Kathryn Williams.....

Kathryn Williams recently took part in Folk Britannia along with Vashti Bunyan, June Tabor and many others and the reviews and results are below!

The women took centre- stage on the second night of the Barbican¹s Folk
Britannia extravaganza. But if the Blakean reference in the concert¹s
title suggested that we were in for an evening of earnest gender politics,
Eliza Carthy¹s breezy performance as mistress of ceremonies soon laid those
fears to rest.

No one was particularly in the mood to lecture. What we got instead was
an easy-going celebration of the folk tradition that stretched from the
venerable English ballad Fair Margaret and Sweet William < hauntingly
sung by the magnificent June Tabor < to the outer fringes of contemporary
singer-songwriterdom, as represented by Tom Waits¹s Strange Weather <
performed by Carthy¹s mother, Norma Waterson.

With half a dozen artists squeezing into a venture premiered < with a
slightly different line-up < at last year¹s Cork Festival, there were
almost too many changes of direction. Fortunately, Kate St John¹s stylish band
arrangements went a long way to holding the various elements together.
With Martin Carthy and Neill MacColl in the line-up, the sense of the torch
being passed between generations was palpable.

Kathryn Williams seemed intent on taking that mission literally,
arriving from the wings in a state of imminent motherhood. While her original
number, Tradition, was pleasant enough, it was her feathery version of The First
Time Ever I Saw Your Face, sung with Neill McColl at her side, that
instantly raised the temperature in the hall. Sheila Chandra, the
ex-Monsoon vocalist who went on to become a cult property on Peter Gabriel¹s Read
World label, was not quite able to work the same magic on Scarborough Fair.
Never mind. Martin Carthy¹s gentle accompaniment reminded us where Paul Simon
originally found his inspiration, and Chandra sounded more at ease on
her treatment of Reynardine.

While Vashti Bunyan appeared stricken by nerves, June Tabor more than
rose to the occasion in a bilingual rendition of Lili Marlene, Huw Warren
adding delicate piano accompaniment. Eliza Carthy, who had earlier added a
touch of vivacious fiddle playing to Lou Rhodes¹s performance of Beloved One, was
even more ebullient than usual in the raucous Willow Tree, and came
close to overwhelming her mother on the jazzy riffs of Ain¹t No Sweet Man. For a
second, the Barbican became the back room of a pub.

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