Celtic Connections hosted a fine two-hander on Friday evening as the New York-based Punch Brothers provided support to the Carolina Chocolate Drops.
The immaculately attired Punch Brothers, an acoustic five-piece with a sound rooted in bluegrass and country by way of an occasional contemporary pop sensibility, are something to hear. Led by Chris Thiele, their certainty for the traditional style belies their age.
Similarly, Carolina Chocolate Drops can bring a modern twist to their old-time sound by way of a long-standing, crowd-pleasing cover of Blu Cantrell's R&B standard, Hit 'Em Up Style, but theirs is very much steeped in an early 20th century tradition. Since their last visit to Glasgow the band have moved up to a bigger hall and accordingly recruited another band member on cello to beef up their sound.
Riotously good fun; their renditions of Your Baby Ain't Sweet Like Mine (complete with kazoo) and Don't Get Trouble In Your Mind set the house alight. But they are utterly charming too and Rhiannon Giddens's jaw-dropping take of an old 1925 tune by Ethel Waters, No Man's Mama, extolling the joys of divorce, proved what a fine vocalist she is.
Their old-school ploy of combining accomplished and studied musicianship with a humorous and polished show pays off in spades. It's a neat trick, learned by early Afro-American performers, which the Carolina Chocolate Drops pull off with some aplomb, particularly when the guys started messing around with sets of cow bones, used much in the way that spoons were employed as percussive instrumentation in British music hall. Hilarious to watch and dizzying in execution, it proved that these chocolate drops are a real treat.
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