Caledonia is a warm rush of Scottish air. theSpace @ Surgeons’ Hall suits it. The room feels close. The music fills it. Elsa Jean McTaggart is mesmerising. She sings with poise. She moves between violin and pipes with ease. It’s beautiful to hear and to watch. Gary Lister’s vocals blend well. His playing gives the songs weight and swing. You feel the ceilidh spirit in the room. Old tunes meet fresh arrangements. Stories stitch it all together. Footage of the islands deepens the mood. You can almost smell the peat smoke.
This is folk as living culture, not museum piece. The set is tight. The pace is kind. You leave lighter, and a little prouder of Scotland’s songbook. Forty-five minutes pass in a blink.
Hebridean Fire is a show that carries you away to the Outer Hebrides. Elsa Jean McTaggart shines brightly on stage with a presence that is both warm and commanding. Her voice is strong and expressive, and she moves easily between guitar, mandolin, fiddle, melodeon and whistle. Each instrument seems like an extension of her. Gary Lister adds depth and rhythm on piano, accordion synth, bass and stomp. Together they create music that is rich, layered and full of life.
The audience are treated to reels, jigs, Gaelic songs and tunes that stretch back through the generations. There are also songs born of more recent times. The mix of past and present feels seamless. Stories about their cottage on the Isle of Lewis add to the atmosphere, grounding the music in real lives and places. Images projected on screen show the landscapes that shaped these sounds. It all combines to create a powerful sense of place.
The show is informal and intimate, but it is also polished. Elsa commands attention through her voice and gestures. It is difficult to take your eyes off her. She can lift the energy of the room with a fast reel, or hush it with a haunting Gaelic melody. Gary balances her perfectly, steady and playful, a partner in both music and life. The effect is joyful and deeply moving.
This is a reminder of roots, of choices and of the power of tradition carried forward. The duo offer a glimpse of a living culture, one that feels immediate and personal. At times it feels like being in a village hall on Lewis, at other times it feels ready for a Las Vegas stage. Elsa has the presence of a one-of-a-kind superstar, and this show makes that clear.
Elsa Jean McTaggart and her husband Gary Lister have been a regular feature of the Edinburgh Fringe since 2011. Since then, they have built up a reputation for their interpretations of Scottish music. They always draw a crowd. This year, they bring three shows to the Fringe. These include a singalong Scots of the Pops,Caledonia and their storming sell-out show Hebridean Fire. Your reviewer chose to see Hebridean Fire.
Elsa Jean McTaggart. Picture by David Kerr.
Elsa opens the show with a stirring fiddle piece that quickly has her audience clapping in time with the rhythm. Gary plays the keyboard. A third musician, Lydia, plays the beatbox. They perform in front of a massive screen. The screen projects pictures and video of the places we visit on our musical tour.
Elsa gives a running commentary on her choice of pieces. She intersperses the music with explanations of their connection to the places we are visiting in music. We learn how Elsa and Gary came to live on Lewis during the year the world stood still. It was 2020. We also learn the secret of Harris tweed.
Elsa shows her musical versatility on the fiddle, mandolin, tin whistle, and a small guitar. All are conveniently at hand to her on her ‘instrument tree’. On our musical tour, we experience rip-roaring ceilidh music. We also have an interview with a local Lewis character. Additionally, we hear a hauntingly beautiful Gàidhlig version of the twenty-third psalm. Finally, we listen to some of her own compositions written during the Covid lockdown.
Elsa and Gary have found the perfect mix. They know how to draw, interact with and please a crowd, but they don’t rest on their laurels. They’re not afraid to experiment with new material. They’ll be a feature of the Fringe for a few years yet, and deservedly so.
The Scottish folk singer Elsa Jean McTaggart is a regular fixture at the Edinburgh Fringe each year. In this presentation, she showcases the work of great female folk singers from these islands and from North America. In this tribute, she makes no attempt to imitate the singers she honours. Instead, she puts her own stamp on these wonderful songs.
From Emmylou Harris’s Tulsa Queen, we tour around Scotland with an interpretation of her own aunt Janet Russell’s song, Hill of Ardmorn and Elsa Jean’s own mum’s favourite song, How can I keep from Singing? as popularised by Jean Redpath. We shoot across to Ireland for a tearjerking version of Mary Black’s Song for Ireland and then cross back to Wales for a spirited rendition of Mary Hopkin’s Those Were the Days; audience participation was encouraged. England was represented by the poignant Sandy Denny song, Who Knows Where Time Goes?
Crossing the Atlantic, the legendary Joan Baez is recognised with a version of The Night they Drove Old Dixie Down and Joni Mitchell with her signature song, Big Yellow Taxi.
On the back of this enjoyable tribute concert, Elsa Jean McTaggart has released a tribute CD, also entitled Great Women of Folk. Copies are available in the vestibule on the way out. I bought one.
