From the outset, it’s clear that things have changed a bit since Kirsty McGee appeared in the Cambridge Folk Festival Club Tent 4 years ago. Then, backed by lush cello and violin, her songs had the elliptical feel of Mary Margaret O’Hara, with some vocal swooping and diving reminiscent of the two Buckleys.

 Tonight, she and accompanist Mat Martin are dressed like extras from O Brother, Where Art Thou?, and it’s clear that American folk now plays a massive part, mainly in Martin’s quicksilver banjo-playing. Mandolin, ukelele and tenor guitar also crop up, but, despite a rousing finale, the feel is, as they describe it themselves, ‘roots music about pretty dark and disturbing things’. The song-titles are pretty indicative- Dust Devils, Killer Wasps, Bonecrusher and others are all menacing and haunting, but delivered with such vim and between-song banter that the atmosphere is never depressing.

 The closest she gets to her old singer-songwriter persona is Thank You, a beautifully intimate piece of gentle finger-picking, and The Tuba-Player’s Wife, a surreal piece that sounds like it strayed in from Delicatessen, or some such film. Otherwise, they perfectly assimilate bluegrass and old-time styles, as on the unaccompanied acapella cover version If You Betray My Trust, and the yodelling on Bonecrusher. Although she namechecks up-and-coming revivalists like Devon Sproule, the overall impression is closer to that of The Handsome Family. Without the deliberately tacky programmed drums of the latter, tonight’s set still feels like the stylings of 2 centuries ago, applied to darker corners of today. With the increased profile she has had of late, this purple patch must surely soon be rewarded.

Writer: Tom Conway

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