Standing under Paddy's spotlights at the Festival Folk at the Oak, Alistair Hulett stood guitar in hand, with hair slightly silvering but reminiscent of a punk past, an ear-ring adorning his right ear and a 'Star Wars' styled 'The Worker's Strike Back' t-shirt, I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but I wasn't going to be disappointed. Intellectual, informative with historical and social contexts, engaging with the packed audience with an air of cheeky Glaswegian banter; you could refreshingly feel the emotion of the words in his voice, becoming one with the songs he was singing.

Born in Glasgow, Alistair moved to New Zealand in 1968 with his family, then in 1971 moved to Australia where he continued to perform around the country before "Going Bush", and in this isolation began to write his own songs, this ability being further developed during his "hippy trail" of India. His influences cover a considerable spectrum, from Scots to Appalachian song and music, to Punk and Blues; as an influential singer/songwriter his works have been performed by the likes of Roy Bailey, June Tabor and Andy Irvine. And he is continuing to write songs in a very raw manner and of a contemporary content; for example a new song he performed addresses Leonard Cohen's forthcoming ill-advised concert in Tel Aviv, which for those of a milder nature (or those unaware of the political context) may have found it alarmingly tough and critical, but justly so in my humble opinion. It was remarkable also to find a singer, when singing American songs, found the tenacity to retain his own accent, and not fall to the usual trait of adopting a faux bluegrass American accent, his singing of "Blues my darling sweetie gave to me" was one of the best of recent times.

Other notable songs performed were his classics "Riches and Rags" and the punk-folk "Penny pinching skivers"; The latter, I remarkably found myself singing along to, showing his influence has unknowingly perpetuated through to a tunester like myself. Hulett, justly gave a great deal of praise to the traveling folk of Scotland and remarked that traditional music would be "very much the poorer if not for the Travellers", and notably picked out Stanley Robertson and Davie Stewart as significant influences on himself, and followed this with the "Overgate".

A significant aspect of his writing, reading and life is that of the urban working-class and socialism. For non-socialists, his work may seem a tad hard-core, but he narrates a very vivid historical, social and economic context prior, allowing the listener to comprehend the struggles of the characters of his songs, so strong is his narration, he had me reaching for my laptop to find out more for myself about this history I had heard nothing of before. He performed three songs from the "Red Clydesiders" which address the unrest on the Clyde between 1915 and 1920, including the 1919 military occupation of Glasgow, the battle of George Square and the role of women in the rent strikes of 1915. Now, like Alistair did on numerous occasions, I feel like I am digressing into the historical context, but truly the topic and Alistair's enthusiasm is fascinating and pulls you in. If you have not heard Alistair Hulett before, I suggest you swiftly find out when you can, even if you need to travel to Australia, where he still spends significant periods of times, alas, if you are struggling in this recession, MP3's and his CD's (including his new album "Suited and Booted") are easily and economically obtainable.