Gig review: Holly Williams / Blueflint

Published on Sunday 24 January 2010 22:22

ORAN MOR, GLASGOW ****

THERE'S a real family affair buzz to this Celtic Connections double header. Among Scottish bluegrass-influenced Blueflint's number are a brother and sister while headliner Holly Williams is the granddaughter of country legend Hank Williams and daughter of Hank Jnr. But it's marital love that's most evident on stage tonight. Blueflint's heavily pregnant Deborah Arnott coos an ode to her hubby, while Williams invites Chris Coleman, the man she wed last year, to duet on a bunch of numbers, including, somewhat awkwardly, a tune penned with a "skinny country boy" she previously dated.

Inevitably, Williams turns to her grandpappy's back catalogue with evocative versions of I Saw the Light and I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry and while she also covers John Prine and Neil Young here, the most affecting numbers are her own tunes of hope, commitment, redemption, truth and smoking menthol fags in France. Williams offers a singsong "thank you so much" to each wave of generous applause and there's a feeling that she is genuinely relieved to be here, as she recalls the devastating car crash that was perilously close to ending her life in 2006. At this hushed point, the love emanating from her crowd is palpable.

While hearts and flowers are also overflowing in Blueflint's set, the journeys into darker territory reap the finer rewards. P45 is a revenge number emboldened by some vivid scatological imagery, while their "good old-fashioned murder ballad" What Lies Beneath is a truly haunting slice of southern gothic, a world away from jaunty opening salvo, Skippin' Skattin'.