The musical acts on the second day of the festival were predominantly on the Folky side of the road. On the main stage The Urban Folk Quartet played a lively set combining fiddle, banjo, guitar and percussion, including their cover of Solsbury Hill. Fiddle player Paloma Trigás lit up the stage with a charismatic energy and looked like she was really enjoying herself, as did percussionist Tom Chapman. All four players had impressive musical CVs and the standard of musicianship was off the scale (not literally of course), as was the case with most of the traditional groups playing over the weekend.

Highland band Breabach impressed with their, predominantly, Gaelic instrumentals. Calum MacCrimmon and Conal McDonagh played a variety of instruments but the sound of the two of them playing Highland Bagpipes was memorable. Megan Henderson on fiddle and vocals was the visual centre point of the band, none more so than when she laid her fiddle down and performed some step dancing for a number. The Overheard stage relied heavily on solo songwriters wielding acoustic guitars, or duos, of varying levels of interest over the weekend. These were generally very pleasant, with the performers having good singing voices playing songs full of lyrical relevance to the performer but not often very melodically memorable or distinctive.

A duo that stood out were the partnership of Campbell Jensen who had some songs that caught the ear and a bit more stagecraft than most of the other performers on that stage, regaling the audience with a selection of banjo jokes at one point for instance. Their song ‘If I’m Going To Live A Long Time’, inspired by Leon Redbone, epitomised their style, beautiful picking techniques and two voices that harmonised well together. ‘A Song By Vampires For Vampires’ was another song that stood out.

A solo performer that did not remotely suffer from a lack of confidence on the main stage was self-styled rapper, poet and musician Dizraeli (Jeff to his friends; only kidding, his real name is Rowan) who spent a lot of time in his set talking to the audience on various issues, one of which was the pleasure of anal sex as a man, which was obviously very informative, although given the particular audience I’m not sure whether anyone was rushing back to their tent to give it a go. He was quite entertaining and his songs like ‘Bomb Tesco’ had more impact than some of the more introspective singer songwriter material from other artists.

Earlier, in the late afternoon, Jump 66, who very accurately describe themselves as a retro Rhythm & Blues, classic Soul, Swing and Ska band had played a hugely enjoyable set. Essentially, they tick all the boxes on the groove side of the musical spectrum. Their singer Paul Kissaun, once of the Flying Pickets, had a distinctive Alexis Korner meets 50s beat poet visual vibe and led the band through a fab set of swinging numbers with titles like ‘Sent For Yesterday, Came Today’ and ‘Every Dog Has Its Day' and a whole host of upbeat numbers. The double bassist showed off his physical prowess by descending onto the dance floor and, as well as engaging with individual dancers, he lay on the floor and hoisted his double bass aloft while keeping the beat going. The band were great.

They were on a little too early for mass dancing to ensue and to be honest most of the crowd were gearing up for the Ceilidh dancing that went on for most of the evening, when the Dance House throbbed to mass participation in fun dances like Strip The Willow and many more under the auspices of Banter, one of the many Ceilidh bands over the weekend manfully (personfully?) keeping the energy going. In the Overheard tent comedian and broadcaster Robin Ince gave a delightful performance to a large audience, interspersing poems that were by turns funny and thoughtful, with amusing linking commentary.

The headliners on the main stage were Rioghnach Connolly and Honeyfeet. Rioghnach has a background in Folk music and has won multiple awards as a Folk singer. She performs in a number of different guises, all benefitting from her beautiful and powerful voice. The music she plays with Honeyfeet is a really joyful brand of soulful grooviness and the stage was rocking on the Saturday night. ‘Something In Your Way’ and ‘Every Minute Matters’ were a couple of titles I caught. Like the majority of acts performing over the weekend their material was unfamiliar to me but was immediately recognisable as something you’d want to hear more of. I’m sure they must have played ‘Work It’ (which is playing as I type) a fabulously upbeat number. Biff Roxby on trombone managed to sound like a whole brass section. One of the moments from their set was the uninhibited dancing of the singer’s young daughter who managed to almost steal the show as she cavorted around the stage with great glee.

Review and Photos: Simon Green