Man, it feels good to be a Bluesbunny. In one of the most hotly-anticipated - at least by those of us with musical taste - shows of the year, Nell Bryden electrified the audience at Glasgow's Recital Rooms.
Jamie Flett is a name not unknown to the Bluesbunny. Starting with "Roxy", an apparent interest in the blues seeped through in his music. Although he neglected to turn on his guitar upon tuning it, the Recital Rooms and its acoustics were good to us with not a soul complaining about the audibility of his guitar. Despite falling into this pitfall again, Jamie received a warm reception throughout his set and with good cause. With an ability to craft elaborate folk songs that simply fail to sound dull or uninspired, this boy did little wrong.
It's a good bet that Nell Bryden will soon be a name that is known throughout the land. An enduring quality encircles her melding of Americana and rockabilly while her startling voice will perk up the weariest of ears. Taking the bluegrass-heavy songs from her latest album and rendering them guitar-friendly was never going to be easy, but Nell has a backing band worth their weight in gold. Songs such as "Where the Pavement Ends" and "Goodbye" were given a delightful reworking with Nell's voice never ceasing to amaze. Better yet, Ms Bryden's behaviour onstage was that of a woman born to perform. Nothing beats a musician that so cherishes their occupation.
Soon after followed a glorious solo delivery of "If I Can Dream" that could have provoked a flood of tears enough to trigger an evacuation of the building and Nell could simply not have left the stage without a raucous rendition of her new single, "Second Time Around". As if that wasn't enough of a treat, Nell, carried back onstage by the fervent applause of the crowd, bade us farewell with a rendition of "House of the Rising Sun".
Don't say we didn't warn you. What happened tonight may never happen again in such intimate surroundings. Common enough is the privilege of beauty and talent. Much rarer is that desire to be yourself to go with it. Nell Bryden is all that and more.