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Review by Chris Silver
I have very strong opinions about how I like my folk music,
and Sophie Ramsay was the antithesis of of what I look for
in the genre.
In a typically Fringe-esque wee room at the back of the
now largely defunct Roxy Art House (the building was a great
music venue not that long ago) I arrived slightly late during
a slightly limp but charming rendition of Green Grow the
Rushes O. For some odd reason the singer had decided to
indulge in a set consisting of a broom, a basket, some pitta
bread in a dish, an earthenware mug and a candle. I suppose
this was supposed to add atmosphere, unfortunately the atmosphere
created was of one of Edinburgh's many waxwork ridden tourist
haunts.
Sophie with the look of a startled infant deer, had a good
if slightly nervous stage presence and clearly managed to
engage her audience. The main problem was her material which,
despite a few gems, was based around the many over sung
popular songs from the 17th and 18th century- there were
a lot of Jacobites involved. The songs were loosely tied
together by a basic narrative of Scotland's past, which
at points seemed to come out like an Usborne Guide to Scottish
history. The fact that this was delivered in a RP accent
between broad Scots songs was also a little off putting.
Her performance style worked, but only to a very limited
extent. The solo female voice does manage to inspire a certain
reverence, even on the wilder nights of the Royal Oak, and
Ramsay was not an exception to this. However there was too
much daintiness and not enough meat to many of her songs.
A striking example being an overly jaunty Bonnie Dundee,
topped off with a series of obviously rehearsed pantomime
facial expression, all a bit too obvious for a grown up
audience. The only other type of performance she seemed
able to render was the polar opposite, a sort of vulnerable
heartbroken Jacobite widow.
However Ramsay obviously new her stuff, and a seeming love
of the music she performed, and were it not for the singer's
seeming lack of confidence she could come across a good
performer. Her version of Auld Lang Syne was notable in
its use of the original melody, while the rest of her show
would have provided a good introduction to Scot's song for
the unversed tourist.
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