Reviews / Baiman shines in Mareel concert
It was third time lucky for Rachel Baiman as she stepped on to the Mareel stage on Thursday night, writes Caroline McKenzie
COVID 19 and its later mutation, Omicron, had put paid to two previous attempts by the Nashville-based singer/songwriter to play in Shetland, but this time she made it – despite the wintry weather trying to put a last-minute spanner in the works.
Opening the gig in front of an almost full Mareel auditorium, local six piece Kansa were revelling in being back on stage after a long, pandemic-enforced gap.
What an absolute delight this band are to listen to with Norma Wishart and Karlyn Garrick sharing lead and harmony vocals, and a tight instrumental line up featuring Lois Nicol on fiddle, brothers Adrian and Robert Wishart on mandolin and guitar respectively, and Adam Priest on double bass.
Their varied set opened with Norma’s self-penned Rowan Tree and saw the band confidently putting their own stamp on some really interesting covers, including Charlie Daniels’ Trudy and Feel It Still by Portugal The Man. The band are looking forward to playing at the Shetland Folk Festival next month: catch them if you can!
Neil and Kelly Riddell at Ragged Wood Promotions have deservedly built a great reputation for bringing some of the brightest and best Americana talent to these shores, and they can add another feather to their cap after this gig.
Rachel Baiman’s 17-song set opened with Some Strange Notion from her new album Common Nation of Sorrow, due for release at the end of this month, which she described as an album about capitalism.
However, the subject matter and emotions of her song writing are wide-ranging and, last night took us from the defiance of Shame, about the ongoing fight for reproductive rights in the USA, to the wistful When You Bloom (Colorado), written as an attempt to persuade her sister to stay in Nashville, instead of going off to pursue her dream of being a rock climber.
She also treated us to a couple of covers, moving from guitar to fiddle for Andy Irvine’s Woody Guthrie tribute Never Tire of the Road; and turning to the banjo for John Hartford’s Madison Tennessee – a nod to her, and Hartford’s, hometown.
Rachel’s sideman on her current tour is bass guitarist Steve Haan (and what a sideman!), complementing her crystal-clear voice with fabulous, flowing bass lines and gorgeous harmonies throughout the set.
There was a warmth in their obvious enjoyment of being on stage together, and they shared a nice line in self-deprecating humour. Returning for a well-deserved encore, they treated us to a double helping with Old Songs Never Die and Wicked Spell, leaving their audience in no doubt that it had been well worth braving the wintry conditions to attend the gig.
Who knows? Some of them might even have taken Karlyn Garrick of Kansa’s advice, and bought two copies of the band CD – one to listen to, and one to scrape the snow of their car!
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