Sunday
Sunday, oversleep,
don't wake up until just after seven. It's a bit of a rush, shower, breakfast,
download the photographs, finish writing up the previous day, get all of the
gear together for the rest of the day.
Fortunately Andy is going past the
site this morning so I manage to blagg a lift.(Thanks).
Banana milkshake and
off to the Club Tent for the workshop. Today's subject is whistles and flutes,
Lunasa's Kevin Crawford providing the instruction. It's reasonably well attended
session, there's a good collection of things that need blowing. Everybody seems
to get into it.
My first job of the day is to interview the Duhks. This means
that I'll miss the start of Johnny Dickenson, it's part of the juggling that you
have to do.
The interview is with Tania and Scott and is featured elsewhere
on the site. Despite being such a young band they have already achieved so
much.
I manage to to catch part of the second half of Johnny's set. He seems
to be a very approachable musician with a free and easy manner with his audience
and, oh yes, plays a really good slide guitar.
I have to miss the last part
of his set to go off and interview Blazin' Fiddles. I'm meeting them up by the
Mojo Signing tent where the artists sign their merchandising.
I cut through a massive queue waiting for Kate Rusby to
sign her new album 'The Girl Who Couldn't Fly'. Her people are handing out cups
of 
wine to the waiting masses. A
tradition started by Show Of Hands last year with Cider. It's a two hour
signing, I don't think it's going to be long enough.
Whilst there I can see
the final song from The Black Umfolosi 5. They're doing the Children's concert
and currently seem to have the whole audience doing the actions to 'The Lion
Sleeps Tonight'.
Following the Blazin' Fiddles interview, again appearing in
the features section. It's time to rush back and catch the third Duhks set at
Cambridge and their European tour, once again I was not to be
disappointed.
The first song I hear is in French at first it sounds Cajun,
but there's a different beat to it that gives it a dirtier feel, this isn't pure
it's coming from someplace else.
Following the set, I hear that a lady who
went into labour at the festival had just delivered a little baby boy. It may be
a first here, I can't remember it happening before.
Mary Gauthier is next up.
I was worried that she was going to be a bit of a Lucinda Williams clone. The
first song seems to confirm that fear, but from that point forward she
established her own personality.
Mary is definitely an artist whose star is
very much in the ascendance. Her laid bare vocal has that certain undefinable
something to it. If I have a criticism it's that too many of her songs include
her spirituality. It's a matter of personal taste, just not my thing.
That
aside there is nothing about Mary's set that you wouldn't want to write home
about. This really has been an exceptional year for music and Mary has certainly
added to that and gained herself a new army of fans.