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Bella Hardy

Venue: The Met
Town: Bury
Date: 25/6/14
Website: http://www.bellahardy.com/

Bella Hardy arrived at The Met with a thirtieth birthday to celebrate and thirty gig tour in honour of the fact, plus the not to be overlooked distinction of being awarded the prestigious 'Folk Singer of the Year' for 2014. All good enough reason for a party.

Being the penultimate show of the tour there was even more cause for making musical merriment (not to mention the more than occasional reference to the Automatic Cafe's long island iced teas) with her band of Scots with whom the banter was quite appealing - even including the soundman, and particularly with chirpy guitarist Anna Massie - granddaughter of the herring girls which Bella sang about mid set.

Admitting that "I really ought to write a happy song" before launching into 'The Darkening Of The Day' - happier than it sounds - it was quite a low key and gentle set, which opened with the plucked fiddle of 'Good Man's Wife'. Using her instrument in to add percussive sounds to the mix, it was a treat to see and hear her expressive bowing at times, with the overall sound veering towards jazzy, especially with the stand up bass and piano of James Lindsay and Angus Lyon whose occasional forays onto accordion gave more of the conventional folky character to some songs.

Mixing her original songs with traditional folk material on the traditional folk subjects of death and revenge, most notably on her version of 'The Outlandish Knight' which she calls 'The Seventh Girl', the appearance of a couple of new songs gave a flavour of what's in the pipeline. One the result of working with Canadian Cara Luft entitled 'Time Wanders On', was a lively tune with something approaching an Appalachian feel, while she has also contributed 'Jolly Good Luck To The Girl Who Loves A Soldier' to the 'Songs For The Voiceless' project which will coincide with the Great War centenary. Inspired by wartime singers and accompanying herself on plucked fiddle again, it was a solemn and thought provoking moment. Naturally, look out for more visits to The Met later this with both these collaborations.

Mike Ainscoe