Karine Polwart - NNF 2024
A rare, and very special, visit to Norwich from one of Scotland's greatest contemporary folk singers.
Scottish folk singer Karine Polwart seems somewhat bemused to be performing to a packed out crowd of 'folkies' in the Adnams Spiegeltent in Norwich's Chapelfield Gardens, at what she refers to as the 'rock and roll hour' of 10 o'clock on a Tuesday. But even she could not remember the last time she played in Norwich, perhaps explaining the loyal turnout – a quick look back at my gig records shows that I last saw her play at Norwich Arts Centre way back in 2012, although many will have seen her when she headlined the Sunset Stage during a downpour at Folk East in 2019. Tonight though, it is merely a light shower that the audience have to contend with as they make their way into the Spiegeltent.
Many of her songs are inspired by nature, and the plants and birds to be found across the Scottish landscapes, but she begins with 'Heartwood', taken from her 2019 album 'Spell Songs', a heartfelt plea against the felling of urban trees in city centres. She, herself, was brought up in the small town of Banknock, midway between Glasgow and Edinburgh, and clearly loves the wild landscapes of Scotland. 'Cornerstone', a song from her collaborative 2018 album 'Laws of Motion', is named after the highest point on the Isle of May, a remote island in the Firth of Forth that houses a ruined monastery, the first ever Scottish lighthouse, and a huge nesting colony of puffins.
Folk audiences do love to sing along, and they need no second asking when Polwart suggests they join in with a “wee refrain” to an otherwise unaccompanied 'Thrift (Dig In, Dig In)', a song taken from 2021's 'Spell Songs 2', ostensibly about the Scottish wild flower, but tinged with a contemporary message about managing during tight times.
There is a moving spoken word tribute to the 200 year old Sabal Palm that had outgrown its home in the Royal Botanical Gardens in Edinburgh, and had to be cut down in 2021. Along with composer Pippa Murphy, Polwart had been Artists in Residence at the Gardens at the time, and the piece is followed by a heartfelt lament to its demise.
There is one brand new song, ‘Hold Everything’, and ‘Salter’s Road’ - ostensibly about maps, but also a heartfelt tribute to a former neighbour, Molly Kristenson. The evening ends with two more ornithological odes – 'King of Birds', a re-telling of the Celtic legend about a wren and an eagle, but cleverly turned into a metaphor about social protest; and the beautiful 'Follow The Heron', from Polwart's 2006 solo album debut, 'Scribbled In Chalk'.
A rare, and very special, visit to Norwich from one of Scotland's greatest contemporary folk singers. Please don't leave it so long next time.
