Music review: Eileen McGann

Published on Tuesday 2 September 2008 19:43

EILEEN McGANN *** STIRLING FOLK CLUB

CANADIAN singer and songwriter Eileen McGann has been plying the circuit for some 20 years now, originally inspired by such illustrious compatriots as Stan Rogers and Gordon Lightfoot, before also embracing the Celtic heritage bequeathed by her Irish emigrant parents. On the only Scottish date of her current UK tour, she was accompanied by her longtime musical and life partner David Knutson – who styles himself David K – on bass, bouzouki, backing vocals and steel resonator guitar, complementing McGann's own acoustic six-string.

Like her repertoire as a whole, the set divided pretty much 50:50 between traditional and original material, the former including transplanted Canadian versions of such classic Scottish ballads as Braw Sailin' on the Sea and Bonnie Susie Clelland, imbued with plenty of expressive depth by McGann's dulcet mezzo-soprano voice, delicate vibrato and unhurried phrasing. Other traditional songs included The Skye Water Kelpie's Lullaby, translated from the Gaelic and retaining the original's haunting caoine-like refrain, and Bonny Portmore, a powerful Irish ballad lamenting the felling of ancient forests. This led into McGann's own composition Requiem for the Giants, mourning the destruction wrought by modern-day logging in Canada.

While neatly highlighting the continuity of folk song's themes between past and present, the latter pairing also underlined the limitations of McGann's own songwriting, which – especially set against lyrics, melodies and imagery strong enough to have survived centuries – often tends towards the anodyne, even saccharine.

Deploying such standard-issue life metaphors as the lost traveller, stormy weather and navigating turbulent waters, her songs are littered with such earnestly well-worn sentiments as "Remember every heart has a silver lining" and "What will you tell them when your children ask you why?"

Her style came across as that of the archetypal social-conscience folk singer, la Joan Baez – either classic or old-fashioned, depending on taste – albeit with added contemporary texture and punch from Knutson's expert accompaniment.