Presented by folk singer-songwriter Sophie Ramsay, who opens the evening with a beautiful a cappella performance of a traditional Gaelic song, Folk at the Pleasance is a welcome music event at the comedy heavy venue. Each night Ramsay will be introducing a new set of guests who will undoubtedly assist her in bringing another evening of fine folk music from around the world to the quaint and perfectly fitting Green at The Pleasance.
Ramsay herself performs a number of original compositions, as well as traditional folk songs, to open and close the evening and with each number she gives a mesmerising and heart-breaking fragility to her voice. A high point for her set was when she was joined onstage by Galo Ceron Carrasco, an immensely talented and mild-mannered classical guitarist who quietly slunk on stage, performed a couple of superb numbers and then quietly slunk off again as if embarrassed by his own talent.
The evening was closed by Dutch singer-songwriter Lucy Blue (also known as Anouk de Groot) who, although a little unfocused with her writing, rounded off the trio of guests with her strong singing voice and confident style.
The stand-out performance of the evening, however, was the sublime Gwendolen Chatfield and her band with Aruhan Galieva taking duties on the double bass and Jedd Holden on guitar. Although Chatfield was suffering from a sore throat, she still exhibited by far the greatest songwriting and showmanship of the evening. From the foot-stomping ‘Man in the Red Hat’ to the pensive ‘A Thousand Miles’, Chatfield’s compositions were considered, rich and full of intelligent, imaginative lyrics and I cannot wait to see her perform when she is back to full health.
