 | | Kate Rusby |
Breathing new life into age-old ballads, Rusby was in her element. And self-penned songs Let Me Be and The Goodman, taken from the brilliant Underneath the Stars proved her mettle as a gifted songstress in her own right. There’s little doubt the dreamy-voiced girl from Barnsley has easily distinguished herself as Eliza Carthy’s worthy rival in the contest for folk’s crown. Her set, patch-worked with kitchen-table chatter about daddy long legs, chocolate biscuit stains and useful aubergine recipes, kept the audience entranced, and despite the vastness of the venue, the atmosphere was as intimate as the friendliest folk club. Sparkling highlight I Courted A Sailor was described by Kate as "like an old friend we’re glad to see again." And the performance proved it. Meanwhile, a statutory sad song, Withered And Died (courtesy of folk deities Richard and Linda Thompson), was said to be a necessary contribution to her 60 percent minimum "misery creation quota" – a pre-requisite for every folk artist apparently! A brief interlude of three songs by her band demonstrated the calibre of her husband John McClusker’s fiddle, not to mention Andy Cutting’s accordion and Ian Carr’s guitar – all hitting the necessarily high standard for supporting what is one of the finest voices around. Although Rusby explained she had cut Cruel from its original "143 verses" to three to avoid "taking breakfast orders", perhaps most in the audience would have voted for the original. It seemed a cunning ploy though or Lowry staff may have had trouble getting rid of more than few punters. | 
