Matt Sillars, Gilbert Anderson & Howard Swindells – Kicked off the night with a laid back blues jam obviously eager to play together since the last music session and couldn’t wait till the end of the session to do it!!! Matt confidently tore up the fret board as per usual and Gilbert tinkled alongside Matt. Howard jumped on to his hungry violin which was dying to play in a blues jam as always.
Howard Swindells – Was ironically singing about nuns, whilst playing this song 2 people were getting married behind him on the large projector screen, in an old black and white motion picture. Then, he sang about a ring and as you know you have a ring at weddings so that added to the humour in his performance. Howard was on jolly form this evening, teasing us with his rollercoaster of songs and the audience loved it. On guitar he’s a pro and on fiddle he’s a wild cat.
Neal Kinghorn – His voice is first class, his guitar playing dusted away the fret board and made it look and sound brand new!! His songs are about life’s ups and downs, including a funny song or two just to keep the balance right. This guy should be playing on the main stage he really is a hidden gem in the highlands, his voice is like no other and with his hands full of guitar talent he’s destined for great things. He puts a lot of thought in to writing his songs singing about friends who have left home and moved south and who have stayed to brave the Highland weather.
Special guests –Emma Shearer & Matt Sillars
Emma and Matt are playing together again, this time via the grass roots route, from Worried Man Blues with 3 key changes to varying rhythms and styles in each and every song. Emma sang lead vocals changing the tone of her voice to suite the style of the song, when you sing songs you’ve written the honesty on your face says it all. Matt twanged and bent and plucked his guitar strings most of the night, wowing the audience with his non stop grooves and moves, he doesn’t realise how good he is, leave the self critical jargon at home and play from the soul, you can’t go wrong when you let go and just enjoy yourself, he played a great set.
Emma and Matt have some gigs lined up in the near future so add emma or matt on facebook, the house concert hub.
By Emma Shearer
