Further Stories From Music Town
 The Darvel Music Festival Weekend, May 4th to 6th 2012

Rumours of the demise of the Darvel Music Festival turned out to be, I’m delighted to report, just that.

In 2011 FabricationsHQ reported, via a feature on Ayrshire’s leading music festival, that due to funding issues there was a worrying chance that the 2011 Darvel Music Festival would be the last one. Or the last one for the foreseeable future.

However the Darvel Music Festival was alive and well – make that live and well – in 2012 in the shape of a three day Darvel Music Weekend, courtesy of tireless efforts by Sheila and Neil McKenna (festival director and producer respectively), the festival committee, volunteer staff, the local community and a variety of artists who champion both the festival and live music.

A benefit concert was organised and performed in November 2011 featuring four notable Scottish acts and artists: Jill Jackson, Skerryvore, JJ Gilmour and First Charge of the Light Brigade.
The last three were all highlights of the 2011 event and the artists performed for a reduced fee, helping make the 2012 event a reality.


Friday 4th May.

Blues ‘N’ Trouble feature singer and harmonica player Tim Elliot and have a sound and set that is Chicago Blues based. But they also bring a modern R&B slant to proceedings complete with a rock and roll punch, typified perfectly by songs such as ‘Old Time Boogie’ and ‘Tennessee Whiskey.’

Collectively they are a cracking little band and individually not exactly lacking in talent – guitarist and vocalist Sandy Tweedale fronts the rock ‘n’ blues band The River Devils (another highlight of the 2011 Darvel Festival).

Hamilton Loomis and band need no introduction to Darvel, having played the festival on a number of occasions.
Loomis is always a stand-out act, courtesy of the Texan guitarist’s high-energy performances and unique brand of blues that incorporates rock, soul and not a little fun-filled funk.

And for those that do need an introduction to Hamilton Loomis there is a new DVD entitled Live at The Hub, showcasing Loomis and band in their natural environment – the live stage.
Not unsurprisingly the set was geared around songs that feature on the DVD but the show was also peppered with older favourites. More recent songs such as ‘99 miles’ sat comfortably with crowd pleasing, fan favourites like ‘Slow Lover’ and ‘Bow Wow.’

One brand new song, a traditionally structured blues number, certainly proved this boy can sing and play the standard blues grooves, with some serious fret-burning and note perfect solo work. It was the perfect answer to an earlier, cheeky but good natured shout from one audience member who requested the band “play some real blues!”

From that point on Loomis owned the night and the entire crowd were on their feet for the set finale that included his now-mandatory soloing through the crowd, finishing atop the bar counter at the back of the hall while the band held down the rhythm on stage.

If Blues ‘N’ Trouble brought a little Chicago Blues to Darvel then Mud Morganfield (a.k.a. Muddy Waters Jr) and his five-piece blues band brought the entire Chicago club and its kitchen sink with them.
The first born son of the legendary Muddy Waters struck quite the seated pose (dressed in predominately in bright red threads) as he proceeded to sing and talk his way through a set featuring songs from his latest album Son of the Seventh Son.

And while Seventh Son songs such as 'Short Dress Woman' and 'Money (Can’t Buy You Everything)' were a great fit for the sound and style of Morganfield and band, there is no question set highlights were the blues standards ‘Forty Days and Forty Nights’ and ‘Hoochie Coochie Man,’ made so famous by Junior’s father.

Since 2007 Mud Morganfield has performed successful blues shows in the UK and America, but the problem is he doesn’t just bring the Chicago Blues to any city he plays, he also brings a little Las Vegas in set, dress and rehearsed adlibs.

That might work well in the States, but in an Ayrshire town like Darvel it guarantees mixed results.

However that’s not the musical review point – the point is Mud Morganfield and band were playing Darvel – and for that he and the festival organisers should be applauded.    


Saturday 6th May.

Bands like Red Sky July are usually one countrified pedal steel note and a knee-slap away from me looking for the car keys or my iPod, but it was a pleasure to see this particular trio on stage. And for a number of reasons.

First, singers Shelley Poole and Charity Hair (who also plays acoustic guitar and fiddle) are two lovely looking girls with equally lovely voices.
But more importantly and far more significantly it’s great to see Ally McErlaine performing again after recovering from a massive brain aneurysm in 2009.

Guitarist McErlaine (who also cranks out the chords with Scottish rock band Texas) is the perfect compliment to the girls voices, adding deft electric and acoustic touches, atmospheric notes and subtle slide work to the music of Red Sky July.

Labelled alternative country, the trio’s musical collaboration and the girls beautiful harmonies have produced some wonderful country-tinged pop and folk-inspired melodies.
Songs such as ‘Loving You’s Easy,’ ‘Rivers Wild’ and ‘White Feather’ (all from the self-titled debut album) were a pleasure to listen to, while the one cover performed, ‘Juanita’ (by Gram Parsons), fitted the musical mood perfectly.

Scottish band The Big Dish, fronted by singer songwriter guitarist Steven Lindsay, released three albums in the late-80’s to mid-90’s before disbanding.
And while they were critically acclaimed they never got the recognition they so thoroughly deserved, sitting under the pop-rock radar while other Scottish bands plying their trade in the melodic pop genre (including The Proclaimers, Deacon Blue and Del Amitri) dented the charts more frequently.

Yet the The Big Dish were, quite frankly, the best of them, with tunes that consistently featured strong and mature song writing, great melodies and catchy hooks.

Twenty years on from their last hurrah Steven Lindsay reformed the band to play two very select reunion dates – a sell out show at the Glasgow ABC in January (part of the Celtic Connections Festival) and the Darvel headline appearance.

Opening with a restructured semi-acoustic arrangement of ‘Prospect Street’ and closing with a rousing, punchy sing-a-long rendition of ‘25 Years,’ The Big Dish rolled back the decades and rolled out the should-have-been hits with a perfectly balanced set.
Six songs from each of their three albums were featured along with ‘Breakdown’ from Exit Music (Lindsay’s first solo album) and a cracking cover of ‘All the Young Dudes.’

The set itself had been rearranged from the Glasgow show and two songs not played in January were performed (the aforementioned ‘25 Years’ and ‘Faith Healer’).
And the atmospheric ballad ‘Swimmer’ wasn’t just a highlight of the night; it was a highlight of the entire festival.

Whether there will be further gigs or even new material remains to be seen, but on the strength of the reunion shows and the audience and fan responses, the time might just be right.


Sunday 7th May.

Like The Big Dish, Love and Money’s original era was the mid-80’s to early-90’s but while they were relatively successful their initial soul-pop style never rocked my Muirsical world.

However singer, guitarist and Love and Money front man James Grant is an accomplished and acclaimed songwriter and since the band’s 1994 split has recorded five solo albums and written for, and toured with, Scottish songstress Karen Matheson.

Love and Money’s own set of reunion shows (which stemmed from a “one-off” performance at Celtic Connections in 2011) has led to the recording of a new album, The Devil’s Debt, due out later in the year.
But with the audience anticipating some familiar songs and the greatest hits, it was a brave decision to preview the forthcoming release in its entirety in the first half of the show.

Kicking off with the guitar-driven and edgy title track, Love and Money certainly surprised and delighted this listener and reviewer with just how strong the album sounds, even on one live listen.

But the second set was always going to be better received and highlights included a rousing version of the countrified rock and roll tune ‘Looking for Angeline,’ the funky pop of ‘Jocelyn Square’ and genuinely poignant renditions of the ballads ‘Winter’ and ‘Lips Like Ether.’
And encoring with two of their biggest hits, ‘Up Escalator’ and ‘Halleluiah Man,’ was always guaranteed to have the Darvel crowd on their feet, dancing or singing along.

Between numbers James Grant kept the audience engaged with comment on some of the songs as well as humorous anecdotes from his and the band’s past and his dead-pan, monotone deliveries (playing on the public persona he has developed) had the audience in stitches.
Anyone that can include stories about forthcoming “alternative merchandise" (that may include incontinence pants), ever-increasing audience ages (hence the incontinence pants) and meeting true legends such as BB King is always going to keep you entertained.

But James Grant’s stand-up was simply the bonus because the preview of the forthcoming album and the tightness of the band made for a great end to the Darvel 2012 festival.

And if you had offered me odds on that before I heard them strike so much as a note of The Devil’s Debt… well, that’s a bet I wouldn’t have taken for Love and Money.

Ross Muir
May 2012