A review of Josephine Sillars at Glachbeg Folk/Acoustic session, 15/11/2011.
The Glachbeg sessions have been running for over a year now, during which time they have been gently evolving within their initial remit of folk and acoustic music. The setting and atmosphere created is both warm and welcoming, with much credit going to the Bull family for their dedication to the evening.
Tonight’s event saw Josephine Sillars join Redhook Rapids and Woodland Roots in a very eclectic mix of styles, which added to the freshness of the evening. The venue, was almost pushed to capacity
Josephine had come fresh from a successful gig on the Sunday night at Hootananny. A slight technical fault (“I thought Josephine played a guitar not a key board” honestly explained Bob Bull to the audience) delayed proceedings only a little. The young singer song writer took things in her stride.
First song was the particularly playful ‘17 hours’, think REM’s ‘End of the World’ for the Glee generation with a catchy hook that has had us humming the tune for days afterwards.
Josephine’s song writing skills are undisputable but the inspiration are not angst or love lost ,or at least not directly, but from films and media. An undeniable passion for sci-fi sees references to Dr Who (I would encourage you not to enter into discussion about the planned Dr Who film with Ms Sillars,ever.) and District 9. The latter leads to the memorable ‘Please Plead and Dont Tell (Three Years Past)’
Interspersed in the set were a handful of covers pulling on the classics from Regina Spektor to Nina Simone whilst also handling all the vocals of Snow Patrol’s ‘Set the Fire to the Third Bar’.
We were aware of Josephine’s confidence and maturity in her previous Q and A with the site site (see here) however it is also evident in her live act, with a good level of interaction with her audience, her previous experiences (and a wee bit of pre-gig coaching) obviously paying dividends.
On catching up with Josephine afterwards she was pleased about the way the gig had worked out, and appeared to be hooked on performing live music and is keen to seek out opportunities to gig where ever they may be.
Josephine is one of a score of young female singer song writers in the area and we can only hope that the combination of personality, skill and support will work in her favour, catch her when you can.
There are changes afoot for the format of the Glachbeg night (see here) to help showcase the young talent in the area, so lets hope they can help uncover gems like Josephine.
Written by Chris Lemon
Photos by Brian McIntosh Photography
