FOLK

Singer Siobhan Miller from Penicuik and fiddler and singer Jeana Leslie from Orkney met while students at the RSAMD, and gave notice that we should expect something special when they won the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award for 2008. They excel in the vocal department in particular, both in Miller’s lovely lead singing and their beautifully judged harmony vocals, but Leslie is also a fine fiddler, and the instrumental sets are augmented by a number of session guests.

Their interpretations of traditional material includes some unusual variants on songs like ‘Time Wears Awa’’, ‘Mad Tom of Bedlam’ (aka ‘Bedlam Boys’), ‘Mild Mary (a version of ‘Four Marys’) and a north-east version of ‘The Parting Glass’, recorded live at the BBC award ceremony and tacked onto the studio tracks here. They have an appealing freshness and vitality, while the more contemporary material is equally well-chosen. A powerful debut.