arboreal and musical storytelling
May 5th saw the show at Edinburgh TradFest split in two halves – a set from avant folk vocalist and composer Fiona Soe Paing, followed by this year’s special commission “For The Love of Trees” created by harpist, singer and composer Mary Macmaster.
Set in the darkness of the Traverse Theatre, Fiona Soe Paing’s set took us through songs from her audio-visual show, “SAND, SILT, FLINT“, tying folklore from the North East of Scotland with alt-folk electronica ballads, against an arresting audiovisual backdrop.
Over seven songs from her album, Fiona projected an ethereal performance, with her haunting vocals supplemented by archive sound recordings, and backing track. At times, this track felt close to to overwhelming her voice, blurring the lines between what was live and what was recorded, which could have been off-putting in other hands but added to the other-worldly air. The underlying almost industrial synthesising adding extra texture, and almost disconcerting emotion.
Behind her, we were gliding over locations on an old map of Aberdeenshire, before being overlaid by swooping drone footage over various landscapes, ruins, castles, coastlines and hills, befitting the particular song. The involvement of the audio-visual element added an extra dimension, but at times was almost too bewitching, distracting from the performance in front of us. Personal favourites of the songs included the darker stories – “Forvie” the tale of a village swallowed by a nine-day sandstorm, after being cursed by three daughters, and the ill-fated romance of “Tifty’s Annie”. I’d have loved to have heard more about the underlying folklore for all of these tales, had time permitted.
Following a short break, we moved on Mary Macmaster’s commission piece, “For The Love Of Trees”, with a 10 song set combining traditional tunes with modern compositions, all on the subject of trees, and their link to the Celtic cultures of Scotland and Ireland.
In the accompanying programme, and in short interludes for tuning breaks, we learned more about the inspiration for some of the songs – particularly those inspired by recent cultural events, such as the felling of the tallest tree in Edinburgh’s Botanic Gardens due to Storm Éowyn, and the trial of the Sycamore cut down at Hadrian’s Wall.
On stage with Mary (who played electric harp, clàrsach, and sang) were a band comprising of Pete Harvey (cello), Amy Macdougall (vocals), Mairearad Green (accordion and bagpipes), Ciaran Ryan (guitar, fiddle and banjo) and Donald Hay (percussion, including bird and wood recordings).
The performances from the band were excellent, and the melding of instruments worked well together. Having the pipes as the first song is a bold choice (and it’s always bold to have pipes played indoors, such is the volume produced!) but the way the melodies built over time, adding layers to the harp gave a harmonious air. However, at times the vocal performances felt a little out of sync, which is maybe a natural reaction to not having sung together much before.
The electric harp is fabulous instrument in Mary’s hands, but the effect of the clàrsach in the penultimate tune “Cumha Crann nan Teud: Lament for the Tree of Strings” was exceptional.
The songs were accompanied by high resolution images of trees, from interesting perspectives (for example, close-up shots of lichen, tree knots, and branching elements) but in contrast to the high drama of Fiona Soe Paing’s AV, this felt a little flat in comparison. The images were of amazing quality, but were on a long-ish loop, so there was a sense of deja vu as the set progressed, and images reappeared. It might have invoked a stronger emotional connection if the images were tied more closely to the songs and their lyrics – it felt a little strange on the dying notes of “Rowan” to have holly leaves shown. Similarly, I was expecting to see the evocative broken Cedar tree in “The Cedar, Silent” and the now-felled Sycamore from “Sycamore Gap”.
With a rousing rendition of Pulp’s “The Trees”, the evening drew to a close, and to warm appreciation from the crowd. Taken as a whole, the evening was a pleasurable insight into how non-traditional traditional music can be, with the two performances complementing each other well with their differences as well as their similarities.
Edinburgh TradFest runs from 2nd – 12th May 2025. For more details, please see: https://edinburghtradfest.com/