Greentrax releases this month Gaughan Live! at the Trades Club (CDTRAX 322). The album captures an exhilarating Dick Gaughan session by the most potent singer ever to emerge from the Scottish folk-music revival.
The Trades Club in Hebden Bridge, North Yorkshire, is one of Dick’s favorite places to play. In November/December every year he does a tour through England and Wales and the final night of the tour is always the Trades Club. It’s not a folk club and in fact they put on rock gigs and stand-up comedy, and it’s one of the few venues of that kind where someone like Dick can get the "House Full" notices up on a Saturday night.
One of the many reasons Dick has so much affection for the place is that it is a solidly working class venue and is one of the few venues where the idea of a performer having to explain why their work contains commentary on political and social issues would be absurd – it is not only taken for granted, but expected, that working class art and politics arc inseparable.
Dick’s gig at the Trades Club in December, 2007, was recorded by Ian McHarg and this ‘live’ album is the result – something his many followers have been requesting for some time. This is just Dick and his guitar in front of a capacity audience doing what Dick does so well on so many nights of the year, performing songs he loves and playing guitar tunes in his own inimitable style.
Buy the CD:
- In North America: Gaughan Live! at the Trades Club (import)
- In Europe: Gaughan Live at the Trades Club
Author: World Music Central News Room
World music news from the editors at World Music Central
