cara dillon at st george’s…

Ruth and I went along to St George’s, Bristol last night to see/hear Cara Dillon and her band perform.

She was absolutely excellent – stunning voice and wonderful musicians.
I’ve long admired her music (I play her “Hill of Thieves” CD, from 2008, pretty frequently) although, I have to admit, that was the last CD of hers that I bought…
I’d originally bought a ticket for her last St George’s concert (some two years ago?) but, stupidly and annoyingly, I forgot to turn up!! Something had cropped up late that afternoon and I’d agreed to help out… but, by the time I’d got home, it was early evening and I completely forgot all about the concert (and only remembered the following day!)…
Anyway, last night proved to be a really impressive, engaging occasion – music and a few stories (we particularly liked her story of her 5 year-old daughter insisting on attending the previous night’s concert in Frome, where they live, but ONLY if she was allowed to wear her “play high-heel shoes” - and her “Frozen” dress, of course!). Lots of negotiating apparently followed…
Actually, I had no idea that she lived just a few miles away in Frome (no doubt, lots of my Frome friends will be telling me she’s their best friend… or their close neighbour!). The other thing I didn’t realise until last night (isn’t google wonderful!) was that her husband Sam – who is a key figure in the band – is Seth Lakeman’s brother (Seth – the hugely-talented folk singing, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist). Musical excellence clearly runs in the family – and I’ve subsequently discovered that Cara, Sam and Seth (together with Kathryn Roberts) played together in the band “Equation” in 1995.
During the course of the evening, the band also played a number of instrumental pieces and Cara Dillon demonstrated her own impressive multi-musicality by playing various whistles and the bodhran (she also plays the fiddle).
One of the songs she sang last night was “Garden Valley” (which she first recorded in 2006 with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra). She explained that the band hadn’t performed it for some time until recently… and were suddenly struck how poignant the song was in the light of the recent/current Syrian refugee crisis. I agree (the sound on this youtube clip isn’t exactly brilliant, but it’ll give you a flavour).
If you get a chance to see/hear her perform “live”, then I suggest you grasp it with both hands.
You won’t be disappointed.