Lucinda Williams rocked at Celtic Connections 2016!

Sassy straight talking rock on lady! This lady takes no prisoners and she seems grounded.

I came new to Lucinda, while I had read good reviews of her work. Looking at her Wikipedia page I noticed that at 62 she has unusually been having more success as she gets older.

As we waited in the packed Glasgow concert hall an enthusiastic man appeared at the side of the stage waving a set list. I got a photo - was this Mr Overby her manger and now husband? I wondered was the extra time before the gig to ground us to be ready to listen? 

She sang several tracks from her new 2016 album, Ghost of Highway 20, in which she sings of her memories of the deep south and of those lost to her. 'Places you can't let go of - they won't let go of you' and 'I found myself on Highway 20' 

On any given night there would likely be certain songs on her set list such as Drunken Angel, Lake Charles and Cold Day in Hell. 'Each time I look at the world there's a different story.' Another song was entitle Protection. 'Protection from the enemy of love, the enemy of rock n roll' And on Find My Joy she sang, 'You took my joy don't mess with me.' 

Her father was the poet, Miller Williams (who read at Bill Clinton's inauguration). He once took her to hear the preacher and street singer guitarist Blind Pearly Brown. She may have found setting his words to music a challenge but she managed on his poem Compassion and on Dust. 'You couldn't cry if you wanted to.' Her mother, Lucy Morgan was a musician.

The rocking high quality band Buick 6 performed with her. Guitarist Stuart Mathis took up mournful and joyous melodies along side dynamic drummer Butch Norton in his white cowboy hat and their bassist David Sutton racked up the energy. Often she turned her back to conduct the band so they are all in sync. Lucinda with her shock of blond hair and leather jacket is not your average softly dressed country gal! On a couple of songs there was just Lucinda on guitar.

For her encore songs Lucinda sang Robert Johnston's Stop Breaking Down Blues and JJ Cale's song Magnolia. She smiled as she searched for the last song among her pages of songs when her roadie came to assist. 

Her spiritual songs cover pathos, regret, searching. Lucinda's voice packs a punch with a rasp, unforgettable direct earthiness. At times with her head titled back slightly her voice soars and meanders those blues songs.  

She is a three times Grammy award winner and considered one of America's top songwriters. I can understand why, I was new to these songs and they registered and struck home right away.

Harmony, peaceful, rocking! 

She is a defiant lady who has travelled many roads. There were loads of stand outs and textured, layered songs with an artist of this calibre and there is nothing subtle about Lucinda. http://lucindawilliams.com/

Williams was well supported by Canadian singer songwriter Jenny Ritter.

'Pilgrimer: Re-imagining Joni Mitchell's Hejira' at Celtic Connections 2016

"touching souls and surely you touched mine..."

I felt enriched - this was a perfect evening of nostalgia for the many massive Joni fans there in the packed audience concert hall to hear Joni Michell's Hejira album - now set to new Scottish words by the author James Robertson.  Joni wrote this album while driving solo from Miami to LA ,on both the freedom and loneliness of the road. 

 

*The first SET was the Scots Re-imagining of Hejira

Author James Robertson began the night. He said after travelling in America, seeing Joni live and buying the album, Hejira was now "in his bones" - so this was an instinctive project for him to re-imagine her words into the Scots language.  He had already written the first Scots adaptation twenty years ago and was encouraged by Celtic's director Donald Shaw's wish to bring more spoken word into the festival.

Scottish folk singer and musician, Karine Polwart and her brother guitarist Steven Polwart, were central to organising this concert.  Karine, herself a talented singer song writer gave careful performance with her expressive vocal. 

She sang four of the tracks - Tod(Coyote), Hoolet(Black Crow), The Find(Hejira) and Columba(Amelia) when she was thrilled to be joined onstage by the renowned Grammy winning guitarist Larry Carlton, who has worked with many of the greats in music - including Joni's Hejira.  

Annie Grace performed the track Pie Jock(Furry Sings). While Rod Paterson delighted with his deeper vocals and a humorous rendition of Kippenrait(Strange boy)and also languorous Grey in Grez (Blue Motel).

James performed spoken word on a moving tribute, Sang for Joni(Song for Sharon. Karine, Annie and Rod sang Pilgrimer(Refuge of the Road).  

*The second SET was some favoured Joni songs.

Olivia Chaney interpreted well two of Joni's best loved classics on piano A Case of You, Women of Heart and Mind.   

Gaelic singer Julie Fowlis sang in English Cactus Tree and River with strings and expressed well the vulnerability and poignancy of her voice.

Award-winning singer Kathryn Joseph, performed the songs Rainy Night House and the classic Both Sides Now with her delicate timing and ethereal voice. Canadian singer Rose Cousins, challenged herself well to sing Joni's haunting Blue.   

With all the talented female line up on stage they then performed the more hopeful and embracing songs The Fiddle and the Drum, followed by Free Man In Paris - and after a standing ovation a lovely encore of  the Circle Game.  All five women performers clearly showed their awe, love and respect for how much Mitchell has influenced their own songs and music.   

This was a night of delightful harmony and memories - both the joy and the pain of those journeys.  With a great expanse of subtle light and shade and movement in the music.  For this album Joni blended her folk, rock and jazz influences. Well done to the entire cast for such an memorable evening of song!

A special mention to a top house band, which consisted of Calum McIntyre(drums, percussion), Steven Polwart (guitar), Kevin McGuire (double bass), Fraser Fifield (kaval, low whistle, saxophone).  

Joni was one of the first to write lyrics to her songs in such an intimate way. She is a great lyricist and painter of profound images. The direct simplicity of her words are highly memorable with lines such as  - ' You impress me most when you don't even try.' As she sings on Blue Motel Room: "I’ve got road maps from two dozen states, I’ve got coast to coast just to contemplate …" 

James asked us to send a Big Wave of thanks over the ocean to Joni - one of the greatest singer songwriters of all time. I agree wholeheartedly with him - still as brilliant 40 years later!   

Robertson has also adapted other books into the Scots language.  He spoke in an interview for the Herald of the challenges of working on this creative project to bring his words into the musical contact of the songs -  You can’t simply swap a song from one language into another and expect it to work. It’s no accident that Scots is the "natural" language of much traditional Scottish music, and American the "natural" language of blues and rock ’n’ roll. This does not mean, however, that synthesis is impossible or undesirable. On the contrary, building bridges between musical and wider cultural worlds is exactly what Celtic Connections does. '


That wis the lang, hot simmer, Joni,
we thocht it wid niver end;
I had ma haill life oot afore me,
nae mair lessons tae attend.
Caurs tailed back in the Safari Park,
puggies laughin in the trees:
the warld wis turnin inside oot,
shrinkin by invisible degrees.
…
I gaed through twenty-nine states and then some mair –
forests, mountains, fields and feelins.
I walked ma shoon tae shreds on stoury roads,
sometimes hurtin, sometimes healin.
Awthin turns in time tae legend,
and in ilka legend somethin’s true;
that fit-sair, luve-seik pilgrimer
aye walks aside me noo.

'Ireland 2016 - The Chieftains' commemorating the Easter Rising @ Celtic Connections 2016

Breath of Magic! Exhilarating! ..telling the dark days of fighting to the joy of freedom..

This fun night was to celebrate the Centenary of the Easter Rising 1916.

The concert began softly and poignantly with the fiddle of former Dubliner John Sheahan and the deep vocals of Declan O'Rourke and songs of the heroes of the Easter Rising.

We might have been fooled into thinking this would be a serious night - even while the warm firelights flickered up and down at the side of the stage. Upstairs the galleries were packed out and the stage was set for a much bigger gathering of musicians.

The main event was up next when the Irish legends The Chieftains took to the stage to play their reels and jigs and to take the energy up a notch with those tap-dancing rhythms.

Alyth McCormack read the Roisin Dubh over Maloney's whistle and then she sang impressive in Gaelic, music of the mouth, the Foggy dew into Poirt A Beul, when we were also treated to some Irish dancing by Canadian fiddler John Polanski and his brother.  

Next to sing was Karen Casey how sang The Mountains of Pomeroy - when she remarked 'Freedoms do not fall from the sky, they have to be fought for. To fight against Inequality and child poverty.'  Kris Kristofferson, with his shock  of silver hair, looked slightly bemused with the proceedings and he sang with his honey-toned deep vocals, Help me Make it Through the night and Bobbie McGee.

The second half was s celebration joy-filled party. A half orchestra was conducted by Robert Maxwell (my son played with him years back on a wonderful trip to Gozo). Scots singer Eddi Reader sang Light Over the Horizon and spoke of the Scottish connection to the Easter Rising, such as James Connolly.

The Glasgow Gaelic Choir performed Shenandoah and the Long Journey Home. To express those Celtic connections the Chieftains and orchestra played the Galician Overture with Moloney's uilleann pipes over the Spanish acoustic guitar. Several well known Scottish piers joined in for the March to Battle.

This was followed by an exuberant finale with also performances and was greeted with a rapturous standing ovation! A rip-roaring night of fun!   

Perhaps Ireland is just glad to have their freedoms - to be socially free and equal. The Easter Uprising of 1916, the concert was preceded by the launch of Luath Press’s thought-provoking essay collection, Scotland And The Easter Rising.  Irish Senator Labhrás Ó Murchú, director-general of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, recently observed - "Our cultural identity was central to the aspirations and motivation of 1916", as embodied by the presence of several poets among the rebels, and the simultaneous artistic ferment, encompassing song, literature, theatre and journalism, which fuelled the nationalist cause."  Irish culture has increasingly flourished over the ensuing century

The Chieftains are a traditional Irish band form Dublin that consist of Paddy Moloney, Sean Potts and Michael Tubridy.

 

Opening concert 'Carrying the Stream' at Celtic Connections 2016

Siohban Miller

An enriching poignant concert with depth and traditional roots. 

The opening concert for Celtic Connections 2016 celebrated the 50^th anniversary of Scotland’s Traditional Music and Song Association. An early TMSA statement was to , champion “Scotland’s authentic tradition-bearers” against over-commercialism and dilution -  to keep the thread of Scottish traditional music flowing and secure traditional song’s place in Scottish music.

The show began with a uplifting pipes of the National Youth Pipe band of Scotland. Along with Scottish stars and greats of the Scottish music scene - Barbara Dickson, Sheena Wellington, Aly Bain & Phil Cunningham - there were seven unaccompanied traditional songs -  performed by Adam McNaughton, Thomas McCarthy, Arthur Johnston, Brain Miller, Pete Shepherd, Tom Spiers, Arthur Watson, Jim Taylor, Joe Aitkin, Geordie Murison, Jimmy Hutchison.  

Adam McNaughton

National Youth Pipe band of Scotland

There was also up-and-coming new stars - the haunting Gaelic singer Misha Macpherson, a talented Feis Rois, memorable singer Shona Donaldson, story-telling American Rayna Gilbert, popular musician Kris Drever and the show's musical director Siohban Miller.  

With such a high calibre of performers it is hard to select only a few highlights. The concert ended well on several high notes with Sheena Wellingtons' A Mans a Man,the poignant fiddle of Aly Bain and a powerful Malinky. For the rousing finale led by political singer Arthur Johnstone and with all the singers onstage, we were treated to Hamish Henderson's Freedom Come All Ye.  

Out in the concert hall foyer were wonderful models of three stalwarts of Scottish traditional music scene - Davy Stewart, Hamish Henderson, Sheila Stewart.

I thought more stories and information on the TSMA, songs and singers would have worked well, while the show was well compared.  

While the concert was heavily about the traditions, it also embraced the future. A very special motion to a top quality house band  - Euan Burton, Anna Massie, Aaron Jones, Tom Gibbs, John Blease and Megan Henderson.

There was a mention of the Land Reform Bills before the Scottish parliament - so that our land can be inhabited the way Norway is. I thought how wonderful that people feel they can express how they feel about things without fear...

Celtic Connections will showcase some of the worlds leading trad, folk and world music artists.  Oh I do miss these kinds of gigs!