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Blue Rose Code

Venue: Acoustic Music Centre
Town: Edinburgh
Date: 20/8/14
Website: http://bluerosecode.com

Blue Rose Code (London-based singer-songwriter Ross Wilson) returned to his Edinburgh roots to play a three-night residency at the Acoustic Music Centre at St Bride's. The third of these gigs featured a Blue Rose Code trio, with Ross Wilson accompanied by Lyle Watt on guitar, lap steel guitar and mandolin; and Nico Bruce on double bass.

Blue Rose Code now has two critically-acclaimed albums under his belt ("North Ten" (2013) and the recent "The Ballads Of Peckham Rye") and this hugely entertaining show featured the majority of the songs from both. Ross Wilson is a charismatic and energetic performer, who strikes up an instant rapport with the audience, engaging them directly and taking opportunities to indulge in some witty banter and (in Ross's own words) duff chat.

The set opened with the quietly atmospheric "Acquainted With The Night" (a Robert Frost poem set to Ross' music), which segued seamlessly into the rousing, gospel-inflected "Silent Drums", featuring a raw and passionate vocal. This was followed by the country-tinged "One Day At A Time" and "Boscombe Armistice", giving Lyle Watt opportunities to show off his lap steel guitar chops. A mellow note was introduced by a brace of beautifully reflective pieces, "Come The Springtime" and "From Wester Ross To Nova Scotia", which showcased the gentler, soulful end of Ross Wilson's impressive vocal range. This was also true of "Where The Westlin Winds Do Carry Me", which was given a clever reggae-style makeover.

Other highlights included the graceful "Edina" (Ross's heartfelt and bittersweet tribute to his home city); the sparkling "True Ways Of Knowing" (a musical interpretation of an iconic Norman MacCaig poem, which will be the next single); and the inevitable enthusiaistic audience sing-along on the joyous "Julie". An extended encore produced the signature song "Ghosts Of Leith"; the wry passion of "(This Is Not A) Folk Song"; and the stirring "Oh North" (an anthem for Ross's beloved Scotland).

This was another powerful and totally absorbing performance from Blue Rose Code, who has been praised by no less an authority than Bob Harris as "a very important emerging singer/songwriter". His forthcoming autumn tour with the legendary double bassist Danny Thompson (Pentangle, Nick Drake, John Martyn, Transatlantic Sessions etc) seems sure to be a sell-out and I'm glad that I already have tickets for the Edinburgh gig at the Voodoo Rooms on 2nd October.

David Ferguson