It's not hard to understand why Kate Rusby is described as the darling of British folk music. She is simply wonderful. I may be slightly biased as, in my eyes, she can do no wrong, but that doesn't mean she's not fantastic. Last night it Birmingham she dazzled my socks off. From the opening "ello" in her broad Barnsley accent to the closing number was simply glorious.
What I wasn't expecting were the funny stories explaining the songs, where she tends to go off on a tangent digging herself into a hole of obscure people and situations. The 7 year fish, with too many fins and stuff. Bizarre. Having just read the Neil Gaiman Sandman series she sometimes reminded me of Delerium. And then while retuning her guitar and the band start - one from John McCusker:
A man walks into a doctors. "Doctor I think I'm a moth". "Ah", says the doctor, "you want the psychiatric office down the hall". "Yes I know", says the man, "but I was walking past and your light was on".
And then it get's stranger, with the accordian player telling us recipes. A nice variant on Potatoe Daupinois, which I must try.
But, despite the fun and strangeness, was that voice. It sends shivers down my spine, it really does. My entertainment tonight is to watch the DVD of her Leeds concert, and I'm listening to her CDs at the moment. I do this after gigs; go through their entire catalogue again.