The Next Big Thing

Laura Cantrell’s return to Glasgow at the Recital Room yesterday went very well. Arranged very last minute to the extent that it didn’t make the brochure, the show was sold out well in advance of the evening. Later tonight, she and Mark Spencer will perform as part of the Dylan tribute rolling revue (much of it not so thunderous for my dinero) and I’m pretty sure that will introduce and re-acquaint her accordingly ahead of a return in May to punt the new “Kitty Wells’ Dresses” set to appear on Shoeshine/Spit and Polish on Easter Monday, the day after Roy and Cyril blitz London with them A-Bones.

A nicely paced set consisting new and old favourites and the lady’s voice sounding damn good. I had no idea that mark was in Son Volt these days but his fretwork is as mellifluous as it ever was. And if you don’t have tickets for their whistle stop at The Water Rats on Wednesday then you’re too late.

There were one or two moments when the clock was well and truly turned back and hearing some of those songs again made me realise how much I missed them. Strangely, the first thing I heard this morning was a clip on Radio Scotland of Laura rehearsing “Mr Tambourine Man”. If everything goes to plan then the re-establishment of Ms C into the hearts and minds of UK audiences will be the formality that it ought to be but in these days of the zip attention span, then you can never underestimate the flakiness of any particular audience at any given time.

And to some extent I include myself in said demographic.