Rum Ragged – Ailis Sutherland – Ewan Robertson : Celtic Connections – Drygate Brewery – January 30, 2026
Written by celtic music radio on February 1, 2026
The Drygate is a well-respected micro-brewery that also hosts an excellent performance space, much used by touring musicians et al, which has become one of the core auditoriums for Celtic Connections’ events. I’ve attended many an excellent gig there and this one was no exception – except, perhaps, in the sense that it was exceptionally enjoyable.
First on stage was Breabach’s Ewan Robertson demonstrating that he’s also a first-class performer even without the band around him.
He opened with his take on Ola Belle Reid’s I’ve Endured. Versions of the song have been recorded by such luminaries as Del McCoury and Tim O’Brien. I’m pleased to say that Ewan’s strong vocal delivery and clean crisp guitar accompaniment put his version firmly on a par with those. He followed that with The Cottager’s Reply, a setting of the poem by Frank Mansell that decries the “holiday-home colonisation” of the Cotswolds. There was perceptible emotion behind Ewan’s singing as the Highlands too have suffered from this.
Hold the Line was a brand-new song written that day “between Glencoe and Tyndrum”. Its general sentiment was inspired by the courage of his friend Paralympian Gold Medallist David Smith’s determination to succeed against all odds. Ewan’s song sees that kind of determination in current struggles against brutal governments. A powerful and obviously strongly felt performance. Ewan is a man who’s not afraid to show his feelings. Across the Western Ocean was originally a sea shanty telling of the emigrants from Ireland fleeing from famine to seek their fortune in America, but I’m sure the memory of the Highland Clearances was also in Ewan’s and the audience’s minds.
His final song was Richard Thompson’s classic “Rebel Without a Cause” song, 1952 Vincent Black Lightning. In the light of this year’s Dick Gaughan tribute concert, Dick’s classic version of the song, the fact that, as my mother used to say, “Everybody and his Granny” has been singing Gaughan songs during this festival, I’d have to say this was in honour of that giant of Scottish folk music. Ewan’s power-driven guitar-work did more than ample justice to the song. Well done, Ewan.
Next up was Ailis Sutherland. She’s a phenomenal piper with a phenomenal band – prize-winning fiddler Eryn Rae, Young Folk Award Winner Pablo Lafuente on guitar, and former Composer of the Year and the session man everyone wants to play with Mike Vass on tenor guitar. To get players like that to support you, you’ve got to be good. And so she proved. Her masterly musical skills were backed by a clear confidence on stage and the warm rapport established with the audience during her introductions.
The Dorian Mode is a minor scale that also flattens the 7th. I’ve seen its mood described as “darkness with a hint of light.” Well, Ailis pumped that light up to 100W with her opener: Dorian Jig. Yew Cottage was inspired by time spent at the house near Dunninald Castle in Montrose. I googled the cottage: it’s a lovely place, and this was a lovely tune.
I particularly enjoyed some pieces performed on a very prettily decorated set of small-pipes which were a gift from her family. One was dedicated to a lengthy tour of Germany where she developed a passion for Aperol Spritz which she claimed resulted in her having to go to the dentist for her first-ever filling! That was followed by a real toe-tapping Hornpipe and Reel.
Ailis, returning to her Highland pipes, told us of her enthusiasm for integrating Pipe Band tunes into her stage repertoire. One of these was a very early tune her teacher gave her called, rather gorily, Carnage. This, along with a rousing number called The Big Yin, closed her very enthusiastically received set. First class musicianship.
After the break, it was time for a set by Newfoundland’s Rum Ragged (brilliant name). The band are accordionist Aaron Collis, singer/guitarist Mark Manning, fiddler Colin Grant, and multi-instrumentalist Zack Nash. I frequently play their tracks on my radio show and had been really miffed to have missed them at last year’s Orkney Folk Festival because of transport difficulties. So it has to be said that I was “right in the mood” for this one.
An a cappella close harmony intro expressed the following sentiment “Every little inlet every cove and every rock, are the stuff that you are made of, you are Island stock” before launching into that paean of praise for the Newfoundland people The Road to Lushes Bight (Island Stock) from their latest album Gone Jiggin’, following that with a set of reels. The album title proved prophetic as already people were dancing in the aisles. The band were obviously enjoying the warm reception – particularly fiddler Colin Grant who rivalled Saltfishforty’s Douglas Montgomery as the happiest looking fiddler I’ve seen. He gained a point on Douglas by having eyebrows that kept time.
1949, from their 2024 eponymous Rum Ragged album, was introduced with wry humour by Mark as being inspired by the year Newfoundland voted by the narrowest of margins to join Canada and the subsequent, not always tranquil, history that followed. It’s a song, both moving and beautiful composed by St Johns’ songwriter Amelia Curran. Next came Jim Payne’s song The Thing About Fish which described how fishing had helped shape the character of the people. It’s a superb song and Mark really sold it to the crowd.
The traditional “Farewell to the Maid on the Shore” type ballad The Green Shores of Fogo came next. That’s another one with a lovely melody from the new album. This was followed by a set of Newfoundland singles – a form that has been described as “eccentric polkas”. Mark warned that there was no point in googling “Newfoundland Singles” as the local equivalent of match.com would probably just bring up his entry. The dancers in the aisles had a good time with the singles.
The old traditional lumber-camp song Save Your Money While You’re Young (For You’ll Need It When You’re Old) proved to be the perfect singalong number as everyone joined in on the hook. Flesh and Blood, from the Hard Times album, forcefully posed the question “Why’s the price of bread and milk so dear and flesh and blood’s so cheap?” Very timely – and followed by raucous applause and agreement from the audience.
Ladies Man, a tongue-in-cheek traditional tale of a serial philanderer, got the feet tapping again with its insistent jigtime beat. A more relaxing feel-good song by Newfoundland writer Roger John was next: The Apple Tree – “I don’t care what happens to me, I’ll just sit in the apple tree that my grandmother gave to me”. Mark then treated us to a recitation about a poor but honest man called The Ragged Jacket and the band seguéd into the similar sentiments of Dirt Poor (both from the Hard Times album). The trio of “underdog” numbers was completed by the finale. The traditional Work, Boys, Work (And Be Contented) like some of the previous songs, had a wryly humorous touch to its delivery – indeed, notwithstanding some very serious themes at times, the show throughout was underpinned by the band’s good humour.
There was a not unexpected standing ovation for a tremendous show, so the band came back and treated us to a fine set of reels – at the close of which the aisle dancers must have been exhausted. An exceptionally fine time was had by all.
BOB LESLIE
https://www.facebook.com/ailis.sutherland
https://www.facebook.com/ewan.m.robertson/
