Co-Operative Cambridge Folk Festival
Saturday
I've not managed to catch a Cara Dillon set since just before her twins were born, but naturally caught up with her re-emergence from maternity leave when she released her latest album, "Hill Of Thieves" on her own label earlier in the year.
The album saw Cara returning to the more traditional side of her repertoire but also served to remind me just how much I'd missed her voice. Without a doubt Cara Dillon has one of the finest voices this side of a mountain breeze. It's clear, it's crisp, you can hear every word, virtually every letter, every vowel.
More importantly it's something she can produce live you listen to Cara Dillon because you know you're going to be rewarded by a stunning voice producing sounds that make sense.
She's joined on stage by a small band that includes her husband and producer, Sam Lakeman, it's a very stripped back, very natural sound, it's a sound that it's easy to get absorbed into.
It's one of the reasons why Cara can make so many songs sound like she owns them, regardless of who actually wrote them and how far back they were originally collected.
The live medium is known for it's instant feedback and that must make it strange for an artist when an audience is listening in respectful silence to the song being delivered. Certainly once the songs finished applause kicks in in abundance. I do find myself thinking though if she'd quite like an occasional whoop.
The part of the set I heard confirms, for me that Cara Dillon is definitely back, she's been performing since she was fourteen and somehow still manages to go from strength to strength. She just delivers on all aspects, the performance, the composition, the arrangement, just a top all around performer.
I wait until the song finishes before ducking out and heading across to Stage Two. There is something uplifting about the way Cara performs, even when she's performing sad and melancholy songs, you always feel there's hope somewhere.
Jon Boden on the other hand sits well with dark and broody, there is something of the night about his persona, particularly when he's away from Bellowhead. Its not a sinister thing, you don't get the creeps, but it does give his music an edge.
He's something of a renaissance man, working on theatrical scores as well as solo and band material. Maybe it's that sense of drama he carries across to his music that sets him apart. That and being a master of a range of instruments.
Visually Stage Two is darker than it's bigger compatriot and likewise it's smaller size naturally brings you to a point focus so much easier. Jon Boden's physical presence and use of a suit add to the sense of this being a show as much as a gig.
I'm being serious when I say it's difficult to under-estimate the impact Boden has had on the contemporary folk scene, not only though his own work, but also through the contribution he's made to other people's albums.
The man knows his music and what it takes to get the best out of himself and the material that he's working with. The Remnant Kings allow him to build his thoughts and concepts into something with more depth to them.
It's fascinating to watch and listen to, more so because it isn't smoke and mirrors, there is a genuine sense of entertainment that under pins the whole. This may not have been the most uplifting show on the bill this year, but it was one of the most fascinating, it made me think and that can't be a bad thing.
I'll be catching Bella Hardy tomorrow, which gives me the opportunity to head back to Stage One to catch Blazin' Fiddles.
There's been a line up change since I last saw the band, Aidan O'Rourke has left to concentrate on other projects and has been replaced Anna Massie on fiddle/guitar.
Blazin' Fiddles have a reputation for enjoying themselves. They'd just played Stokes Bay Festival where you got a hat if you drank four pints of some brew or other, which explained why the whole band came onto stage wearing straw cowboy hats and was a lot easier to explain than the I love caravan t-shirts of a previous visit.
If Treacherous Orchestra are the super group of acid croft, Blazin' Fiddles hold that position for fiddle bands.
The quality of the musicianship within the combination is outstanding. It's been said that if wars were fought with fiddles, Shetland would be a super power. That being the case Blazin' Fiddles would be the SAS.
It's one heck of a show, there's plenty of verve on stage. The Cambridge audience knows it's fiddle playing, they know it's not just about shooting off blistering reels, a great set has to include the slower more emotional pieces to build the intensity, Blazin' Fiddles know that too.
There's a reason Blazin' Fiddles have become firm festival favourites around the country, it's because they know how to show an audience a good time.