You are hereCambridge Folk Festival 2010 (Saturday)
Cambridge Folk Festival 2010 (Saturday)
Northern Sky in partnership with Fatea
SATURDAY
If anything is going to wake you up on a Saturday morning after either a late or heavy night, especially one that ended with such rainfall, then Rachel Unthank's singing workshop was more than likely going to do the trick. Standing alone on the club tent stage armed only with her ukulele and the good looks she was born with, Rachel soon had the early risers singing along in harmony or boom-chicka-rocka-chicka-rocka-chicka-boom-ing in delicious Geordie accents before you could say something like 'why-aye-marra.' Rachel's long association with the children of this festival preceeds her main stage success with both The Winterset and The Unthanks by a long margin. Adapting some of those singing skills she previously used on kids to warm up the adults, Rachel managed get everyone singing along at the top of their voices.
Joe Pug's second appearance at the festival got off to a good start on the main stage, attracting more of an audience this time. Despite looking a little bit lost on such a big stage, Joe made up for it with a handful of powerful songs such as Bury Me Far From My Uniform and Unsophistocated Heart, utilising an almost unapologetic Dylan style, complete with harmonica rack, guitar and sneering vocal.
The combined forces of Delgados founder Emma Pollock, Future Pilot AKA, MC Soom T, Kim Edgar, Scots singer-songwriter Kenny Anderson otherwise known as King Kreosote and a couple of equally well known Canadian artists Mattie Foulds and Michael Johnston, not to mention the multi-BBC Folk Awards winner Karine Polwart banging a few drums, the Scots-Canadian equivalent of The Imagined Village made their Cambridge debut on the main stage this afternoon. The Burns Unit combine many influences to create their unique sound, which was one of the unexpected surprises of the festival.
Simply stealing the show at this years festival though was the unlikely trio of Dom Flemons, Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson, otherwise known as the Carolina Chocolate Drops, who brought a flavour of the old String and Jug band era of American folk music. Not only utterly gifted in their dextrous playing of cheap instruments and everyday household items such as the one pound plastic kazoo and the jug respectively, the trio also entertained in a sadly forgotten or little used style. Little wonder that their current album Genuine Negro Jig became the best selling cd of the festival this year.
The club tent provides a platform for festival visitors to showcase their own particular talents by simply queueing up and waiting their turn. Over the years, some of the best and brightest of new artists we have subsequently come to know and love have become known to us through this platform. Niamh Boadle is one of the rising talents of traditional music today, recently winning the BPAS Young Acoustic Roots Award in May. Her delicate guitar style and beautiful voice became known to a new batch of listeners this afternoon in the club tent as guests of the Acoustic Routes club.
During the same session, Sam Carter, recipient of this year's coverted Horizon Award at the annual BBC Folk Awards, chose a few songs from his stunning debut Keepsakes in one of the club tent's showcase sessions. Joined by double bassist John Thorne and introduced by the familiar voice of BBC Cambridge's Sue Marchant, Sam played a fine assured set encouraging the audience to stand in order to get more people in.
Rachel and Becky Unthank are no strangers to Cambridge and their story is anything but an overnight success. First appearing on the bill as a duo in 2004, Rachel and Becky have gone on to be part of the celebrated Winterset, appearing in a club tent showcase a couple of years later and then finally winning the hearts and minds of many with the launch of their celebrated album The Bairns in 2007, with three outstanding sets on each of the stages at that year's festival. Now, with a change of line up and a third album Here's the Tender Coming, the expanded Unthanks woo'd another large audience today as they opened up the evenings concert with the timeless Felton Lonnin. In all fairness, by the very fact that The Unthanks have a very unique sound it is by their uniqueness that they have a Marmite-like reputation. Love them or hate them, it's reassuring to know that most of the Cambridge audience are very much on their side, as is this reviewer.
By contrast Kathy Mattea returned to the festival after twelve years since her last appearance. Once again joined by her regular guitar player, Bill Cooley, Kathy selected a bunch of songs from her fine repertoire, confirming her reputation as a purveyor of intellegently written songs whether they come from the tradition, other writers or her own pen.
Fay Hield drew a good crowd for her showcase performance in the club tent this evening. Accompanied by Sam Sweeney and Rob Harbron on fiddle and melodeon respectively, Fay gave us a taster of what's to come on her long awaited solo album Looking Glass, pre-release copies of which were available at the festival. As a fine interpreter of traditional song, reminiscent of a young June Tabor, the former Elswick witch looks set for a promising solo career.
The last time the unmistakable voice of Natalie Merchant was heard coming from a Cambridge Festival stage was in 1988 when the singer fronted 10,000 Manics. Her 'sensuous voice' has changed little in the ensuing years and it was with sheer delight we heard that voice once again, coinciding with the release of her remarkable new record Leave Your Sleep.
After such a hot day, in stark contrast to Friday, the crowds were ready to party and the two closing acts would soon have everyone on their feet. The Holmes Brothers (Sherman and Wendell) brought the main stage area alive with their blend of R&B, soul and blues with a touch of gospel, whilst Latin American and Scots traditional were being fused for a fiesta of fun courtesy of Salsa Celtica on Stage 2, bringing the penultimate day of the festival to a close.
