Saturday
Peter Knight of Gig Spanner and Steeleye Span fame makes a surprise appearance, a real surprise as he'd only popped back stage to say hello to Brian as they both play in Feast Of Fiddles and got roped into performing a song. He went for a delicate lullaby that provided a delightful contrast to the faster paced material that had been on before
The numbers on stage double with the Young Folk Award winners, Greg Russell and Ciaran Algar, who start off with the great navigator song, "The New Railroad" before moving into a mashed set of tunes that they jokingly described as their first greatest hits package.
The duo has a relaxed effortlessness that belies their age. Their engagement with the audience both when playing and when not is definitely in the top draw and they would appear to have a genuinely brilliant future
Time for a real switch, the number of artists on stage drops to one and the genre switches to blues as internet radio discovery Marina Florance comes to the stage. She'd played after Brian at the Club Tent last night and he invited her over for a song. The song was "Big Legged Woman" and Brian came along for the ride on fiddle, absolutely sublime, made all the more so with the contrast it provided from what went before and an excellent bridge into what was to follow. Brian McNeill knows how to put a session together.
Top English guitarist Martin Simpson is next. He starts with a tune to get the sound in then goes for a really poignant song that starts off on the donkey rides of South Shields and moves around the world in a tale of world war one, through the fighting in the sands of the Dardanelles. You could hear a pin drop inside the tent and that requires real presence.
Brian and Danny bring the fiddles to join Martin for the next song, "Little 'Liza Jane" to bring the room back up, with a bit of New Orleans Mardi Gras and some audience participation with call and response.
Celtic super group The Rambling Boys Of Pleasure, which features Gino who did the workshop this morning and Danny Diamond who had just been on stage with Martin Simpson amongst others.
They start off with a Celtic influenced song before playing their version of "Will Jobling" a song about early trade union activism and the steps that mine owners resorted to to try and prevent the Unions getting a foot hold, including framing activists and having them hung, something that with the current anti-union hysteria it's not difficult to imagine that type of authority lead lynching returning. The Rambling Boys of pleasure are well named. There was some superb interaction when Gino went off stage to get some water for the band and then forgot his own, bodhran players really can only count to four.
Brian and Gino get into a short bit of banter that you had to be there for, but involved a short rendition of "Grandad" and a joke about a blackout.
Matt Tighe and Leo are introduced next. Two young players, though Matt also played the session last year. They start with a really experimental song which saw them bringing out the percussive nature of guitar and fiddle respectively. It had a really hypnotic effect on the audience and one that shows there is so much more for traditional instruments to deliver.
Basque music from Korrontzi was to follow. The guys opened Stage 1 yesterday and it was great to get a second stint of the unique sound even though you know it's going to be a short stint. The band start off with a fandango before encouraging the audience to be their rhythm section when in faltering English they encourage a full blown hands in the air clap-a-long and prove that music really doesn't need an understanding of language just a love of the art form. For a few short moments Cambridge had become Basque.
Feis Rois in their latest line up made their annual visit to the Session next. Feis Rois is a traditional music movement for the young and the national touring unit changes every year, with a bit of overlap. They perform a traditional piece of Gaelic mouth music and get the chance to plug their set over at the Club Tent, later. In addition they are also going to play the closing set tonight at the same venue.
There's a surprise addition next we local band, The Willows, making an appearance providing one of those changes of texture that the Session is rightly famous for, providing a short, one song, Anglicana number, into the proceedings and very welcome it is too.
Next up We Banjos 3 a quartet with just one banjo being featured, maths is a wonderful thing. The band have a very thirties sound that is highly danceable and there was a noticeable pick up in the movement in the crowd, including a spontaneous clap-a-long, which considering the temperature is no mean feat. I'm getting through a bottle of water an hour at the moment.
We Banjo 3 have a real dynamic and it's easy to see how they won album of the year back home in Ireland.