There’s a lot going on in Cumbria, nearly as much as in the East Neuk!

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At Cumbria’s Stones Barn, a haven for artistic learning since 2001, Maddy and her daughter Rose-Ellen Kemp offer musical and singing retreats. From singing for the uncertain to advanced techniques, all can benefit from their excellent and formally recognised tutelage. You might run into Martin Carthy, you might run into Karine Polwart, you might even treat yourself to the family-friendly field music festival that is the Forgotten Lands Festival - that happens in May by the way - so if that’s your cup of tea, get down the A74 where a fine brew awaits.

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And it is from this Petri dish of Cumbrian culture that the substance of this evening arises, and that substance is undeniably singing. The art of singing is so at the heart of everything we heard, the rocky core upon which everything rests, singing to tell stories, singing to stir the soul, singing to make you feel good. And it did!

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Let’s talk instrumentation. The surprise from the go was Andrew ‘spud’ Sinclair’s guitar. It was electric. Electric and crunchy, I thought we’d be getting delicately plucked acoustic to chum the sangsters, I didn’t expect ROCK! Spud, broadly speaking deployed a restrained palette of overdriven power chords alternated with clean, chorused fingered arpeggios.

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