The Carrivick Sisters first came to my attention a couple of
years ago when they played a short set at the Moseley Folk Festival. The
lasting impression of that brief initial encounter was how they had impressively
based their sound on old time Appalachia with core instrumentation of banjo,
fiddle, dobra and mandolin. This very Americana style was unique amongst the
wave of UK folk musicians who appeared on the day. So a mission was undertaken to
further seek them out and ultimately catch one of their lives shows where the
set would be considerably longer.
Fast forward eighteen months and eventually an opportunity
arose to see them at the Kitchen Garden Café in Birmingham. The show was
virtually billed as a double header with rising folk star Blair Dunlop and thus
the appeal of both acts swelled the quaint venue’s attendance to its modest capacity.
The format of the evening was fairly formulaic with Blair opening before being
joined by the girls for his final track. The Sisters followed with a slightly
longer set before inviting Blair to play on their closing numbers.
With a prestigious BBC Folk Horizon award recently under his
belt, Blair is currently riding the crest of acclaim as he attempts to step out
of the shadows of his family upbringing (son of the legendary UK folk star
Ashley Hutchings). He opened with a song called ‘Christopher Marlowe’, a tale about the Elizabethan playwright and
very much in line with Blair’s theatrical flair. His latest album was
represented by amongst others ‘Threads’
and the title track ‘Blight and Blossom’.
The latter is due to be released as a new single and its live rendition
concluded the set with the girls backing the track on dobra and mandolin. Perhaps
the stand out performance of his set was the version of traditional song ‘Black is the Colour’ which Blair
arranged with Larkin Poe’s Rebecca Lovell as a submission for his subsequent award.
Blair Dunlop oozes with flair and confidence, is seemingly in control of his destiny
and is set to entertain the folk world for a very long time with his guitar,
vocal and storytelling skills.
To generate their transatlantic sound, Charlotte Carrivick
has mastered the banjo and mandolin while sister, Laura delivers dobra and
fiddle. Both siblings interchange their specialist instruments with acoustic
guitar and are equally adept at supplying vocals either independently or in
harmony. Their vocal style and song subject is very much rooted in English song
tradition but it’s the old time Americana sound that catches the ear.
The set the sisters delivered was not based around any one
separate release but was an effective mix of self penned tunes and influential
covers. The latter included an opening version of James Taylor’s ‘Sweet Baby Jane’, a nod to acclaimed bluegrass
artist Tony Rice with ‘Church St Blues’
and an encore offering of the Nanci Griffith song ‘Gulf Coast Highway’. These tracks further highlighted the Sisters
American roots influences and were expertly executed.
In line with their South Devon upbringing, the girls, in
true Seth Lakeman style, recounted a real life coastal tragedy in ‘Lifeboat’. Further song inspirations
included an inhabitant of the pub in ‘Man
in the Corner’, a trip to Austria with ‘Outside
Time’ and the contents of Laura’s specific world map in ‘If You Asked Me’. All songs were
enhanced by the brickwork surroundings of the Kitchen Garden Café, an intimate
nirvana for many acoustic acts. The set was also interspersed with a number of fine
instrumentals including a civil war influenced tune ‘Ashokan Farewell’ which as
well as ending the evening saw Blair extend his many talents to dobra.
So the mission to explore the work of The Carrivick Sisters
was temporarily complete. The promise they displayed at that distant festival was
fulfilled and their talents will surely entertain audiences for many years to
come. The future of UK folk with an Americana twist is in safe hands.
