Gig review: Cahalen Morrison & Eli West, Douglas Robertson’s Studio, Edinburgh

The Seattle-based duo of Cahalen Morrison and Eli West have developed such a fondness for – and such a fond following in – the British Isles’ northern and western territories that their current 17-date excursion sees them leapfrogging England in favour of extra shows around Scotland and Ireland.

Cahalen Morrison & Eli West

Douglas robertson’s Studio, Edinburgh

****

This first of two sold-out nights at their favourite Edinburgh haunt showed exactly why this pair have been attracting exceptionally high praise.

The spare chemistry between both their voices and their instrumental work – on banjo, mandolin, bouzouki and guitar – epitomised the virtues of understatement, with Morrison’s rough-hewn yet highly ornamented singing welded to West’s softer-edged tones in tight, unexpected harmonies. Their finger-picking combined intricacy with spaciousness, grit with finesse, in both traditional and original tunes interspersed with self-penned songs, many deploying evocative adaptations of old ballad language and imagery, parlayed from both the Celtic and Appalachian canon.

After an opening handful of fine country-folk compositions by American/Irish duo AJ Roach and Nuala Kennedy, also garlanded with arresting vocal harmonies as well as Kennedy’s flute, a final treat came when Morrison and West were joined by Lau fiddler Aidan O’Rourke, adding further layers of bittersweet delicacy to their arrangements.