Showing posts with label traces. Show all posts
Showing posts with label traces. Show all posts

Thursday 18 October 2012

Karine Polwart Oran Mor 19th Sept 2012




Polwart is one of Scotland’s best loved songstress with her beautiful voice and relevant moving songs. 

Many folk artists fill the folk clubs but not so many can fill halls the size of the Oran Mor church auditorium. Her pure softly soothing voice captivated the full house in the clear acoustic church setting with its ornate stained glass windows and with Scottish artist Alastair Gray's colourful mural ceiling.
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Karine sang the flowing harmonies and melodies of her story-telling and honest songs. She had her usual two backing musicians, her brother Steven on guitar and Inge Thomson on accordion, plus for this larger event - percussionist Iain Sandilands who added depth and energy to the new songs along with a wind section that included flute and clarinet.
She performed songs from her well received third album Traces - Strange News, We’re all Leaving, Tears For Lots Wife, Salters Road and Sticks and Stones.
One highlight was a lovely duet of the song Solstice with the guitarist Craig from the Scottish band Unwinding Hand. Another set highlight was a haunting solo song from Inge Thomson. 

The set included songs from Polwart's new album Traces. The song Tinsel Show was written about the lights of Grangemouth which shone in the night sky near to where Karine grew up in East Lothian. Karine also included a few of her classic well loved songs from previous albums - Daisy, Rivers Run.

She spoke of her fascination with birds and how many of her songs reflected this. One stand out song from Traces was the song King of Birds. For an encore she sang Follow The Heron. Her new album has her classy songs and a more intricate depth to it.  

Karine said that as she wasn’t an Indie artist she wouldn’t simply come on and play the album songs and leave and that as she had come up through the folk circuit she would play two full sets with an interval and a raffle! 

I’ve heard Karine at several of those smaller folk venues, as well as her leading a Celtic Connections concert on Scottish songs at the Glasgow concert hall. This was another perfect setting for her intimate songs. 

I have met Karine a couple of times and just a week later at the Lake of Monteith Hotel Bar the night before my son's wedding!  She recognised me by name which made me feel just that little bit famous!. She is such a genuine person and this reflects in her music. 

I recommend checking out Karine Polwart's fourth studio album 'Traces' - http://www.facebook.com/karinepolwart/

Tuesday 19 April 2011

Karine Polwart Milngavie Folk Club

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The Fraser centre offered a cosy packed setting for intimate songstress Karine. 

She started her set with the lullaby 'Beoww- Beoww' (I hope this is the correct spelling, and I forgot to ask Karine for a set list) when she sat and played her small pump organ.  She sang some of her better known songs 'Daisy Darling' and 'Rivers Run' and also a song set to an Edwin Morgan's poem called 'The Good Year'. 
Between songs she chatted about her song-writing collaborations, including her involvement with the Shropshire 'Darwin Project'.  After which she sang a poignant song entitled 'We're Already Leaving' which was about the loss of Darwin's daughter Emma. Other songs included 'Tinsel Show' (The Eyes of the Ages), 'Resolution Row', and 'Sorry Won't Wish It All Away'.     

Karine has a warm, sincere personality and a huge smile! Inge Thomson provided perfect backing on accordion and vocals, along with Karine's brother Steven Polwart on guitar and backing vocals.  Her songs provided many moving thoughtful moments that offered both comfort and hopes. Karine has a philosophy degree and she spent six years working for the 'Scottish Women's Aid' movement on issues such as domestic and child abuse and young people's rights and these experiences have influenced her songwriting

Paul Malcolm provided good support.

Karine Polwart is a Scottish singer song writer. She writes and performs music with a strong folk and roots feel.  She has been recognised for her solo career, winning three awards at the BBC Folk Awards in 2005, and was previously a member of Malinky and Battlefield Band.