The man with the plan tells me that the cat’s in the cradle and the acoustic singer songwriter will be where it is at upon a Saturday night at Audio in Glasgow. With such knowledge having been duly, and divinely, imparted, the sword of judgement was unsheathed and wielded in the direction of Ruarri Joseph, Polly Barrett, Ross Mitchell and Jemma-Kate.
The first step, they say, is the toughest to take and that task fell tonight to Jemma-Kate and her eyes shut deep in concentration demeanour indicated just how serious she was in getting her mix of covers and originals out into the arms of the audience.
Then there was Ross Mitchell. Blessed as he was with the good grace to overcome the caustic comment of “you deserved that wee clap” from this playful Glasgow audience, he soon showed that one song is all that you need when you have what he has.
There’s always a shining star out there if you look for it and tonight Polly Barrett was certainly a sparkling celestial body in that big black firmament that surrounds us all and, with Irish charm, words of emotional subtlety and a voice that transcends Americana all working in her favour, she warmed the entire room with her songs. The heart is where it is at and tonight Polly Barrett stole mine.
Headliner time. Two songs in and it was abundantly clear that Ruarri Joseph was not on a mission to disappoint and, with the audience knowing more of his back catalogue than he did, he was never going to be short of the inspiration for another song. His easy going and yet embracing performance was the best example of how to do the singer songwriter thing properly that I have seen in many an August moon so, instead of pondering over the highlights of his splendid set, let us instead hope that he comes back to Glasgow sooner rather than later.
There’s blood on the blade and it’s not even midnight. Job done, as they say in Drumchapel.