There was a nice, chilled atmosphere as Paper Sparrows wound down the eighth edition of Edinburgh’s showcase of contemporary folk, Americana and poetry in front of an appreciative audience.
Playing in front of a black backdrop lit up with flickering stars, the Edinburgh-based hosts, fronted by the singer-songwriter David Hershaw, helped to create a warm, cosy feeling with the life-affirming “Tears like silver”, off their 2021 “Silver EP”.
Hershaw, 30, was joined by the dexterous lead guitarist Ross Fairbairn and the assured Colin Morris on double bass and they followed up with “Laugh at the moon”, set in the North Yorkshire seaside town of Whitby. It was there, Heshaw explained, that Bram Stoker had been inspired to write “Dracula”, prompting an annual gathering of Goths among its retirees. The nostalgic “Once, then it’s gone” completed the set.
Next up were the William Hershaw trio, led by David’s father, a Scots-language writer, poet and musician. It featured David on the mandolin and the bassist Erik Knussen from Glasgow, whose late musician father, Erik, was orchestra manager of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.
“I’ve got a wee set of songs for youse in the Scottish language which we hear occasionally this time of the year in Edinburgh,” Hershaw, 65, from Lochgelly, in central Fife, quipped before launching into a song about “the well-known Scottish playwright Willy Shakespeare”.
Following that came “John Muir’s blues”, a melancholy piece set amid the russet-coloured post-summer knolls with the immortal line “I’d rather be high on a hill than low in a toon”; followed by “The bard of ’84”, an impassioned tribute to Wattie, a neighbouring villager, who at 17 became the youngest miner to be convicted of a breach of a peace for doing a “V” sign at the police. “They kicked the shit out of him and he had a criminal record for the rest of his life,” Hershaw recalled with conviction. There was also a jaunty number about a not-to-be-messed-with otter.
Colin Bramwell, a 32-year-old Edinburgh-based poet who hails from Portrose on the Black Isle, continued the entertainment after arriving a touch flustered. “I’ve just come from another show, so excuse me if I’m a bit bamboozled,” he said. He began with a sentimental poem about Trunkie, a toy elephant he’d lost as a child, followed by an “Open letter to Hereford council”, a spirited Scots poem about a binman fired for kicking the head off a child’s snowman, before wrapping up with “Maricruz Paredes”, about his Mexican mother-in-law.
Sarah, Irvine, 34, an Edinburgh-based alternative folk musician, from Brisbane in Australia, was the final act and almost stole the show with her lovely, lilting voice. Starting off with “Bright Star”, she then segued “Girl from the North Country” by Bob Dylan with her own song “Distance to the Moon” and culminated her sumptuous performance with “Canal Song”, which had the air of a reverie.
A communal piece brought the evening to a close with more to come when Folksville is at Assembly Roxy on 17 September.
Folksville Assembly Checkpoint (three nights only – ended on 22 August)
