Quickies - Bison Hip, Under-Volt, The BluesBones, and Tony Holiday

Here's the run down on four different musical angles from the recently-released pile, in the latest Quickies round-up.

Bison Hip – Older Stronger Better
 
Glasgow band Bison Hip are frank about the fact that they are four-fifths comprised of 50-somethings.  In fact, as their album title Older Stronger Better suggests, they reckon their experience is an asset.  And you know what?  They may have a point, because this doesn’t sound like the strained efforts of a bunch of neverwozzers.
Take ‘The One That Got Away’ for example, a loping blues-meets-AOR affair with a hint of

The youthful, colourful, ever-smiling Bison Hip

Foreigner about it.  It’s got a strong, catchy chorus, and they put vocals and harmonies to the fore, to good effect.  Okay, so singer Paul Sloway doesn’t have Lou Gramm’s voice, but he’s no bum either, and does a good job with what he’s got, demonstrating good phrasing throughout and giving life to some smart lyrics.
It wouldn’t surprise me if these guys were fans of FM, as several songs, like ‘Mercy’ and ‘Symptomatic’ for example, mine a similar seam of melodic rock.  The former shows off their ability to produce something structurally interesting, with a snappy guitar and drums intro, some less-is-more vocals and drum passages, changes of pace, and both Graeme Carswell on bass and Steven Radzironik on organ making the most of chances to shine.  The latter is more of a glossy slowie, with those vocal harmonies just one aspect of an impressive vocal arrangement.
They find some funk on ‘Doghouse’, with a nagging vocal line over stop-time backing, and a varied arrangement that includes a snazzy guitar break from John Gilmour Smith and good rhythmic emphasis from Malcolm Button on drums, and some horns even enter the fray towards the end, jostling for attention with Carswell’s funky bass.  But ‘This Old City’ is even better, a bluesy ballad that’s like the romantic flip side to Maggie Bell’s ‘No Mean City’ theme to the TV show Taggart.  There’s some ‘Parisienne’-style guitar work from Smith over washes of mellow organ to go with the atmospheric lyric, and Radzironik adds a delicate piano solo for good measure.
The second half of the album feels less strong, though that’s partly a matter of personal preference as they lean towards Hall & Oates blue-eyed soul on the likes of ‘Stronger’ and ‘Older’ – well done, and well suited to Sloway’s voice, but a bit middle-of-the-road for my tastes.
‘In Love With Life Again’ brings things to a tasteful conclusion though, a Deacon Blue-ish slice of contemplation built on gentle guitar strumming, patient piano chords, effective imagery and another strong chorus.
Older Stronger Better is a satisfying, well put together outing by a band who know how to write and arrange a good tune.  I could do with them frightening the horses a bit more at times, but on the whole Bison Hip do more than enough to give greybeards a good name.
 
Older Stronger Better is out now on Bad Monkey Records, and can be ordered here.
 
 
Under-Volt – Let’s Just Go
 
This ain’t blues Jack, not by a long chalk.  But if you wanna indulge in some heads down, no nonsense, guitar’n’drums rifferama, Edinburgh duo Under-Volt may be just the job.
Opener ‘Over-ride’ lets loose with supercharged riffing from guitarist Jed Potts, shifting and splintering over cacophonous drumming from his buddy Vini Bonnar.  And if Potts is scarcely

Under-Volt - The Force is with them

some Hetfield-like grunter and growler of a vocalist, he still manages to penetrate the clamour, with some assistance behind the mic from Bonnar too.
They really hit their stride on ‘Depths Of Sky’, with its buzzing intro like an approaching plague of locusts.  A grinding, repetitive riff generates tension, given a couple of twists and turns to keep you guessing, and ultimately the thing picks up pace like some snarling, ravenous escapee from Jurassic Park.
Title track ‘Let’s Just Go’ is a breakneck tumble down a mountainside, slowing momentarily before taking off again, propelled by helter-skelter drums. There’s a shadowy, creeping section, and then it claws its way back out of the crypt to close.  The following ‘Kerosene’ is one of the best moments though, its tense verses of stretched out notes giving way to a looser chorus, accompanied by a warped, ringing riff, culminating in a passage akin to Quasimodo leaping around clanging the bells of Notre Dame.
Despite its title, ‘Skincrawler’ feels more, er, sophisticated, with bright chords and some spangly guitar picking that remind me (not for the first time) of late period Rush.  A bit.  Maybe.  Whatever – ‘In Spite Of’ sports some jerk’n’tumble guitar accompaniment to a teasingly repetitive melody, plus a cave-crawling middle section and some machine guitar riffing as a finale.  And the closing ‘Den Of Thieves’ goes in for some Sabbath-like churning, with Potts (or is it Bonnar?) dropping his voice into graveyard tones for the opening verse.  There are harmonies enlivening the “You don’t know if it’s truth or lies” chorus, and Potts makes with some bristling, high-tension riffage before a final acceleration to the line.
Let’s Just Go isn’t just a slab of thud-and-blunder, hammer-and-anvil noise.  It’s smarter than that, and if its ten tracks don’t all quite reach the same level of intrigue, Potts and Bonnar still manage to create a compelling maelstrom most of the time.
 
Let’s Just Go is out now on Wasted State Records, and can be ordered here.
 
 
The BluesBones – Unchained
 
Dutch band The BluesBones have their moments on Unchained, but in an ideal world they’d manage a better strike rate from the nine tracks on offer.
They start off solidly with ‘Chain Gang’, its solid groove contrasting bruising guitarchords with

The BluesBones break out

some rainfall piano, while singer Nico De Cock does some decent story telling in a groaning vocal.  ‘Time To Learn’ takes a straightforward blues and spices it up with an itchy guitar line from Stef Paglia and a rumbling, propulsive bass line from Geert Boeckx to go with some surging organ and occasionally offbeat drums.  There’s some good weeping slide guitar from Paglia too, and it’s a real highlight despite the distraction of a duff spoken-word section.
‘Talking To The Lord’ is a briskly rocking outing, with skipping drums from Jens Roelandt contributing to a bubbling groove, enhanced by a bright, frothy organ break from Edwin Risbourg.  And the buoyant ‘The Road Ahead’ has a chugging, toe-tapping groove, decorated by a neat descending turnaround and a fuzzy guitar riff.
On the other hand though, ‘The Tale Of Big Tim Brady’ is a woozy, rather corny take on a Stagger Lee-type barroom narrative that lacks any kind of edge.  Meanwhile songs like ‘Changes’ and the plangent ballad ‘I Cry’ don't feel much at home, although a nifty guitar solo on the former and some weeping slide on the latter provide interesting moments.  Much as I like variety, Unchained suggests that The BluesBones would benefit from a bit more stylistic focus.
 
Unchained is out now on Naked Records.
 
 
Tony Holiday - Motel Mississippi
 
Well, this is nice.  Too nice, really.  Motel Mississippi kicks off promisingly enough with the rolling groove of ‘Rob And Steal’, folding in hints of North Mississippi hill country blues – appropriately enough, given that it was recorded in the Dickinson brothers’ Zebra Ranch studio in that very

Tony Holiday wonders where his banjo went

Pic by Jamie Harmon

territory – and with some neat, understated guitar flourishes of guitar for seasoning.  But as the album progresses too many tracks feel like easy-going strolls in the park, lacking in real traction.
By way of example, ‘She’s So Cold’ eases into play, but while it acquires some strut and swagger led by a fuzzy guitar break, that kind of cockiness feels alien to Holiday as a singer.  His voice is never less than pleasant, but at the same time it's rarely demanding of attention.
The arrangements are similarly short on oomph and focus at times, as on ‘Get By’ fr’instance, a laid back amble with the odd hop, skip and jump, some tootling harp from Holiday and tasteful guitar filigrees from Dave Gross.  Which is all appealing enough, but as it slowly dwindles away, it feels like an under-developed sketch.  ‘Just As Gone’ is brisker, and features some nimble harp playing, but comes and goes in two and a half minutes without ever seeming to hit top gear.
There are good grooves throughout, as on the Jimmy Reed-ish ‘Trouble’, and ‘You Know Who I Am’ with its pleasing bass line from Terrence Grayson, but gripping ain’t a word that springs to mind much.  They try something different on the closing ‘Yazoo River’, a two-harp instrumental on which Holiday duels with Jake Friel to a quasi-Zydeco rhythm, but here too things could do with a bit more zip, a bit more sense of a sweaty dance floor.
There’s plenty good musicianship on Motel Mississippi, but Tony Holiday and co need to give their material more personality – and Holiday himself needs to up the ante vocally.
 
Motel Mississippi is out now on Forty Below Records.

Listened to lately - Dana Immanuel & The Stolen Band, Mike Skill, and Jed Potts

Get ready for a real pick'n'mix with this selection of two EPs and a single, folks!

Dana Immanuel & The Stolen Band – Mama’s Codeine

It’s a bold PR person that sends me an EP of banjo-led stuff with hints of gypsy jazz, I can tell you.  But there are some redeeming factors at play with Dana Immanuel and her all-woman band.  For one thing, the cover reeks of Southern Gothic stylings in a way that hints at less than saccharine contents.  For another, the gypsy violin contributed by Basia Bartz is more Gogol Bordello than Stephane bleedin’ Grappelli.  And most importantly perhaps, at least there are no feckin’ ukuleles.

More to the point, Dana and chums actually conjure up some decent tunes on this five track offering.  'Mama's Codeine' the track is as much old-fashioned urban blues (ie the stuff that migrated north in the Twenties, way before Muddy Waters’ country blues) as it is bluegrass. It kicks off with stuttering double bass from Karen Grymm Regester under scurrying banjo from Immanuel, and towards the end they downshift into more languidly angsty terrain.

The following ‘Turn Up The Lights’ also proffers a poppy melody amidst the plinking banjo, and the scraping violin and guitar that provide useful colour to go with the good use of dynamics to convey darker moments.  Meanwhile the wonderfully titled ‘WD40 & Duct Tape’ is a still more brooding affair.  After a throbbing double bass intro it dials down the banjo, leaving room for subtly squealing guitar from Feadora Morris alongside Bartz’s violin, as well as good harmonies and interweaving backing vocals, over tapping cajòn from Hjordis Moon Badford.

‘Shady Grove’, by comparison, is a hurtling traditional hoedown vaguely redolent of Charile Daniels’ ‘The Devil Went Down To Georgia’, on which all and sundry put their foot down, giving vent to some sizzling fiddle and guitar.  Which is all pretty straightforward to the closing ‘Codeine Reprise’, which is a mere scrap of a thing despite the deranged quality of the squawking vocals.

For all that their names sound like they must have crossed paths in some cosmopolitan Greenwich Village dive, Dana Immanuel & The Stolen Band are actually based in England.  And fair play to them for avoiding the kind of tweeness I’ve encountered some English ensembles perpetrating with music in these styles.  And thank god there’s no ukuleles.

Mama’s Codeine was released on 31 January 2020.

Mike Skill – Not My Business

Changing genre entirely, once or twice upon a time Mike Skill was variously lead guitarist and bassist with Detroit band The Romantics, a bunch of power pop New Wavers with a DNA similar to the likes of Blondie and The Cars.  They even had a couple of monster hit singles way back when – but not in Britain, which accounts for the fact that Skill’s name is a new one on me.

Any road, ‘Not My Business’ is his new solo single, and it’s not half bad.  Booming drums shuffle forth as the basis for ringing guitars to churn against each other in engagingly rocking fashion.  The sound is dense in a way that nods towards The Hold Steady, but less in yer face, and there’s a hint of a curled lip in the vocals that falls somewhere between Craig Finn and Jagger.  There’s a decent guitar solo that gets into some different territory, and spiky guitar breaks abounding below the vocals as it whacks you over the head with the hook for a while at the end.  It’s overlong by a good minute, but ‘Not My Business’ is quite enjoyable fare.

Jed Potts – Prospector

Now being honest, this six track EP from Edinburgh’s Jed Potts dates back to 2014.  But I only grabbed a download of it recently, so I have in fact been listening to it lately for the first time.  And besides, this is my blog, so I’ll tell you about it if I like.

Prospector is another curve ball of an offering in today’s miscellany.  Three tracks are what one might call guitar meditations.  On the opening ‘Carthage’ Potts’ steely acoustic picking rolls along hypnotically over sparse, sonorous bass notes.  A couple of tracks later ‘Trail

Riders’ occupies a similarly ambient space, with refrains of rippling guitar notes that shift back and forth between different themes over a low drone in the background.  At times it reminded me a bit of Steve Howe, but then again, not much.  Penultimate track ‘Shapesmith’ – a fitting title, I’d say – is again all undulating, twinkling and mesmeric guitar, counterpointed by occasional spooky bass notes.  When Mike Oldfield was sketching out Tubular Bells on an acoustic guitar, it might or might not have sounded something like this.  Probably not – but you get my drift, yeah?

In between these explorations, the title track ‘Prospector’ finds Potts setting down his guitar in favour of banjo – yes, more banjo folks, but in a different style.  It’s in a more percussively rhythmic vein as a result, but still in a drifting, cinematic kind of mode that goes with the Rocky Mountain-like vista of the cover pic.

‘Stephen & Margie’s’, by contrast, is a patient and halting bluesy rag, amusing if a bit lightweight.  And on the final track ‘I Am The Curse’ Potts delivers his only vocal on the EP, again accompanied by banjo on a brooding tune that’s like an old wagon rumbling along a rocky trail, suitable to accompany some early scenes in There Will Be Blood.

Prospector was an unusual outing for Potts, who is more usually to be found plying his trade in an electric blues setting.  But it’s interesting all the same – a palate cleanser if you like, when you’re in need of a musical change.

Prospector is available from Jed Potts’ Bandcamp page, here.

The Seamus McGarvey Band - Seamus O'Boogie

I’m sure lots of bands recording an album regard it as a labour of love, but Seamus O’Boogie is really in a different category.  Irish bassist Pat McGarvey had had a long-standing notion to record with his harmonica-playing brother John and their amateur musician dad Seamus.  But it was only with the passing of Seamus’s brother, sister and father-in-law that the idea crystallised, bringing this album into being.

Now in his seventies, Seamus McGarvey has been a lifelong music fan, collecting records 

Seamus sings the blues, in bars of twelve or less

and attending shows by many famous blues, rock’n’roll and country artists, as well as singing and playing guitar himself.  Seamus O’Boogie is a collection of cover versions that celebrate his enthusiasm and have personal meaning for the family, recorded in Edinburgh with the assistance of local guitarist Jed Potts and drummer Calum McIntyre.

McGarvey senior’s affinity for blues music is demonstrated by the feel of his vocal delivery on tracks like Robert Johnson’s ‘Rambling On My Mind’, and Sonny Boy Williamson II’s ‘Don’t Start Me Talkin’, on both of which John McGarvey’s harp and Jed Potts’ guitar combine very nicely, with Potts delivering a shivering and shaking solo on the latter.  The same is also true of songs like Lonnie Johnson’s ‘It’s Too Late To Cry’, an acid tale of a no good woman on which McGarvey captures the man’s breaking point with an emphatic “That did it!”, and Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee’s ‘Walk On’, which opens reflectively with sparse harp and guitar accompaniment.

More upbeat blues comes in the form of ‘I Ain’t Superstitious’, with its snapping, lurching arrangement and a brittle-toned solo from Potts, as well as the sturdy grind of Elmore James’ ‘Look On Yonder Wall’.

Meanwhile McGarvey’s penchant for country music is well represented by ‘Sea Of Hearbreak’ and ‘Deep River Blues’.  On the former it’s apparent that while his voice doesn’t have the basso profundo quality of Johnny Cash, it does have something of Cash's character, with restrained banjo and amusing “bom-bom-bom” backing vocals from Pat McGarvey

Seamus and his sidekicks

providing some variety.  The latter is a more laid back, country-ish take on a traditional blues, with McIntyre providing washboard percussion that even stretches to the use of a bicycle bell.

Crossover tunes like Brook Benton’s pop hit ‘Hotel Happiness’ and Carl Perkins’ country/rock’n’roll ‘Honey Don’t’ feel like throwaways by comparison, and I’ll never go a bundle on a crooning-style Elvis tune such ‘Don’t Leave Me Now’, nicely enough done though it may be.  But on Duke Ellington’s ‘Don’t Get Around Much Anymore’ the understated delivery and McGarvey’s liltingly romantic vocal are good enough to have me digging out a DVD of When Harry Met Sally, in which the tune gets the briefest of airings courtesy of Harry Connick Jr.  Such is the power of a classic song.

There’s some rock’n’roll too, in the form of ‘Roll Over Beethoven’ and Jerry Lee Lewis’s ‘Break Up’.  The band rock away satisfyingly enough on the former, with McIntyre’s drums becoming more urgent in support of the guitar and harp solos, but the latter rattles along more vibrantly, with whoops of enthusiasm from McGarvey, and a nifty solo from Potts.

There are some curiosities added to the album too, harvested from a family cassette tape dating back to 1983 - snippets of song introductions and conversation, and renditions of a few Irish tunes on which Seamus McGarvey’s late brother John can be heard singing, add to the personal touch.  And even if these songs don’t mean much to me (other than ‘Mush Mush Mush Tooral-i-Addy’, familiar from the movie The Quiet Man) they underline my original point:  Seamus O’Boogie is a labour of love.

Seamus O'Boogie is available now on Johnny Rock Records.

Nicole Smit & Blueswater: Queens Of The Blues - The Jazz Bar, Edinburgh, 18 August 2019

Introducing the final number of this show, Susan Tedeschi’s ‘Hurt So Bad’, Nicole Smit says that it was suggested to her last year by guitarist Charlie Wild, but she said to herself, “There’s no way I can sing that – Susan Tedeschi’s way too cool.”  Aye right, as we say sarcastically in these parts.  On this evidence, Nicole Smit is capable of singing any damn thing she likes.

Queens Of The Blues is one of a suite of shows presented each year on the Edinburgh Fringe by local band/collective The Blueswater, but this is the first time I’ve managed to catch it.  Which is, undoubtedly, my loss.  Backed by a tight band of  two guitars, bass,

drums and keyboards, Smit leads a show delivering great songs by both famous and scarcely remembered female blues singers.  Apparently this was the first time her dad had seen her perform.  Hopefully he’s now retrieved his socks, because I imagine his daughter blew them off big time.

Smit does a terrific job of selling the material, bopping around on the likes of ‘Nutbush City Limits’ and the foot-to-the-floor rock’n’roll of Mary Knight’s tongue-twisting ‘I Told You Not To Tell Him’, and getting a sassy groove on for bump’n’grind R’n’B like Betty James’ ‘Little Mixed Up’, on which Charlie Wild delivers a wang-dang guitar solo.

But it’s her vocals that are the real centre of attention.  You want to get some idea of what she can do?  Well, her take on Billie Holliday’s ‘Tell Me More’, covered by Nina Simone, is as emotional as it gets, while her bending and stretching a cappella version of Ma Rainey’s ‘See See Rider’ reduces the audience to stunned silence when she finishes.

But both of those are topped, I reckon, by her rendition of a Janis Joplin song.  She introduces it by saying that she hadn’t been much of a Janis fan until a woman told her about witnessing Joplin’s Woodstock performance, and feeling that she provoked a 

tremendous sense of freedom with her “don’t give a shit” performance style.  After which Smit and the band go on to deliver a blazing, foot-stamping performance of raging soul on ‘Kozmic Blues’ that’s so intense we all need a breather when she’s done.

They show a bit of imagination too, by creating an excellent R’n’B mash-up of Helen Humes’ ‘Real Fine Daddy’ and Sean Costello’s ‘Talk To Your Daughter’, on which Jed Potts lets rip on guitar.  And there’s more fun with scrappy Sixties R’n’B that is Etta James’ ‘It Must Be Love’, and Frances Burr’s ‘I Say No, No More’, which they embellish with an organ solo from Rob Harrison, a rollicking guitar duel between Wild and Potts, and a false ending – “No no, not yet!” Smit teases before calling them back in.

Which brings us back to their set closer of Susan Tedeschi’s ‘Hurt So Bad’, a torch song with a Fats Domino style groove, which needless to say Smit nails good and proper, wringing out the emotion of the song with all the presence, range and power in her locker.

This isn’t just my opinion - at the end my other half announced that she’d been blown away.  Sitting in the front row, more by luck than good judgement, we got a close-up perspective on all of the humour, energy and musicality brought to the show by Smit and the whole band.

You’ll be hard-pressed to get a ticket for the one remaining performance of Queens Of The Blues on this year’s Fringe.  But if you decide to visit to Edinburgh for next year’s Festival, book your tickets early.

The last performance of Queens Of The Blues on the 2019 Fringe is on Friday 23 August at 5.30pm.

Jed Potts and the Hillman Hunters - Jazz Bar, Edinburgh, 21 February 2016

Guitarist, singer and occasional banjo player Jed Potts is a mainstay of the Edinburgh blues scene whose playing I’ve enjoyed in various different contexts at times over the last couple of years.  But when it comes to his blues trio Jed Potts and the Hillman Hunters, their schedule and my diary have conspired against me catching them again since the launch of the Edinburgh Blues Club two years ago.  No matter, this week the planets were aligned for once, and I managed to catch them at the Jazz Bar – and, as a special bonus, with a horn section drawn from some of Jed’s compadres (the Hillman Husky Horns, no less).

Jed Potts - Eyes Wide Shut

They kick off in trio format though, with a Freddie King instrumental, and from the off there’s great guitar from Potts, attacked with funky exuberance.  The following ‘Fishing After Me’ – essentially ‘Catfish Blues’ by another name – reinforces that sense of gusto.  Over a shuffling rhythm, Potts gets physically engaged in his soloing, responding to the rhythm of the song.  And on a subsequent slow blues his guitar licks go in unusual directions, with variations in tone including some nicely squelchy notes.

The horn section enters the fray for BB King’s ‘Days Of Old’ – which, let’s face it, would be better titled ‘Gonna Ball Tonight’ – and immediately hits the bullseye.  By the time they get to Larry Williams’ proto-rock’n’roll jump blues ‘Boney Maronie’ the whole outfit is in top gear, with a great sax solo from Tom Pickles, rumbling guitar from Potts, and a belting horn ensemble passage.

They drift through something which Potts characterises with a Neil Young quote as “starting off slow then fizzling out”, but which actually features nicely woozy horns and a tense, piercing guitar solo.

One of the key things about Jed Potts, I think, is his pervading sense of fun, whether it’s on Johnny ‘Guitar’ Watson stuff of a ‘Blueberry Hill’ mode, with biting guitar sounds and Hispanic undertones, or when blasting through Chuck Berry’s ‘Back to Memphis’, with the horn guys showing well-drilled synchronicity – or indeed on Gary US Bonds ‘New Orleans’, where his guitar solo demonstrates his happy knack of taking you where you want to go, but surprising you with how you get there.  And into the bargain, he’s capable of taking blues of different modes, and elements of New Orleans funk, and melding them into something coherent.

Potts was ably assisted here by Jonny Christie on drums, Craig McFadyen on bass, and the horns of Tom Pickles (sax), Charles Dearness (trumpet) and Ross Lothian (trombone).  For his next adventure I’d like to see whether he’s got some original material up his sleeve.

Support act Piranha Blues also feature a tasteful selection of blues covers.  ‘Help Me’ is restrained and reflective, with an interesting guitar solo from Richard Price and mournful harp from guest Roy Mitton.  ‘Mean Old Frisco’, meanwhile, hits the mark as a shuffling country-ish blues, with a nicely twangy slice of guitar from Scott Hannah.  Personally I’d like stuff like ‘Tore Down’, ‘Walking By Myself’ and ‘Ice Cream Man’ to have a bit more welly – just kick it in the nuts, guys! But that’s probably more to do with my previous acquaintance with these tunes with anything else. To be fair though, on the set closer of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s ‘The House Is A Rockin’’ they duly deliver the kind of rough and tumble that keeps me happy.

Ian Siegal - The Hug & Pint, Glasgow, 24 October 2015.

Snug and Pint might be more appropriate, as the basement room of the Glasgow pub is jam-packed for this solo acoustic show by Ian Siegal.

Never mind, the man himself is in good form tonight, perhaps reflecting an episode the night before in the Isle of Man, in which – if he is to be believed – he was dumped in a Jacuzzi fully clothed at one in the morning.  Whatever, he goes on to deliver a breezy set lasting nearly two hours, leaning heavily but not exclusively on the material featured on his Man & Guitar album.

'The Silver Spurs', originally recorded on 2009’s The Dust, gets things out of the starting blocks, featuring some hammering slide guitar.  'Mary Don’t You Weep No More' follows, a great example of Siegal’s affinity with for aged songs with timeless, beckoning melodies – the set closer of Stephen Foster’s 'Hard Times (Come Again No More)' being another.  He doesn’t mess around with songs like these, he lets his delivery release the emotional content in both the words and the music.

Ian Siegal - he's the train

Elsewhere though, there’s fun to be had, whether it’s the introduction of a blues stutter into 'Mortal Coil Shuffle', his stab at emulating the finger picking of Charley Patton on 'Pony Blues', or his self-deprecating name-dropping. (Sample:  “I’ve met Jason Isbell [formerly of the Drive-By Truckers] three times.  But each time I’ve managed to forget I’ve met him already.  The last time was the worst, because he’d stayed at my house the night before.”)

Highlights include ‘I Am The Train’, which he notes won a Blues Award even though in his view it’s a country song.  To which the obvious response in these parts is “Aye right, Ian”, since the delivery is so blues-driven.  Conversely, his take on Robert Johnson’s ‘Come On In My Kitchen’ confirms that it makes for a delicious piece of country music – check out the version by Crooked Still for another example.

Siegal is a human jukebox of the interface between blues and country, of course, whether classic or obscure.  So in keeping with tonight’s upbeat vibe we get a rollicking version of Taj Mahal’s arrangement of the traditional ‘T’ain’t Nobody’s Business’, with its speed freak rap in the middle.  And for a first encore – “this is my time”, Siegal suggests with relish – we get treated to a laugh-out-loud outing for Dr Hook’s ‘Michaelangelo’ (their misspelling not mine), which is entirely more salacious than its title suggests.

Siegal is well known for the depth of his vocal growl, enabling him to channel Howlin’ Wolf to great effect.  But tonight he also has time to test his theory that a Johnny Cash vocal can lend gravitas to any old schlock, with a burst of Britney Spears followed by Bryan Adams ‘Summer of 69’.  Fittingly though, the night closes with a rendition of ‘Take A Walk In The Wilderness’, the plaintive classic by his Glasgow pal Big George, which he is close to making his own.

Due to travel delays I only caught a few songs from Edinburgh’s own Jed Potts.  But his solo versions of ‘Heatwave’ and ‘Take Me To The River’, armed only with electric guitar, showed off his ability to get to the heart of these “barn burners” (as he described them).  He’s got a good melodic voice too, which could have done with less reverb on this occasion.  I look forward to catching him again soon with one of his numerous bands.