On Wednesday night young singer-songwriter Blair Dunlop bought his house of Jack’s tour to the Greystones in Sheffield. Blair who this time appeared with a band featuring Katriona Gilmore on fiddle and mandolin, Fred Claridge on drums, Jacob Stoney on keyboards & Blair himself on lead guitar. They started the evening with the 2 opening tracks from his new album, ‘Something is going to give way’ and ’45s C 69′ a song about a London nightclub back in the 60s . Also featured on the album is a track called ’45s C 14′ which is about the same nightclub only what it would be like now.

The band had a great relationship on stage and considering this was only a few days in to their tour they sounded like they’d been together for years, supporting Blairs growth from a solo performer and bringing new life to a few of Blairs older material .  Dunlop has a natural presence on stage with a light sense of humour & a great rapport, not only with his band but also with the audience, which included his dad so inevitably jokes & heckles were perfectly timed. Halfway through the gig the band left the stage and Blair gave us a couple of solo acoustic numbers including ‘Light and blossom’ the title track of his debut album, and a version of Richard Thompson’s 1952 ‘Vincent black lightning’. As a fellow Thompson fan – Great choice!  Blair has an inspiring guitar style, full of character & i would say Richard Thompson has a fair bit of influence to his electric playing.

I’ve been watching Blair perform since he played at Derby Festival 2012, it’s been great to watch him grow from strength to strength through various collaborations (Larkin Poe & The Albion Band)    Solo & now with the band. After having him on the show with Dave Eyre on Thank Goodness it’s Folk & catching up with him after the show, he’s still just a really down to earth nice kinda guy, thanks for the dedication. Blair finished the evening off without the band, stripping everything back & played a beautiful version of Turlough O’Carolan’s tune ‘Si Bheag Si Mhor’. Thanks for a great evening & Good luck with the new album, it comes highly recommended!

(Edited by Kirsty Bromley)