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James Hickman and Dan Cassidy

Venue: Bothy Folk Song Club
Town: Southport
Date: 9th December
Website: http://hickmanandcassidy.co.uk/

Tonight the Bothy played host to the Anglo-American guitar /fiddle duo James Hickman and Dan Cassidy on the last date of their current tour.

Both James and Dan are from musical families. James is from Shrewsbury, where he grew up listening to his musician father's record collection and, in particular, to Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan and Bluegrass records [especially The Stanley Brothers]. James took up the guitar at the age of 13 and has not looked back, having developed into an accomplished player.

Dan also comes from a musical family, which included his sister, the late, great Eva Cassidy. Dan took up the violin at age 10 and mastered a number of styles including swing, jazz, bluegrass, country and, latterly, Celtic music after hearing the great Shetland fiddle player Aly Bain of Boys of the Lough and Transatlantic Sessions fame.

Dan has lived in Iceland for a number of years and his musical partnership with James began when James went over to Iceland to learn how to play Hot Club -style swing music under Dan's tutelage. It was clearly a success as tonight the duo played James's composition " My Dearest Fling" a la Stephane Grappelli /Django Reinhardt.

James and Dan embrace both Celtic and Bluegrass music. On the Celtic side of the equation we had some lovely tunes, including The Bothy Band's [ how appropriate] jig "The Strayaway Child" ; the beautiful Irish Air "Innisheer" [which is also known as "The Women's Lament For The Dead" ] ; the Scottish fiddle tune "The Teetotaller's Reel" [which Dan dedicated to his Grandmother] and last, but not least, Dan's own tunes "The Painter's Jig /The Tempest", which sound, for all the world, as if they are traditional.

Although Dan is from America, he has a fantastic feel for Celtic music and, similarly, although he is from Shropshire, James has a similar flair for Bluegrass music. This was clearly evident in James's composition about the New Depression titled "Nothing But Dreams", on which his vocals bore the distinct influence of Ralph Stanley. James also demonstrated his flat-picking virtuosity on "Little Maggie" [ as performed by Ralph and The Clinch Mountain Boys ].

James's time spent, as a youngster, listening to Bob Dylan has clearly rubbed off on him as he sang " Jim Jones", a transportation song which Dylan covered on his 1992 album "Good As I Been To You" and also "Girl From The North Country" from "Nashville Skyline" which featured a lovely fiddle solo from Dan.

One of the highlights of the evening was the beautiful fiddle tune " Ashokan Farewell" which was written by Jay Ungar in 1982 in the style of a Scottish lament and which has been known to bring audience members to tears. It is best known for its appearance on the soundtrack of the 1990 television series "The Civil War". Another was James and Dan's interpretation of Archie Fisher's " The Shipyard Apprentice" about growing up in the shadow of a giant crane [the machine, not the bird] on the banks of the Clyde.

This was a most enjoyable performance by two superb musicians. In much the same way as the Transatlantic Sessions television series does, James and Dan bring together the traditions of American and Celtic music. Highly recommended.

Peter Cowley