James Keelaghan, Hugh McMillan, and Jaime RT, Edinburgh Folk Club, Wednesday 2nd July 2008.............


A welcome return to EFC for one of Canada's finest singer songwriters. We keep saying this but it's another night which shouldn't be missed. On this tour, James will be ably assisted by Hugh McMillan(Bass) and Jaime RT(Fiddle).....

"His debut album, Timelines (1987 Tranquilla Music) was a collection of historically themed ballads. On his ninth album, A Few Simple Verses (2006 Jericho Beach Music), he's coming at history the way a folk singer would, unabashedly paying tribute to songs he loves, many of which his father used to sing, many of which have no definite origin, all of which are part of living history.

Of course, every album features James' baritone, a voice that soothes, seduces, and packs a punch. It is an influential voice, in an oral tradition where performance is arguably where it all happens.

"I love touching people as a performer," he says. "Putting a song across so that people get inside the story. I love the immediacy of it, the feedback.

"Keelaghan's voice is so easy to listen to that the thorns in his lyrics can catch the listeners unawares," comments Dirty Linen. "I am not just a pen," James points out wryly. "I am a voice as well."

http://www.keelaghan.com/

Venue: Pleasance Cabaret Bar - 8:00pm
Admission: £7.00 (£6.00 concession)