Brian is terrific. A wiry bepectacled looking fellow with quite intense features that are surprisingly expressive when he sings. he plays two beautiful intruments - an oldish looking Martin Guitar and beautifully mellow sounding anglo concertina, which looks pretty old.

He can do the lot...... guitar accompaniment, concertina accompaniment and instrumental, unaccompanied.

The concertina instrumental he chose was dallas Rag, a piece that a lot of my generation sweated over as a guitar instrumental - courtesy of Stefan grossman!

there were several pieces from his new album - the one that blows me away is a version of The House carpenter - although he doesn't call it that. I expect you all know the ballad- and the bit where the lady has been spirited away by the demon lover, and she suddely sees his cloven hoof beneath his cloak. More than anything I thought of the ladies that ted Bundy and Neville heath and that sort of chap somehow inveigled into a vulnerable place. there must have been 'cloven hoof' moment when they realised just what they were in the presence of - great psychological realism. you have to be very special sort of singer to show a dumbass like me what a ballad is capable of.

having said that there chiarascuro - light and shade. theres a funny modernised rewrite of 7 drunken nights, a visual John Kirkpatrick joke