Women on Top

Review of Women in Harmony, 21 August 2008

There’s a sign at an Edinburgh pub called The Rule which says ‘Live Music – no mikes, no amps’. It could say ‘no talent either’ – it’s an amateur’s night. But no fears on that front for this evening at the St Bride’s Centre. Karine Polwart, Annie Grace and Corinna Hewat make traditional music both touching and inspiring.

Arrange a babysitter for your Edinburgh apartment so you can enjoy being lullabied yourself. That’s a new word by the way. Karine Polwart, former winner of the BBC Traditional Songwriter of the Year, sang one of her compositions, a gaelic-influenced piece, written for her wee boy.

One of the highlights was Corinna Hewat’s harp playing, a clever response to her husband’s (sadly not unique) style of male dancing. But the real star turn was the harmonising of these 3 performers, managing to blend several pop songs together, sing melodic rounds and overall massage the audience’s ears. Annie Grace’s bagpipes were outranked by her skills on another instrument, the whistle.

The Acoustic Music Centre@ St Bride’s is a favourite haunt of trad music performers including Malinky. Performing with humour and warmth, the trio expertly illuminated the links between modern and traditional music, putting their distinctive voices to good use.

In summary: catch them if you can. If not, why not try looking on http://www.myspace.com/girlytrio

• 26 Aug 2008
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