Review of O'Hooley & Tidow at Kirkgate Centre, Cockermouth on Sunday June 12.
AFTER a drizzly, cold Sunday in June the mellow sounds of two Yorkshire folk singers accompanied by the soft and melodious playing of a violin is just what was needed.
And that was what Belinda O'Hooley, Heidi Tidow and violinist Anna Esslemont provided when they paid a visit to Cumbria to perform at Cockermouth's Kirkgate Centre.
Of course folk music traditionally means depressing songs about famine and death. Belinda and Heidi joked about the selection of numbers they included in their set about the Holocaust, nursing homes and dead babies but even these were served on a plate of soothing melodies and delicious harmonies.
It was a curious but welcome mix of songs ranging from traditional folk tunes such as Annie Laurie to their own compositions and even a very pleasant Christmas number which strangely didn't seem too out of place on this unseasonably cold summer's evening.
The more upbeat numbers were the ones that seemed to work best in the acoustically-challenged Kirkgate Centre. The girls' voices, electronic keyboard, violin and a bit of foot-stomping combining to create a sound that seemed to belie the three performers and two instruments.
This was a delicious performance by three striking musicans - a chance to snuggle up in the romantic music and keep warm as temperatures sank to a mere 11 degrees centigrade.
Anna Esslemont returns to the Kirkgate in September with her band Uiscedwr.
* The Kirkgate switches from the sublime to the almost ridiculous when Irish band Dead Cat Bounce appear at the Kirkgate next Saturday (June 18) as a curtain raiser on the Cockermouth Festival. Phone 01900 826448 for tickets or visit www.thekirkgate.com.
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