For me, it had been a day that epitomized some of the best of what summer can offer a young man in Edinburgh. The sun had been hitting my face all afternoon as I sailed down the canal with a rabble of folkies, celebrating the Royal Oak’s album launch. When we eventually docked, I got straight in a taxi to the Oak itself where I was anticipating an hour and a half of scots song, which to be brutally honest I wasn’t overly excited about.

I had heard Mick once before at the Edinburgh Folk Club and wasn’t blown away. However, from the first tune Mick sang I knew that I was wrong to continue doubting his ability. He had a presence, obviously he’s a large man and downstairs in the oak is a small room, but his voice resonated off the walls and the audience warbled along to the choruses. He sang several songs from his native Glasgow during the set which you could tell held a very special place in Mick’s heart. His heart felt rendition of ‘Kelvin’s Purling Stream’ which was beautifully accompanied by Frank McLaughlin on guitar, showed me that although traditional song is what Mick is all about, he brings a contemporary feel to it through the original style and rhythm he adopts for each song. He very much makes these songs his own, despite their traditional nature.

This contemporary feel is helped by the amazing talents of McLaughlin on guitar. As he stared intently at Mick, following his every word, his fingers glided lightly across the fret board, picking out the melody of the tune before making way for Mick to fill the room once again with silky vocals. There was almost a hint of jazz to his playing and this got the toes tapping. Obviously these two have performed many times together and as a result, they complimented each other with a crisp perfection that was a victory for performance and indeed music. I left thoroughly up lifted as I had not expected to enjoy the gig half as much as I did. I even warbled along to many of the songs myself. It was a fantastic display of what traditional song can still bring to the listening audience, executed masterfully by a great guitarist and a great singer. Indeed, if Mick’s voice was a drink, it would be a vintage port.