The Glasgow Royal Concert Hall tonight is pretty much completely annexed by the Celtic Connections celebration.
Well-known artists such as Fairport Convention have drawn in crowds this year, but the festival is also the place to discover some of the best new acts you might not have heard.
In a hall upstairs Ruth Moody opens the show with a shimmering voice and casual presence, the Canadian singer wins over an audience where apparently no one had seen her before.
The band fuses seamlessly with her sound and contribute enjoyable patter through out; simple instrumentation is key in this performance, the four-piece switch between different folk instruments through out: slide guitar, banjo, mandolin and violin.
Most impressive is the double bass player switching from thumping bass lines to swirling string motifs effortlessly through out.
Moody takes influence from a wide range of genres; folk, blues and gospel are all represented as well as a powerful rendition of The Boss’ ‘Dancing in the Dark’.
Findlay Napier is one of the most odd and effortless, songwriters today; his off the cuff stories about how all of his songs were written are a fascinating insight into an artist who takes in inspiration constantly.
‘Queen Roseanna’, for example, comes from graffiti scrawled under Jamaica Bridge in the south side.
For his Very Important Persons project Napier is performing songs about lives he sees as remarkable: the first woman in space, Jimmy Angel the stunt pilot who discovered Angel Falls and Hedy Lamarr the Hollywood actress who invented Wi-Fi.
The beauty of Napier’s songs is they tap into the sadness and human aspect of the interesting lives he is singing about, making them relatable and poignant.
Napier’s stagecraft is charmingly relaxed and cultivates an engrossed and interested audience.
After the groans when he announces his last song, Napier breaks the conceit of protocol by saying “you know what I really mean”.
Words: Peter Johnstone
