NEW VOICES – ANNA MASSIE (Strathclyde Suite, Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, Sunday 23 January 2005)

25 Jan 2005 in Music

KENNY MATHIESON hears multi-instrumentalist Anna Massie take the least adventurous option in the second of this year’s New Voices commissions at Celtic Connections.

ANNA MASSIE might have been regarded as cheating a bit in the option she finally chose for her New Voices commission. Advance enquiries to festival director Colin Hynd had revealed that no one was quite sure what she was up to, although there was some speculation regarding a project involving vocal settings of poems.

Anna Massie

The New Voices commissions lay down no specifications for the work, and musicians are free to fill the hour-long concert slot as they wish. There is a strong expectation that they will use the opportunity to tackle something beyond their usual run of work, though, whether it is a large-scale piece or something that incorporates idioms or forms beyond their standard practice.

In the event, Anna – who did admit to being lazy in the course of one of her amusing introductions, and also dedicated one of her tunes to her duvet – took the least challenging option and settled for simply writing some new tunes, and filled out the allocated hour with some old ones to make up the numbers.

She did bring in a couple of guests to join her regular band mates, guitarist Jenn Butterworth and accordionist Maireread Green, but both Hamish Napier (flute) and the ubiquitous Martin O’Neill (bodhrán) were well within her comfort zone.

“… the new tunes will fuel her repertoire in rewarding fashion”

Low marks for endeavour in the context of a New Voices commission, then, but the concert itself was hugely enjoyable. She launched proceedings by explaining that the first tune had been written for her dad, Fortrose-based musician Bob Massie, and she had given him the honour of naming it. Dad revealed that he had long been on the lookout for a tune called ‘The Farting Badger’, and now he has it… .

Her dad also inspired ‘The Old Bugger’, while both parents were the dedicatees of ‘The Silver Darlings’, marking their silver wedding anniversary. Other tunes were inspired by the aforementioned duvet (‘Big Blue’), television’s ‘This Morning’ (she is a fan), an off-duty lollipop man who prevented her being run over in Glasgow, and her flat mate Chris’s unusual dancing style.

She played fiddle, guitar and banjo with her now customary poise and invention, and received equally adept support from her collaborators. It may not have moved her up the list of those likely to receive further major commissions, but the new tunes will fuel her repertoire in rewarding fashion.

Now, if she can just get herself out from under the Big Blue and hit the off button on ‘This Morning’, who knows what she might be capable of producing next?