Music on Monday: Elbow Live

We had the chance to see the fantastic Karine Polwart last Friday night at the Peter Potter Gallery in Haddington on a rehearsal gig prior to her tour. With her were Steven Polwart and Inge Thomson, and holy mackerel, what a sound the three of them make together.

It was an intimate but also momentous gig, as it marked her "global ukulele debut" - "it's only small but it can sound really rubbish" - and several new songs took a bow, which hopefully means that there's a new album somewhere along the road, which is a very exciting prospect, because This Earthly Spell quickly became one of my favourite albums.

She's one of the most talented songwriters out there at the moment, certainly up there with the likes of Gillian Welch, or Danny Schmidt - that same apparently effortless, inexhaustible source of melody and thoughtful, smart and tender lyrics. Along with big ginger cattle and the Burrell Collection, she's a Scottish National Treasure. If you haven't seen, her, you really should. Anyway, I got to hear her sing "this wirry eyrrth" live so I was happy.

Links to tour dates at her website.