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shewhomustOn Tuesday the magic of Live to Your Living Room brought us a Martin Simpson concert. I'd been uncertain about attending this: we'd heard him before playing at some virtual event which I don't seem to have recorded here - associated with the release of his Home Recordings album, possibly? - and been underwhelmed. I can't point to any specific thing that was wrong with it, but the performance felt very inward: I didn't feel any sense of connection, and I was ready to wait until we could hear him really, actually live. But durham_rambler was keen, even though he had another Zoom meeting booked for that evening, and it would take some effort and rushing about. He insisted, and he was right - it was a terrific session, and I enjoyed it very much.
What we got was a fair facsimile of Martin Simpson's folk club performance: a selection of his own and other people's songs, linked with - well, I see that I've described it in the past as being close to stand-up, and yes, stand-up or storytelling or just the very best conversation. As usual, mostly familiar repertoire, with a sprinkling of new pieces - some of those not exactly new: he explained, for example, how he had learned Donal Og from June Tabor's first album in the 1970s, and had been playing it as a slow air, but only now felt ready to sing it. I'm happy for him, but I miss his instrumental work.
It was the old friends that had a silly grin spreading across my face, though: All the friends I ever had is gone and - a request, and not quite under control - Boots of Spanish Leather.
Talking of old friends, we have - touch wood! - tickets for a real life gig next week: thanks tonineweaving, Martin Carthy at the Old Cinema Launderette.
durham_rambler was keen, even though he had another Zoom meeting booked for that evening, and it would take some effort and rushing about. He insisted, and he was right - it was a terrific session, and I enjoyed it very much.What we got was a fair facsimile of Martin Simpson's folk club performance: a selection of his own and other people's songs, linked with - well, I see that I've described it in the past as being close to stand-up, and yes, stand-up or storytelling or just the very best conversation. As usual, mostly familiar repertoire, with a sprinkling of new pieces - some of those not exactly new: he explained, for example, how he had learned Donal Og from June Tabor's first album in the 1970s, and had been playing it as a slow air, but only now felt ready to sing it. I'm happy for him, but I miss his instrumental work.
It was the old friends that had a silly grin spreading across my face, though: All the friends I ever had is gone and - a request, and not quite under control - Boots of Spanish Leather.
Talking of old friends, we have - touch wood! - tickets for a real life gig next week: thanks to
nineweaving, Martin Carthy at the Old Cinema Launderette.
