A double bill of recent prize-winning Scottish musicians played to a select Lichfield audience when the singer and guitar Ewan Robertson, and the composer and fiddle player Rua Macmillan appeared at Lichfield Guildhall.
Ewan Robertson was on first, playing songs from his acclaimed solo debut Some Kind of Certainty. He is best known as a member of the Breabach, but seemed equally at home with just his distinctive voice, melodic guitar playing and well chosen songs, from both traditional and more contemporary sources.
His set included such songs as the traditional Gin I were a Baron’s Heir, and Ship in Order, and the touching When I’m Gone by sixties folk stalwart Phil Ochs, and The King of Rome by Dave Sudbury.
The fiddle playing of Rua Macmillan featured in the set’s last song, a reading of Richard Thompson’s Vincent Black Lighting which turned the well known ballad into a song of Appalachian brooding, and bluesgrass inspired musical interludes.
The second half of the concert featured the composer and fiddle player Rua Macmillan, with accompaniment by guitarist Tia Files and the bodhran playing of Adam Brown. Their set consisted of music from their recent release, Tyro, and started with the spirited Ooh Pierre and continued with such compositions as The Jigs, Harv’s and Kitchen Criminals, as well as a number of slower airs which featured an octave violin.
All three musicians were good players, but their ensemble sound was full, and varied.
The encore of the concert saw Ewan Robertson playing violin with the Rua MacMillan Trio on the slow, traditional air Bidh Clann Ulaidh. Although there were, sadly, a lot of empty chairs, the four musicians played very well, and put a lot into their performances, which bodes well for the rest of their tour, playing music which deserves to be heard.
