Gig review: Scottish Songwriters In The Round, St Cecilia’s Hall (Venue 31), Edinburgh
Kempston has a distinctively tremulous voice and an accomplished guitar style, as in the busy thrum of his Derry Waltz, but his lyrics are frequently incoherent.
Fairnie, with backing vocals from his wife, Jane, came out with the gently country-ish Wild Geese and a song about Scotland that seemed sincere but was largely confided to the microphone, while Barnett’s song-chronicles of Edinburgh came over clearer with the quirky Giraffe.
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Hide AdTheir guest, the beatifically beaming Tynesider Martin Stephenson, of the Daintees fame, stepped up audience engagement by ambling through the hall to deliver his laconic Sad Tale of Joe McCue and the closing Let The Circle Be Unbroken, staying put onstage for his heartfelt Home.
Rating: ***
• Until tomorrow. Today 8:30pm.