Folk Music – Page 2 – The Live Room

Oct 6 2024

The Paul McKenna Band

Sunday 29th September 2024

Review, photos and videos by Keith Belcher

29th September 2024. The return visit of the Paul McKenna Band who last visited on 15th February 2022. It was a great night then and a great night in 2024 as well. A different line up, Paul on main vocals and guitar, two usual band members in Conal McDonagh on pipes and whistles, Robbie Grieg on fiddle. Adam Rhodes of Imar stood in for Conor Markey on bouzouki and Eoghainn Beaton playing bodhran. Last time we had Ewan Baird on bodhran. Conor was tending to urgent family matters.

I’ve pretty much given up detailed reviews but here’s one that may help to investigate Paul’s back catalogue.

A great night of music with Paul’s very distinctive voice leading the way. The pace and delivery were mixed. Opening with the uptempo Mickey Dam, the only song that features the town Milngavie (pronounced Mil-gai) in the lyrics. From that into Beyond The Day, a gentle and delicate song, a Paul co-write with Canada’s Dave Gunning. Paul continued with a tip of the hat to Christy Moore’s singing of One Last Cold Kiss, a story of a bereaved Nantucket Swan whose mate for life was shot by a hunter. Strangely, that song had heavy rock origins as it was written by Gail Collins and Felix Pappalardi of Mountain who gave it a heavy rock treatment by their band, Mountain. I think the versions by Paul, Christy and Luka Bloom are more apt and fitting to the song content.

One Last Cold Kiss was the first song played from the new CD EP Setting Sun. Solid Ground from the CD followed, a Dougie MacLean song. Dougie being best known for Caledonia but he has written a lot superb songs than Caledonia which is probably the unofficial Scottish National Anthem. On a roll, Western Island, also from the new CD followed.

A cover of another Scottish legend, Archie Fisher. A Paul song Indiana was next. Some great audience involvement during No Ash Will Burn, a song I first heard by Molly O’Brien (Tim’s sister), covered by many people but written by Walt Aldridge. Paul taught the chorus to the audience and they took it from there. Throughout the set the interplay between all instruments was superb, Adam Rhodes stayed mainly in the shadows at the back of the stage but the bouzouki playing was excellent.

The bodhran playing was also excellent, reminding me of the great Andy Cutting on boxes, everything was there without being prominent or getting in the way of the song, there were some lovely touches which brought comments from Paul and applause from the audience. Paul gave detailed back stories about all the songs, what they meant to him, how they came about. Even a tale of living in Orlando for a year (in a Mickey Mouse suit!). It’s always great to have the song introduced properly, so many artists give no background or even titles. Many could learn much from Paul’s rapport with an audience.

Only one CD on the Merch table , Setting Sun, with due deference to the ever decreasing numbers of CD players there was also a coaster which gave the appropriate download code for Bandcamp. Anyone unaware of Bandcamp operations should check it out as you can download in a variety of formats and on certain Fridays all monies go directly the artists. Jeff Bezos doesn’t do that! It also takes many plays on Spotify etc to get enough money for a cup of coffee! The role of a grass roots travelling musician is generally not a glamorous one.

A Tim O’Brien song, John Riley opened the second set. You got the feeling that Paul is a great admirer of Tim O’Brien (who will be back at TLR early next year). I share the feeling. I am a long time fan. Tim and Molly O’Brien were the first artists to record a Gillian Welch song, way back when. A Paul composition The Dream followed. The much covered Banks Of The Moy followed, some debate as to the writer of the song, some list it as traditional.

An interesting co write between Tim O’Brien and Paul was next, Can You See Me Sister?, a song all about Thomas Jefferson’s many illegitimate children, they were born slaves but emancipated on his deathbed. To close the set Paul played Home, a song about his love for the city of Glasgow and how it always calls him home, no matter where he is in the world. Home will always be home. The usual pantomime of leaving the stage with Paul returning to perform a solo version of Cold Missouri Waters. The band then joined the stage for a cracking version of John Spillane’s song Passage West. The instrument playing and interplays was superb, the singing excellent, the audience participation and appreciation also excellent. I have no doubts that Paul and his band will be very welcome to return for a third visit.

Videos by Keith Belcher

One Last Cold Kiss

No Ash Will Burn

Cold Missouri Waters

Jul 10 2024

Mark Radcliffe & Dave Boardman/Weeping Willows Double Bill

Sunday 30th June 2024

Photos, video and review by Keith Belcher

Sunday 30th June 2024. The Live Room, Saltaire. A double header of two debutantes to TLR. From Australia, The Weeping Willows (not to be confused with Weeping Willows- a Swedish band ) and Boltons own Mark Radcliffe with Knutsford resident David Boardman.

The Weeping Willows are Australians Andrew Wrigglesworth (guitar, lead vocals) and Laura Coates (lead vocals, accordion and tambourine). Currently resident in Melbourne. Ron and Hilary “discovered” The Weeping Willows on one of their Nashville visits, meeting up with them again in Kansas (the pandemic came between the visits I think). The usual good taste in bringing these two musicians to TLR. It took a while but happened eventually.

There was the little matter of a football match on Sunday night but the gig was sold out regardless. On Monday I saw a gig cancellation at Seven Arts, Chapel Allerton ( Jon Palmer Acoustic Band) for this Saturday (July 6th). The reason for the cancellation “EVENT POSTPONED DUE TO UNFORESEEN FOOTBALL”. On Sunday there were a few who crept in at 8pm after the travesty had reached its conclusion. They would have missed the best part of The Weeping Willows but probably caught up with their sleep during the football.

The Weeping Willows opened a really tremendous night of high quality entertainment. I was not familiar with Andrew and Laura’s music before the night. I was very impressed. Their opening song “River Of Gold” reminded me greatly of The Civil Wars (remember them, a meteoric rise and similar crash but absolutely phenomenal on stage – I saw them twice), Andrew’s very accomplished guitar and Laura’s tremendous voice create a very large sound for 2 people. They had that same power and presence on stage. Andrew took lead on several songs and they combined their voices beautifully. On another song, “Singin’ The Blues”, I was reminded of Gillian Welch and David Rawlings (who I adore) with homage to Alison Krauss and Robert Plant.

They covered a vast range of musical genres, Americana , Southern Gothic, obviously but a touch of bluegrass, some blues , some rock, uptempo and ballads. In just under an hour they crammed a lot of music in as well as getting the audience to check the footie scores . They left the stage to serious applause . They returned during Mark’s set to help with “Out On The Shore”. After the show they posted that they couldn’t stop smiling . They were not alone. It was one of those evening where everyone went home smiling, even the football supporters. Let’s have them back for a full show please.

Continuing with the action on 30th June 2024. Mark Radcliffe and David Boardman took the stage following The Weeping Willows. At times you may have thought you had come to a comedy night. There were lots of very funny stories mixed in with the largely self penned songs mainly about the North of England.

videos by keith belcher

Bells Are Ringing In The Churchyard

Singin' The Blues

First Light

Steal The Sea

Jun 11 2024

Charm of Finches (AUS)

Plus support Mia Kelly

Friday 7th June 2024

Photos, video and review by Keith Belcher

Friday 7th June 2024, The Live Room, Saltaire. Mia Kelly opening for Charm of Finches. Another performer ‘discovered’ by Ron and Hilary at Folk Expos in the States. This was Mia’s first UK tour. She had only arrived 2 days earlier. Mia is a singer /songwriter from Gatineau, Quebec and performs in French and English.

Mia was recently awarded Young Performer of The Year and Emerging Artist of The Year at the 2024 Canadian Folk Music Awards. Canada has given us, amongst others, Gordon Lightfoot, Neil Young and Joni Mitchell so they do produce the goods. Mia has one of those powerful and expressive voices that could probably fill a hall without amplification. There sounds like there is power and emotion in reserve.

Mia was solo tonight, thumb and finger strumming an acoustic guitar. I couldn’t help but think what that voice would be like in front of a full rock band. Maybe one day!

All the songs tonight were very well written, intelligent, insightful and meaningful lyrics about a number of topics. There was one co-write : ‘Meaning Well’, a co-write via Zoom with our own Blair Dunlop who has also appeared at TLR , albeit a few years back. Blair is the son of Fairport Convention/Albion Band founder Ashley Hutchings (also appeared at TLR) and Judy Dunlop. Also, a long suffering Spurs supporter.

The set started with Garden Through The War, a quite intense song about, among other things, relationships. Mia emanated “joie de vivre” throughout her set, nice to see so much enthusiasm and lovely smiles on display. A good rapport with the audience quickly established. No more French from me but we did have a song in French, ‘Dépaysée’. There were also songs about ancient men who sailed in boats of wood and the men were made of steel, (Bonefish Boys). A song about the River Ottawa but giving it it’s native speaker name of ‘Kitchissippi’. The final song of the brief set was ‘Vagabond’, an uptempo song to end the set inspired by a homeless stranger on a long bus journey asking her, out of the blue, to go ‘cliff jumping’. Mia left the stage to a very good response from the discerning TLR audience. I have no doubt she will be back.

TLR regular Eric wrote ; “Mia Kelly was wonderful, Hilary and Ron, please book her again…Top Notch songwriting”

Ron wrote of both acts; “Three incredibly talented young women, all still under 25. There’s a whole generation of great young musicians and songwriters out there.”

Charm of Finches. Two Australian sisters Ivy and Mabel Windred-Wornes. No strangers to The Live Room. They first appeared to TLR audiences during the Covid Lockdown period in 2020 via virtual electrickery and a huge transcontinental time difference. Our show that night was (I think) 7pm but they were ready to play at 3AM in Australia. Well done Ron and Hilary for keeping the music going during that dark period.

They first appeared in Yorkshire in the flesh in July, 2022 with Chris Brain opening. They were such a hit they were eagerly welcomed back to reappear in 2024. A description of their music I like is chamber folk’. It also has (to me) a kind of Victorian, oldy, gothic feel.

Part of the visual for that and their videos is their shopping in ‘Opp (Opportunity) Shops’ as the duo call our Charity Shops, buying old wedding dresses and dieing/adorning them. Ivy’s almost Bharatanatyamish hand movements, a form of classic Indian Hand dance mudras add to the ethereal quality of their songs.

The quality of their sibling harmonies is outstanding. The duo restricted themselves to keyboards and guitar for this show, a violin was used in previous shows. There was a request for ‘Treading Water’ which features the violin, as the encore. The planned encore was ‘Wonderful Oblivion’. After a few seconds thought, they obliged the audience with an unrehearsed wonderful version of ‘Treading Water’, showing great versatility. Another great reception from the TLR crowd.

TLR regular Mike Latham commented “This was our third time of witnessing Ivy and Mabel…The sounds they created with simple musical accompaniment and their distinctive voices was, for me, a very mature performance. They seem to have determined their own unique approach, particularly in the way they use their voices and can now develop their sound further.

Their sound has a very ethereal feel to me, enhanced by the style they present in their attire and videos. I am reminded of the films of Crawford and Davis and that was reflected in the title song from their new album ‘Marlinchen In The Snow’. Another stirring performance from them and new fans won as I know there were some in the audience who had not witnessed them before.

Another great event; thanks Ron and Hilary, once again. “