Dallahan

It’s really quite exciting to approach the Crail Community Hall and see ‘Dallahan - Sold Out’ writ big, it could be London, New York, Paris, Munich… there’s a buzz, a vibe, a palpable crackle of electricity in the air that Dallahan have descended on our bijou coastal settlement.

The first gig of the tour and, a few bars into the opener, singer Jack Badcock realises he’s forgotten to plug his guitar in. Much to the mirth of his colleagues they start again. Lovely touch, maybe keep that bit in, a wee everyday human touch in a set that can only be described as superhuman!

Jack, of course, graced the folk club a while back and I placed his voice as somewhere in the vicinity of Michael Bublé, completely different style of music of course, but there’s a richness, a delivery that feels akin to Mr Bublé. Jack’s a real singer, not a ‘folk’ singer and, hearing him live again, that proposition stands with me. He’s a fantastic singer, blessed with a set of pipes that could tackle anything, folk, jazz, rock, give him a shopping list to sing and he’ll have you mesmerised… enchanted!

And what’s this, Benedict Morris is missing and there’s another dude in his place. Well, standing in for one night only - and, they say, the best paid member of the band that night - we have Graham Mackenzie on fiddle. You’d expect a stand in who’s quickly learned the tunes for one gig only to hide at the back a bit, hoping no-one notices any fluffs. Well, that didn’t happen. Graham navigated everything that Dallahan threw at him note perfect, unison lines, improvisations, starts, finishes, variations, sections, seamlessly delivered.

And how do you describe Dallahan’s music. Yes, it falls into the set of trad/folk music, but that really doesn’t do it justice. The music is intensely arranged, things are happening all the time, melodies are executed at a fierce pace, a disciplined intensity. The music shifts, Balkan influenced one minute then, in the same tune a bluegrass feel emerges, then you could be listening to something akin to prog rock or, almost jazz. Sounds gimmicky? Not a chance. The music shimmys, it dodges, it feints one way then another, try to catch its tail and you’ll be left grasping air. In my notebook I scribbled the name of Celtic’s Jimmy ‘Jinky’ Johnstone. ‘Jinky’ for his elusive and jinking style that allowed him to easily get past defenders with his outstanding control, balance, and skill. Well, Dallahan are the ‘Jinky’ Johnstone of folk, blink and the ball’s in the net.

So, salutations to Jack Badcock on guitar and vocals, Ciaran Ryan on banjo, Andrew Waite on accordion and Graham Mackenzie on fiddle, I was stunned by what I heard. These are ‘monster’ players composers and arrangers, to even get the chance to sit in the same room as them is a privilege, we are indeed honoured and… the folk club does it again!

Words by Callum MacLeod, photos by Peter Salkeld