Celtic Connections
The McCrary Sisters with The Campbell Brothers, Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow
Rob Adams
THREE STARS
There can be a thin line musically in some parts of the U.S. between Saturday night fever and Sunday morning fervour. Not long ago a Chicago saxophonist told me that his band routinely provides the soundtrack for both, with just a shower and a change of clothes in between, and if Glasgow on a Wednesday night didn't quite match the magic with which the McCrary Sisters illustrated that thin line in Perth in 2013, there was much in this gospel music double bill to combat the winter chills.
The Nashville-based McCrarys inherited their singing from their father, a preacher and singer with one of the premier gospel groups of the 1940s and 1950s, the Fairfield Four (a version still trades to this day), and they deliver with gospel choir commitment and sibling-close harmonies, promising heaven at the end of the Holy Ghost Train's line and inviting all-comers to shake off their troubles.
A more reflective Broken Things found sister Freda singing like a soul balladeering angel and a variety of accompaniments - bluesy guitar only, a double bass and drums shuffle, Hammond organ-led grooves - from their Scottish band let them strut their energetic stuff before returning to serenade the faithful with an encore of Sly Stone's Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin).
John Coltrane's A Love Supreme reconfigured for lap steel and pedal steel guitars, and with a certain Bo Diddley quality, was the centrepiece of the Campbell Brothers' splendidly rousing opening set where guitar slides took on a testifying vocal role. At first endearingly novel in this setting, Coltrane's Resolution especially grew into an entirely believable declaration.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article