FOLK ACT RACHEL UNTHANK & THE WINTERSET PERFORM IN BALLYMONEY

I went to see Rachel Unthank and her band in the town hall on Wednesday last. Their music is dark and moody and perhaps not to everyones taste. They are however excellent musicians and produced a wonderfully atmospheric performance; even including some Northumbrian clog dancing to finish the first half of the evening.  As the wife was unable to go due to other commitments I attended on my own; something I quite like. Musical taste is such an individual thing that it is sometimes difficult to enjoy a gig when it becomes apparent that the other half doesn’t share your opinion. As a singleton you have the luxury to enjoy or leave early as appropriate. On this occasion leaving early would have been a mistake as the second half contained some if the best music of the night. The four girls in the band, singing unaccompanied in harmony, produced some wonderful tunes. During the interval I met Robbie Burns (not the original admittedly) a photographer and new resident in Snowdonia, finding out what the band sounded like, whilst on a visit back home. A very interesting chat during the interval included such things as the benefit of living abroad. One of my ‘soapbox’ rants when provoked, involves my theory that all Northern Irish should be sent abroad at the age of 18 and not allowed back for a couple of years. It was agreed that some exposure to the wider world would enable the local population to get their issues into perspective. As someone who loves travel I am somewhat biased in this respect but will continue to bang on about until told to shut up!

A band well worth seeing and should you want to find out more try the hyperlinks below. The following is extracted from the blurb on the leaflet advertising the event. Forging links between folk worlds old, new and other, Rachel Unthank & The Winterset have blown a bracing north easterly gale through traditional English song, casting it in an endlessly inventive and playful new mould. The geordie quartet brought their unique blend of folk to North West audiences when they stopped off in Ballymoney Town Hall on Wednesday 4 February. Subverting folk music with love and authority, Rachel Unthank & The Winterset have been heralded for their unique ability to communicate traditional music to unforgiving mainstream audiences.  Singing in their own lilting Geordie accents, they have been described by poet Ian MacMillan as the "inheritors, curators and gleeful distorters" of Tyneside's traditions and since first emerging in 2004 have gained a disparate legion of fans including Robert Wyatt, Kate Rusby, Paul Morley, Tracey Thorn, Nic Jones, Phill Jupitus and Joan As Policewoman. A modern-day girl band with an antiquated twist, The Winterset is led by Rachel Unthank on vocals and cello and features her sister Becky Unthank on additional vocals, Niopha Keegan on violin, accordion and voice and Stef Conner on piano.  Using discreetly provocative arrangements this intriguing quartet’s take on folk music is peerless, fearless and wholeheartedly brave as they fuse elements of blues, jazz, burlesque cabaret, classical and leftfield contemporary styles of music together and deliver songs inspired by old, new and imaginatively borrowed tales of booze, brawls, abuse, loss, fear, infantile death, depravity and sorrow.

For full tour information and booking details, please log onto www.movingonmusic.co.uk. For further information on Rachel Unthank and the Winterset visit www.rachelunthank.com