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Emily Smith

Venue: The Met
Town: Bury
Date: 27/03/14
Website: http://www.emilysmith.org/

It was a bit like a scene from Dylan's 'Chimes Of Freedom' with the majestic bells of lightning and thunder crashing outside, yet inside Bury's Met theatre it was a much more peaceful oasis of calm for another visit from leading light of the Scots folk scene, Emily Smith. Accompanied by the multi instrumental talents of husband Jamie McClennan and Matheu Watson who switched effortlessly between guitars - the sound of their twin picked instruments ringing as clear as the peal of Dylan's bells of lightning - and fiddles with Watson also adding whistle to his army of instruments but it was Emily herself who took centre stage in giving a masterclass demonstration of why she has been slowly garnering quite some acclaim.

The trio delivered a sound, particularly when the two guitars played together, which both complimented and gave a depth to the pure and clear Scots tone of Emily's vocals on songs which focused mainly around the recently released 'Echoes' album. With a low key start, it was the halfway point of the first set when the combination of 'Twa Sisters' ("the cheeriest murder ballad there is"), 'Hawk And Crow' (a wee song about how birds conduct their relationships and delivered with both McClennan and Watson on fiddles) and what she called "the big ballad", 'Clerk Saunders, when the whole evening suddenly shifted gears and sent the gig smoothly into overdrive.

With the guys getting a chance to let rip on a couple of tunes, Emily also got the chance to show her instrumental skills, picking up the accordion on her autobiographical song with its happy ending, re-recorded for the 'Ten' album - 'A Day Like Today' and on the set closing 'Traiveller's Joy' as well as a couple of slots where her piano playing featured, opening the second half with her superb take on the equally superb Richard Thompson's 'Waltzing's For Dreamers'. As the lullaby 'John O'Dreams' appropriately sent the audience off into the passing lightning storm having witnessed a similarly highly charged yet much more meticulous performance from an unassuming yet increasingly confident singer at the top of her game.

Mike Ainscoe
words and pictures