every song must be relatable and something I’m willing to share from a very honest place on stage. Sharing an honest musical journey with an audience is such a rich and fulfilling thing to get to do!

While the festival is in town, are there any musicians in particular that you would like to catch?
There is SO much to see, I’m always overwhelmed by it!
-Heading to Bitches brew on 20th August
– The ever wonderful Barbara Morrison – one of my true musical hero’s – a truly authentic and joyful performer!
– Darling Monologues by the wonderful Angela Jackson (not musical, but words ARE music right?!)

What does the rest of 2017 hold in store for Jess Abrams?
Besides various musical projects, teaching and working with young people making music, I’m heading to Japan in October – my first time and I’m extremely excited. AND… of course I’m planning to tour the Love Letter show!

Thirty-four years in the business have witnessed Coatbridge brothers Pat and Greg Kane reach No 6 in the UK charts with 1987’s ‘Labour of Love’ (from the “Seduced and Abandoned” album), produce an eclectic, black-American influenced album in the late 90’s, appear on pop competition show ‘Hit Me Baby One More Time’ during the mid-noughties, and win themselves a legion of fans who have snapped up over two million of their albums. But like many of their contemporaries, the measure of any successful pop artist lies entirely with the release of their latest work and whether or not it resonates with the public.

‘Pocketful Of Stones’ is the band’s first album release in five years. Countering the affirmation that Hue and Cry means ‘a loud clamour or public outcry’, this record is a gentle return back into the music industry’s often cruel and cynical heartland. Pat Kane suggests that “if half a century has piled up, then you must know something by now”, and it would appear that Hue and Cry know the steady formula which has kept their fans buying their work.

Making full use of the Glasgow String Quartet, the Kane brothers tenderly open the record with nostalgic, fathering sentiments towards the past and their children. In songs such as “The Way She Flies” and “Let Her Go” (the latter includes a duet with Pat’s youngest daughter, Eleanor), there is a true rite of passage being observed in the lyrics and delivery, as the frontman steps back to let his child fly the coop. Using organ-synth sweeps, strings, and poetic lyricism, this is as unapologetically detached from the Glaswegian ‘hard man’ image as it comes.

Jazz elements and Sinatra-crooning are always prevalent in H&C’s music, and it comes as no surprise that the ‘Get Carter’-stylings of “When We’re Not Strong” emerge on the record. What works impressively is Greg’s wife Tippi on backing vocals in a borderline-Carpenters style, loosening the shackles of Pat’s solid crooning and allows songs such as “Deepest Space” and “Edge of the World” to breathe and explore corners which would have been stagnant otherwise.

While this record never threatens any degree of innovation or cutting-edge lyricism, no track is more of a standout than “Conversation” which uses synths, tambourines, clever hooks, and far more positive approach. ‘Pocketful of Stones’ is a purposefully sorrowful album, calculating life’s decisions and abrupt body swerves, but grasping tightly on to romantic and sanguine notions. Paul Towndrow’s saxophone and Tom MacNiven’s trumpet offer rest-bite from the strings with a much-needed brass element, but the largest share of this record falls at the feet of Greg Kane’s arrangements and Pat Kane’s vocal performance. Far from setting the heather alight, this record rubs two sticks together over a makeshift stone firepit, hoping to catch a spark which will flicker at varying points. It’s got the stones – but the pockets have holes.

Reviewer : Stephen Watt

Fingers Piano Bar
Aug 5-6, 8-13, 15-20, 22-27 (15.10)

Divine’s first review of this Fringe season took me to a quaint watering hole on Frederick Street in The New Town. To be the witness of a cabaret of stunning beauty, irrepressible panache and elegance comfortably worn; supported by the very handsome Douglas Price on baby grand piano. Having toured the UK and Europe as a vocalist and actress in musicals, plays, cabaret and concerts, Rosie has only just recently decided to go it alone (alongside Douglas of course) & in a recent interview with The Mumble told us why;

Well, being your own boss and playing by your own rules is so much fun, if a bit stressful. It’s just me until I hit the stage when I’m joined by my lovely musical director, Douglas Price (who is so awesome I genuinely can’t believe my luck)! I just want to sing what I enjoy singing, say what I want to say, be playful and have fun. I just fancy doing my own thing for a little while. If you want to do what you truly enjoy, you have to start by making it happen on your own, right? At the moment my only choice is to do that solo. No one knows who I am yet and hopefully by the end of August I’ll meet some people who understand me, where I’m coming from and humour me in spite of it. I’m finding myself again but it’s a newer more interesting me and I’d like to share that with people.

We are taken on a journey of Rosie Houlton’s life, beginning with her early years in Milton Keynes, in which place are set stories of her first experiences of teenage clubbing, romance and heavy petting, interspersed with impressive covers of songs made famous by Adele, Celine Dion and Barbra Streisand. Each of these numbers were reproduced faithfully with an equally powerful vocal range to match. This within itself was enough to capture her audience, but Rosie is also a very funny lady,  incorporating audience participation into the show with a fun competition based upon naming theme tunes. This completed a very entertaining hour of performance art and as part of The PBH’s Free Fringe, it will nae cost you a penny, while you even get the gift of a goody bag at the end of the show! Its not what one wears but how one wears it, & Rosie is a talented, aesthetically pleasing and very generous lady, & to top it all off, her Mother is a Psychic like Divine! A Well Earned 4 Stars!

Reviewer : Mark ‘Divine’ Calvert

Hello Katie, so where ya from & where ya at, geographically speaking?
I’m from Airdrie, North Lanarkshire and living there at the moment however, I’ll shortly be moving to Barcelona to study! I also have connections to North Uist and Tiree.

When did you first realise you were musical?
I’ve always been musical since I could speak and especially have always loved to sing.

What instruments do you play, & which do you consider as your forte?
Well, singing is my main instrument but I have also been playing the flute since the end of Primary school and mainly in a classical style. Singing will always be my favourite.

What is it about singing in Gaelic and Scots that makes you tick?
I suppose it’s always just felt natural and I feel a great connection to the songs that I sing and an affinity with where they come from. Particularly with Gaelic, I feel a connection to my heritage and to a wealth of tradition that should always be cherished. I like to be able to play even just a small part in maintaining it.

As a songwriter, when do you know you have written a good song, what are your self-critical criteria?
I haven’t written as many songs as I would have liked in the past wee while and I feel that it is something I should do a lot more often. However, I suppose if someone says that they like it or if it has had a good reception from an audience then I’ll accept that it is worth singing. It’s difficult to know yourself when you have written a good song, but as long as I enjoy singing it then that’s half the battle.

What does Katie Macfarlane like to do when she’s not being musical?
I’m a University student studying Gaelic and Spanish and I enjoy traveling, especially to Spain where I can use my language skills. I love being with family and having time to relax on the beach during the time I spend in Uist.

Can you tell us about your Edinburgh performances : where & when & what?
It’s in the Acoustic Music Centre at the Ukrainian Community Centre (Venue No.138) on the 25th of August, with doors at 9.30pm for a 10pm start. I’ll be accompanied by the wonderful Chris Gray on piano and it will be a night of folk, traditional and self-penned songs.

How have you selected your songs for Edinburgh, & what are we to look out for?
I’ve chosen a range of my favourite songs which I particularly enjoy singing and that I feel will appeal to a wide audience. I’m excited to debut some Gaelic songs that I have learned over the summer and also to have some more well-known songs for a wee sing-a-long with the audience. There will hopefully be something for everyone!

What does the rest of 2017 hold in store for Katie Macfarlane
Well, as I’ve mentioned, I’ll be moving to Barcelona for a wee while so a lot of studying probably! I’m looking forward to recording vocals for a track on the fantastic Dougie McCance’s debut solo album very soon so look out for that. I also hope to have more gigs in the future and maybe even experience some of the folk music scene in Barcelona if I’m lucky enough!

You can catch Katie at the Acoustic Music Centre on the 25th of August

Hello Iona, so where ya from & where ya at, geographically speaking?
I’m from Huntly in Aberdeenshire. I moved to Glasgow when I was 17 to study Traditional Music at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. I’ve been living in Glasgow for two years now.

When did you first realise you were musical?
Apparently when I was infantile, I would press keys on my uncles piano and the family knew I’d be musical.

When did you first realise you could sing?
I actually was a very “backgrounded” singer until I was around 12. I’d always be in the background of choirs and such like. It was folksong and ballad competitions which brought out my confidence. It was quite a natural progression.

What for you makes a good song?
What makes a good song… Well, ballads ought to be told in an economic fashion. But to me, I think the melody makes the song. The melody really makes a song.

What is it about the Scottish ballad tradition that makes you tick?
I think the ballad tradition makes me tick because all of the messages and stories of the ballads are still more than relevant today; whether that be in a social or political or domestic context.

What does Iona Fyfe like to do when she’s not being all musical?
Iona Fyfe used to rock climb, swim and gym, but hypermobility syndrome means she just shops now.

You won Best Female Singer at Aberdeen TMSA 2016. Can you tell us about the experience?
I grew up within the competitive ballad tradition and was often adjudicated by some of the finest traditional singers of Scotland. I learned in a very specific style representative of the North East and each year there are several competitions within the year. They are held yearly and it offers a chance to re-connect with the rawest form of traditional song.

What are the secrets to modernizing the old folk classics?
The secrets to modernizing the old folk classics? Learn the song in a way which would be accepted within the competitive ballad idiom, then innovate upon it and make it your own. At least then, you’ll know what you’re changing, how you’re changing it, this is because you’ll know it in its rawest form and can then build on that.

Can you tell us about your Edinburgh performances : where & when & what?

I shall be playing an intimate performance of Songs of the North East at the Acoustic Music Centre on the 18th of August. Doors will open at 21:30 for a 22:00 start.  Held in the Ukranian Community Centre, tickets will cost £8 for adults with concession tickets costing £6/5. Tickets are available online or on the door. Do bring along your voices and join me in rhyme. Tickets available here:
Brown Paper Tickets: http://bpt.me/2936095
Edinburgh Fringe Box Office: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/iona-fyfe

What will Iona Fyfe be doing for the rest of 2017?

I will be on tour for the rest of 2017, whilst recording my debut album which is set to be released early 2018. I go back to university in October too! Here are my tour dates:

5/8 Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival
18/8 Edinburgh Festival Fringe at Acoustic Music Centre
19/8 Innerleithen Music Festival with Nomad Beat
7/9 Linlithgow Folk Festival
10/9 Best Of The West Festival – Inveraray Castle
13/9 Edinburgh Folk Club  
16/9 Naklo Music Festival, Poland
23/9 Wauchope Hall Yetholm
10/10 Leith Folk Club
31/10 Star Folk Club, Glasgow
8/11 Aberdeen Folk Club
9/11 Folk at the Salmon Bothy
10/11 Hootananny Inverness
18/11 Milngavie FolkClub
20/11 The Burns Club of London (Koshka Duff/Carol Anderson)
14/12 Loughton Folk Club
15/12 The Big Comfy Bookshop,

Southern Fried Festival
Perth Concert Hall
29^th July 2017

I’m trying to remember when I last, if ever, attended a bad gig at the Perth Concert Hall during Southern Fried. Ah yes, it was Los Lobos a good few years ago, who disappointed me with a lacklustre performance. That fact – one less than excellent act in the past ten years – will give you some idea of the high expectations I have of this festival. I even bought a T-shirt this year!

Well, tonight I went in, yet again, to a concert given by someone I hadn’t listened to in years, supported by someone I hadn’t heard before. That’s two nights in a row – Nick Lowe and Jim Lauderdale last night, Loudon and Beth tonight. The main difference between the gigs, however, was the fact that neither singer appeared alone on stage. Beth Nielsen Chapman had a musical sidekick, who sat there patiently and accompanied her on harmony vocals, bass guitar, keyboard, and percussion, as each song demanded the appropriate extra facet. That ‘sidekick’ was Ruth Trimble, who is in fact a brilliant singer-songwriter in her own right, as was demonstrated when she and Beth swapped roles for one number, which Ruth led from the grand piano.

Beth was talkative throughout, never shy of telling us the intimate details of her life that account for some of her songs. She has a voice that has not only a considerable range but also great variation in dynamics and timbre, which enables her to inject emotion into her singing. Once or twice there is a slight crack in her musical patina, but only a slight one, and not enough to merit the deduction of a whole star. She could even rock it with upbeat numbers like This Kiss or Willie Nelson’s Nothing I Can Do About It Now (which she actually wrote, so is it his or hers?). I can’t direct you to a decent YouTube clip of her in action – those that exist seem to be phone quality only – so maybe you should make a point of catching her when she’s in your town.

Now then, to Loudon Wainwright III. Well, I thought I was going to see Loudon Wainwright III but what I did see was ‘The Loudon Wainwright Three’. Like three grizzled eccentrics perched on a park bench, David Mansfield, Loudon, and Chaim Tannenbaum faced the audience with wry smiles – “Oh look, a YOUNG person! Your grandparents dragged you here tonight!” With that, Loudon declared ‘his’ demographic to be in the majority at the concert. That includes me; It’s about thirty years since I last/first saw Loudon, so I had no idea what he had been up to, apart from growing old. I was surprised and, I must admit, delighted by the bluegrass spin that mandolin/fiddle to his right and banjo to his left brought to his songs. Loudon shared lead vocals, often taking a verse of a song by turns, with Chaim, the latter having a voice that reminded me a little of Pete Seeger but with Pete’s urgency smoothed off. Chaim soloed with a gentle version of the 1893 version of Bates and Ward’s America The Beautiful, having mentioned in the preamble that the vast majority of Americans only know and only sing the first verse, and that they take it to be a poem of uncritical ultra-patriotism. Chaim, by the way, is Canadian.

Loudon and company didn’t mind singing other people’s songs at all, from Tom Lehrer’s The Old Dope Peddler to an Americanised version of Michael Marra’s Harmless (Hermless in the original). The evening was one of weirdness, wistful irony, and wit – “Put your hands together. No, don’t clap, just put your hands together.” Loudon established a point of reference for me by singing the song that, he claimed and I haven’t quite verified, was the first one he ever recorded – School Days. He got us involved in a sing-along with I Went To The Doctor and Dead Skunk.

A total departure from the festival’s norm of music on stage came in the middle of Loudon’s set, when he sat alone and read a passage from his forthcoming book, giving us an insight on how it feels to be visited by children from a previous marriage and cope with their fighting whilst he fails to make them scrambled eggs. Yes, it was one of those evenings. It’s remarkable just how many of his presentations had to do with failed relationships – Unhappy Anniversary and I’d Rather Be Lonely for two – or ageing – Old And Only In The Way – that nevertheless made the audience chuckle.

As this is my last visit of the weekend, thank you to the folk at Southern Fried for another great festival. I’m already looking forward to next year.

Reviewed by Paul Thompson

Southern Fried Festival:
Perth Concert Hall
27^th July 2017

What you have to remember when you read any review from Perth’s Southern Fried Festival is that it will only scratch the surface. There’s so much going on, not only in Perth Concert Hall, but outside, and in venues all over the burgh. Some of it is free, some events are ticketed. But the point is that although the reviewed gig may be over and done, by the time you read it there may still be time to nip down to Perth and catch something else, or at least to get a plate of soul food. And you can make a note to get in on the action next year – the festival has been going for ten years and shows no sign of stopping.

It’s often said of the late Chuck Berry that he only wrote two songs – My Ding-a-Ling and the other one. That’s a little unfair. It’s true that he recycled intros, solos, licks and tricks, riffs and biffs, and even whole tunes, but there was never a single song that didn’t feel original when you heard it. In the opinion of Geraint Watkins, who played electric piano on the night for Andy Fairweather Low’s Hi Riders, as well as bagging some solo spots, any songwriter who could come up with lines like “I was campaign shouting like a Southern diplomat” was a poet, pure and simple. I think that in Nadine Chuck Berry fought against the impulse to make that “Southern Democrat” as a dig at Governor George Wallace, but still as a songwriter he had a simple, imaginative genius for narrative.

Time was when the folks at Southern Fried made the introductory concert of the long weekend a kind of casual affair, with artistes sitting at café tables and strolling over to the microphone to give an unplugged tribute to a chosen songwriter. Now, with Andy Fairweather Low and the Hi Riders hosting and providing the musical platform, what you have is a full-on gig. Of course it asks visiting singers and players to step out of their comfort zone, sometimes to have to read the lyrics from a music stand – perform a kind of all-star karaoke, if you like – but what is eventually produced is a compilation of interpretations, not covers. This is because of the diversity of the performers. Two peripheral things struck me. Firstly the fact that the combined value of guitars on stage must have been astronomical. Secondly that the stage crew’s activities were perfectly choreographed, as they changed mics and mic-stands, handed over and took back instruments, making the sharp-eyed aware that the night’s performance was not as ad-hoc as all that.

Andy Fairweather Low is still the King of Bustle, hustle-bustling around the stage in his immaculate mohair suit. “I’m not a good guitarist,” he lied. What he isn’t is a shredder in a smoke-and-lights stadium band; what he is is a solid, rocking, R&B guitarist, with fifty years of practice. His solos drove along most of the performances tonight, and what they didn’t drive they backed up. Not all the guests were on the bill – there were one or two surprises. James Hunter turned up and rocked it, as you would expect. Andy and James were on the same wavelength, although I believe this was the first time they had met, let alone played together. Angeleena Presley brought her young son on stage to duet on Hail, Hail Rock and Roll.

Chuck Berry wanted to be a Country and Western singer, and in fact thought of himself as that. This was brought home when the likes of Doug Seegers tackled Oh Carole, or during an unplugged interval when Flats and Sharps delivered a bluegrass version of Sweet Little Sixteen. For Promised Land Geraint Watkins stepped forward with a small, dry-tuned piano accordion and paid tribute to Johnnie Allen’s version and Belton Richard’s Cajun playing style.

I mustn’t leave out any of the performers, or their interpretations. The Hi Riders are an enlarged version of Andy’s Low Riders, with added keyboards and horns, and they gave a lot of body to the sound (but see my overall views on sound, below). Cyndi Cain, with her soaring voice turned I Do Really Love You into a soul ballad. Hamish Stuart made Havana Moon into something so cool, so laid back, that it almost took on a spooky sound. Amythyst Kiah – oh how I love her voice, her intense, serious delivery! – turned It’s My Own Business into a relaxed country blues. Steve Gibbons, barely touching his Gibson Les Paul, managed to inject a little Elvis into No Money Down. Throughout there were jazz, country, blues, rock, and big band echoes. The final ensemble numbers provided the nearest you could get, this side of the pond, to the Louisiana Gator Boys. The audience was by then, of course, on its feet.

One or two things didn’t work. The Concert hall is a great venue, but trying to balance the sound in such a switch-and-swatch format must be a nightmare; as a result some solos tended to get lost. But it was a party. Maybe it would have been more of a party if they actually had sung My Ding-a-Ling and got us to join in, but you can’t have everything!

Reviewed by Paul Thompson