Camden Music: Karine Polwart and Special Guests

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The Review - MUSIC - grooves with ROISIN GADELRAB
Published: 28 August 2008

Burnsong uncovers hot Scots talents

REVIEW: KARINE POLWART AND SPECIAL GUESTS
Roundhouse

MAYBE you can’t get too up on yourself with a name like Polwart, but when egos were handed out this Scottish singer-songwriter must have been the last in line.
Forget having fellow Scots Kim Edgar and Kenny Anderson (aka King Creosote) on the bill to play second fiddle to Polwart’s rising star.
Instead, try a spotlight shared between three eclectic talents in an evening of song that was so refreshing the Roundhouse was positively swooning with the novelty of it all.
As was Polwart, given her cheery declaration: “This is so much fun,” while the three, backed by a lively three-piece featuring brother Steven, harmonised, accompanied and jammed in equal measure.
And why wouldn’t it be? Edgar, Anderson and Polwart forged a bond at Burnsong, a Big Brother-esque project that threw burgeoning Scottish songwriters together in a bid to find genuine talent (rather than idiot wannabes).
Edgar’s rockily melancholic first album and Anderson’s unashamedly unrehearsed brand of pop hullabaloo proved their Burnsong worth.
And Polwart? When it comes to powerful folksy vocals, furiously intelligent lyrics and spine-tingling re-workings of traditional songs, this understated woman is simply second to none.
CATHERINE ETOE

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