Barnsley's Shining Folk Star (Hourglass - Kate Rusby)

Member Name: splodgethecat

Product:	Hourglass - Kate Rusby
Date:	23/08/01 (85 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: 'Listenable' folk music, Young enought to get even better, Well received albums. with awards

Disadvantages: None

Kate Rusby is "The brightest light in English folk music, blessed with a delightful voice, an engaging, down-to-earth personality, and refreshing musical integrity" according to Daily Telegraph. And they could be right. BBC’s Radio 2 said of her "One of the Top Ten Folk Voices of the Century." That’s going a bit overboard! Having said this however, Kate Rusby is talented, that can’t be denied.

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Kate is a teeny, twenty-something from Barnsley, South Yorkshire who sings folk music in her own distinctive style and accompanies herself on guitar (almost larger than her tiny frame.) Kate grew up in a musical family as her parents had a ceilidh dance band and having grown up surrounded by folk music, it was somewhat inevitable that she would follow in their footsteps. She and her sister joined the family band, playing fiddles and singing backup vocals. By the age of twelve, she was singing and playing the guitar. She played her debut gig at a mere fifteen years of age at the Holmfirth Festival where she met another young female performer, Katherine Roberts, who she duetted with for some time. Kate also plays occasionally with the all female folk combo The Poozies.

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I have been privileged to see her perform quite a few times, both solo and with Katherine Roberts. Although she plays the majority of traditional English folk songs, she does write her own compositions too. Hourglass, which received rave reviews upon release, was Kate‘s first solo album. On it she is joined by other well known names of the folk scene, including John McCusker on fiddles, Andy Cutting on diatonic accordion, Alison Kinnaird on cello and Alan Reid and Davy Steele on harmony vocals, among others. A brief run down of the track follows;

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1; Sir Eglamore
A traditional song set to Kate’s own melody. A song of dragons and knights, with a ’lanky down dill
y’ chorus line.

2; As I Roved Out
A well known song familiar to anyone who listens to folk music. This Irish ballad is beautifully sung and will haunt the listener.

3; Jolly Ploughboys
A slightly more upbeat track about the life of a ploughboy. Again, a very well known and well loved traditional tune.

4; Annan Waters
A song from the Scottish borders, which I always remembered Nic Jones singing whenever I saw him perform live. Kate’s version cannot live up to Nic’s of course, but it is still a good offering. Beautifully accompanied by haunting fiddle and piano.

5; Stananivy / Jack & Jill
A tune and a song together, the former written by Kate Rusby in collaboration with John McCusker of Battlefield Band, the latter by Rusby / Trad. Maybe this means it’s half-traditional? It’s good anyway.

6; A Rose in April
This song, written by Kate is about a recurring theme that abounds in traditional music, which she has put her own slant on, that of separated lovers. Her singing here is heart-rending and her guitar accompaniment delightful.

7; Radio Sweethearts
My least favourite track on the album. I cannot say why really. I suppose it doesn’t have the traditional mournful feel the rest of the album has. It’s an oddity.

8; I Am Stretched on Your Grave
Beautiful unaccompanied singing by Kate opens this song, which is taken from and anonymous Gaelic Irish poem, until a single drum beat comes in. Later Kate is joined by other instrumentation, yet the strong beat carries on throughout the track. Haunting, very memorable, great singing, lovely playing.

9; Old Man Time
Definitely my favourite track. A song written by Kate all about how fast time goes. Whenever I hear it the pimples come up on the arms, the hairs stand up on the back of the neck and I end up with tears in my eyes ...... it reminds you how little time you have left. Superb
yet disturbing.

10; Drowned Lovers
Another Nic Jones standard. Very sweet sounding song that in reality is all about two cruel mothers who use witchcraft to separate their son and daughter. In the end, almost everyone ends up getting drowned!

11; Bold Riley
Another traditional tune, which was made popular by the Oyster band among others. A lovely accordion accompanies the vocals on this well-known sea shanty.

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For anyone new to folk music that finds some of the older, more traditional singing quite hard to listen to, I would definitely recommend this CD. Kate Rusby is definitely steeped in the traditional music of Great Britain, however she delivers her songs in such a way that they are easy to listen to and very enjoyable. Her later album, Sleepless, won distinction as being one of the 12 best albums of the year at the 1999 Mercury Music Prize Awards. For such a ’youngster’ she has a great future ahead of her as she still has loads of time to develop and mature musically.

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