Lyle Lovett, Celtic Connections, Glasgow review: 'smart, deft and emotionally direct'

Lyle Lovett | Kris Kesiak

Lyle Lovett and his Acoustic Group, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall ★★★★

Lyle Lovett really loves his family. That much became abundantly clear during this pleasant, warm and friendly Celtic Connections show in which the rangy Texan singer-songwriter prefaced songs about his wife and seven-year-old twins with droll, lengthy anecdotes about them.

He even sang a song, the unabashedly touching and sentimental South Texan Girl, devoted to his nonagenarian mother; although, of course, no country artist worth their salt doesn’t have a song about their dear old mama. Them’s the rules.

Of the two songs inspired by his children – Lovett became a doting father for the first time at the age of 59 – the borderline funky It’s a Naked Party nudged itself just above the undeniably sweet Are We Dancing. It must be the only song in existence based on a father discovering his infant offspring frolicking about on his tour bus (he dutifully included their suggestions of writing lyrics about unicorns and dinosaurs).

As for his wife songs, what spouse wouldn’t be moved by the starry-eyed wit of Her Loving Man (Queen of Know)? Lovett at his best is a smart, deft, emotionally direct songwriter. He also found time to conduct a spirited chorus of Happy Birthday to veteran STV continuity announcer Jim Symon, an understandably delighted audience member who bumped into Lovett the night before the gig.

The other seasoned stars of the show were Lovett’s crack band of acoustic virtuosos, namely Stuart Duncan (fiddle/vocals), Jeff White (guitar/mandolin/vocals), Lee Sklar (bass/abundant whiskers), Jim Cox (piano), and Russ Kunkel (drums).

These cats – we can call them that, they play country and jazz - have been backing Lovett for years, and their musical rapport was quite lovely to behold. A generous bandleader, he sang their praises throughout this extended family affair.