David Ferrard sought to follow up his sell out show of last year's Fringe 'Scottish Folk Roots and Offshoots' with a revised repertoire of songs and stories from the Scottish tradition, whilst encompassing the themes of mass emigration to America. For those who saw the show last year, there was a chance to hear some fresh material from David's own songbook as well as traditional material.

I think it's fair to say that this is a show designed for the folkie novice, and the fairly general approach of it's content should be appealing to the tourist who wants a quick taste of Scottish Folk music as well as a potted history which covers some of the major themes of Scotland's past.

One should be carefull when critiquing these kinds of shows which act as an introduction to Folk music, not to dismiss them out of hand simply because they tend to veer towards the most accessable or mainstream material of what is (without question) the largest musical genre there is, or ever will be.

From the point of view of someone who eats, sleeps and breathes the traditional music of Scotland though, Ferrard's 'Scottish Folk Roots and Offshoots' might seem a little like the Ladybird book of Folksong - informative, entertaining and accessible, but no more than an introduction to the genre. That said, to comprehensively cover Scotland's folk traditions and the history intertwined would take weeks (if not months) - and Ferrard's show is only an hour long.

David's love of the folk tradition shines through in abundance, and audiences surely cannot fail to warm to his charms. It seems almost inevitable that he will go on to become one of the big names on the folk/americana scene, his recent debut album featured guest appearances from the likes of Karine Polwart and Alan Thomson, so for the sake of one hour out of your festival, this is a show which will entertain, educate, and certainly leave you looking for your next fix of the Scottish folk scene (if the desire wasn't already there in the first place).