The last ever phone book was issued in March 2024, so to say someone’s voice so impresses that they could just sing the phone book to set happy ears a-wigglin’ will soon become a thing of history. Like wooden teeth or signing your name with a quill. These days, flashing a teaky smile or ostentatiously wafting a feathery signature onto vellum would, socially, be regarded as mere affectation, at best drawing askance glances.
​
But… Seeing as the final phone book is still current I can, without fear of scorn, say that Hannah Rarity could set me ears alight by just singing a few pages of that esteemed tome.
​
And Hannah’s co-pilot for the evening is none other than BBC Radio Scotland’s Young Traditional Musician of the year 2024, Calum McIlroy on guitar who exercised supreme taste in his accompaniment, the guitar maintaining a respectful reverence for the thing that lay at the centre of the evening - Hannah’s voice.
​
For her voice is a thing to behold in a live setting - perfect pitch, wonderful range, immaculate and ever-interesting phrasing, her voice simply held the songs, caressed them, sent them into the rafters and back… I was mesmerised.
​
A sprightly ‘Alison Cross’ set the eve off, you’ll know it…. ‘awa, awa ye ugly witch’ etc., swiftly followed by ‘Home’ wherein Hannah longs for ‘not just a place to lay my head’. She reveals that she has bought a flat in Glasgow and was settling in just fine until she witnessed a neighbour going through her wheely bin! Oooft.
​
A real showstopper is I’m Not Going Anywhere’ written in conjunction with the great Boo Hewerdine, a beautiful lullaby and for a few moments, time actually stands still. Hannah paints Boo as a song ‘fixer’. People – like her - take their songs to him, songs that are nearly there, songs that are not quite right. Boo listens, strokes his chin, hmm, try this, try that and lo - life is breathed into the song. What a guy.
​
The other writer that Hannah has reverence for is Karine Polwart. Her ‘Meet Me at Loganlea’ is brand new and was commissioned by Live Music Now Scotland, a great organisation that gets live music by young musicians out into the community. The song was inspired by tales told by care home residents, brought to life in a beautiful song, presented perfectly by Hannah.
​
I could go on… and on of course, but I think you get the picture.
​
But before I put my swishy quill down I must, of course mention the ever-entertaining raffle. Last year at the club Adam Holmes said that, at one of the folk clubs, the top prize in the raffle was… and I quote… ‘a dead fish’. Well, Hannah has coloured in this picture a little… it was Stonehaven. The prize was a frozen trout, which she actually won when she played there. After the gig, driving all the way back to Glasgow she had to rest it in the car footwell with the cauld blowers on max to keep the wee beastie from defrosting!
Review by Callum MacLeod Photos by Peter Salkeld