|
 See
brechin-all-records.com
Also royal-oak-folk.com
Review by Jack Foster
What do you call a coach full of accordionists
at the bottom of the ocean? A good start… This was
the mindset with which I took on last week’s Wee Folk
Club at the Royal Oak (Edinburgh), knowing very little about
what Sandy Brechin & Ewan Wilkinson’s show would
consist of – I braced myself for a couple of hours
of Shandesque accordion. By the time we’d had a couple
of tunes, I realised I had vastly underestimated Brechin
& Wilkinson – not only was it good – but,
of all the many Wee Folk Club’s that I have seen –
this was the cream of the crop.
The tunes vs. songs debate is one which
rages within the folk community, whether or not many folkies
are willing to admit it or not. Whilst I am a fan of both,
songs always seem to offer more substance (in my humble
opinion) – What Brechin & Wilkinson offered up
was a 50/50 mixture of tunes & songs, interspersed with
what felt like a well oiled stand up comedy routine, of
which the most memorable moment was the surreal tale of
a dog that was run over no less than 3 times and somehow
– still survived. The anecdotes and humour were what
made the instrumental sets work for me, making them more
accessible as well as giving me a few minutes in which to
digest Brechin & Wilkinson’s yarns. I do not exaggerate
when I say my face ached from laughing.
Sandy Brechin is already a respected name
in the folk scene having played with ‘Burach’
for many’s a moon now, as well as running the independent
label ‘Brechin All Records’ which has been responsible
for the release of ‘The Sensational Jimi Shandrix
Experience’, ‘The Complete Songs Of Robert Tannahill’
and ‘Gregor Borland’s Bow Stroke’ to name
but a few. He proves that the accordion can in fact be a
very powerful instrument in the right hands.
Ewan Wilkinson was the secret weapon of
this show though, and his renditions of songs such as ‘Ay
Waulin O’, ‘Broom O The CowdenKnowes’
and ‘Both Sides The Tweed’ were the highlights
of the evening, beautiful, heartfelt and tight performances,
woven seamlessly with Brechin’s lilting accordion
creating a powerhouse of folk. The next chance you get to
see this duo, take it.
<< Back to REVIEWS
page
|
