Sabrina’s entrancing Irish Folk

“There must be some of the Christie Moore gene in me I’m sweating so much up here”. There was certainly something Celtic in the Labour rooms last Sunday when Sabrina Piggott brought her new Irish folk to town. She may be a bit modern for her Uncle Charlie (of Irish band De Dannaan) but she explored themes of belonging and breaking free in a set of complex and entrancing songs. The rhythms she coaxes from the bass strings of her acoustic guitar were reminiscent of a bodhran (on which she is a champion). When she overlays these with rippling melodies the Cork coastline of her home comes into view. Never far from the sea thematically she even covers Smoke on the Water – unexpected and unexpectedly beautiful.

These are carefully crafted and honed songs. Her guitar explores the questions she asks in her songs alongside her lyrics. Roots and Wings balances the comfort in belonging both to place and tradition with the freedom that may be available through flight to something new. This is at the heart of Sabrina’s music, a music rooted in tradition but setting itself free to explore new pastures.

Earlier in the evening Stephanie Stephenson and “my amazingly talented boyfriend Matt” treated us to some bashful, delicate musings. Stephanie introduced us to characters which inhabit her subconscious – the girl hoping to meet the man of her dreams on a train after a hard day at work; the woman seeking revenge on a bully at work and the chocoholic lonely on a Friday night. While Stephanie’s songs are narrated by a range of characters, Matt is more overtly personal. Matt is “consumed by self-doubt”, Steph “lives a life of worry that undermines the heart of me” and they use songwriting to come to terms with what the world might mean.

The intimacy of the Labour rooms provided the perfect backdrop for these delicate and thoughtful musicians. The latest of a series of gigs curated by Phil Snell to raise money for Otley foodbanks, here was proof that the political is the personal.

Ant Cotton