| 16 August 2009
Acoustic Music Centre @ St. Brides
13 August 19.15
Described as having “best kept secret status” and “one of Scotland’s most prolific song-writers”, Michael Marra is not widely known but is highly regarded, with a fiercely loyal and passionate fan-base. As part of the Acoustic Music Centre at St. Brides, he performed his outstanding set in an eerie stretch of the church.
The expansive space was occupied only by his instruments, softly illuminated midst the darkness - a befittingly tattered upright piano, an acoustic guitar and case. His one-hour set shifted between song and poetic verse with introductions of wry, witty, inherently Scottish anecdotes. His material typically depicts drab, ordinary Dundonian, often alcohol fuelled, conduct or scenarios.
Muggy Sha, musically unaccompanied verse, is the eponymous pseudonym for 14 women barred from every pub in Dundee, whom he was given mug shots of from his friend ‘Jock’. I suspect this friend may well be Jock Scott, the infamous Edinburgh-born musician and poet, who came to my mind early in the set as notably comparable in content, humour and style.
Marra’s sound is more diverse, reminiscent of greats such as Randy Newman and Ivor Cutler. Ranging from heart-aching melancholy to laugh-a-line entertaining - all unmistakably brilliant. He is charming, in appearance - unpretentious yet elegant, an archetypal artist in beret and sandals. The audience were enthralled throughout, and invited to sing along with the penultimate song, to which almost the whole auditorium obliged, reciting every lyric.
The final song, Rabbie Burns’ Green Grow the Rashes O clarified my pleasure in such an unrestrainedly Scottish performance, refreshing to finally see such a thing during this Festival with a serious lack of Scottish acts. Michael Marra will be performing again 17th – 18th November with Frank McConnell in A Wee Home From Home at the Tron Theatre in Glasgow.
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