When Lindsay Lou sings its like listening to a very versatile musical instrument with universal pitch. No need for tuning, the disparate strings, drum beats and vocals of her stalwart showmen the Flat Bellys, are deftly, matched by the singer's incredible, seemingly effortless range. And even though with this ethereal gift, the Blue Grass singer from Michigan could become the biggest show off on the planet, it's clear she prefers to play in a team.
With her Great Lakes state based boys, the bar is set high for experimentation. Her sense of fun and daring is more than matched by the hursuit, becheck shirted and determined ensemble whose professionalism as musicians, storytellers and accapella crooners nets everything down just enough to allow sway with the breeze of her song.
Its easy to lapse into stereotype and genre when reckoning with Blue Grass but, the band know so precisely who they are, they confidently eschew the obvious and blend influences with something so much their own it might be patented. In Lou I hear Emmylou Harris and Nancy Griffiths, but I also hear Aretha Franklin and Nina Simone and Suzanne Vega and Regina Spectre and even odder chimes like Beverley Knight; any number of big female divas. But most of all I hear her own powerful, expressiveness weaving all together, sharp as a bell.
This showcase of material, polished before audiences around the world is made more charming by explanation of heartfelt lyrics and comic asides. 'Show Me A Brick Wall And I'll Run Through It' might be applied to the seeming loyalty these guys have for making authentic music as their vigour in affairs of the heart. And then as we look out of the window at the typical vagaries of an Edinburgh summer they lunge into When The Rain Came hauling in the moody darkness as part of their set.
At the end of the gig Lindsay Lou and the Flatbellys pledged to return to this 'mystical' land. And there was a bit of showing off actually, as the singer, proud of mastering Scots dialectic, pronounced Edinburgh dead-on. No 'Edinbro' yankee twang for her but the full blown rehearsed 'borough.' Forgetting her remarkable talent for a minute this becomes her badge of cool! As we left, my friend remarked: 'I want to be her.' She had a point - what was not to like.
Event: 20 July, 2015