Rura - Live at the Old Fruitmarket (2020)

Back in February, Rura had good reasons for celebrating. Since forming, the band had enjoyed 10 years of continual success, garnering multiple awards along the way. Starting with their breakthrough at 2010’s Celtic Connections where they won the Danny Kyle Award, followed in 2011 when they were hailed ‘Up and Coming Artist of the Year’ at the MG Alba Scots Trad Music Awards and then, in the 2015 edition of those awards, ‘Live Act of the Year’. Plenty to celebrate and there’s no better place for celebrations than Glasgow during the musical smorgasbord that is Celtic Connections. For the last night of this year’s festival, one of its best-loved venues, The Old Fruitmarket, was handed over to Rura and around 1200 people had the pleasure of seeing and hearing the band, alongside myriad guests, reprise material from throughout their 10 years. Fortunately, thanks to a bit of forward planning, Keir Long was there to record the concert, and so the rest of us can now sit back and enjoy a little over an hour of spectacular live music from one of Scotland’s most exciting young bands.

During their career, Rura have released three studio albums and the setlist for the concert sampled material from all three. The most recent of these studio albums, 2018’s In Praise of Home, provides the majority, six out of the eleven tracks. This is no surprise as its release marked a significant step in the band’s evolution. Firstly, it was entirely instrumental and, secondly, all tracks were the band’s own compositions. Live at the Old Fruitmarket opens with one of these tracks, Catriona’s. Written for Orcadian fiddler Catriona Price, the piece starts simply enough with a steady bodhrán beat from David Foley, strummed guitar from Adam Brown supplemented by the keyboards of Steven Blake. We don’t wait too long before they’re joined by Jack Smedley’s fiddle and the four current members of Rura are off and running. As the tune develops, David switches to flute, so fiddle and flute can weave patterns around each other, developing Catriona’s into the subtly textured piece that’s familiar from the In Praise of Home album. But if you are familiar with the tune’s original arrangement it won’t take long to realise there’s a rather greater depth of sound developing in this live version. Behind the band, there’s a full-blown string section at work. Brought together especially for the Fruitmarket concert were the exceptional talents of Seonaid Aitken and Megan Henderson on violin, Patsy Reid on viola and Alice Allen on cello.

Although essentially an instrumental album, In Praise of Home included spoken word passages on two tracks, the title track and I’ll Never Forget. They’re both atmospheric, contemplative pieces and they’re included on the Fruitmarket album with the much pacier pipe and fiddle piece, Day One, sandwiched between them. The three tracks perfectly demonstrate the creative drivers of the current members of Rura, both individually and collectively. On the one hand the exploration of their personal and musical roots, on the other, a determination to build on their thorough knowledge of the Scottish tradition, creating contemporary music that pushes all the right buttons for their audiences. Listening to these three tracks, you hear the Fruitmarket crowd following the music’s changing moods each step of the way.

The rebirth of Rura as an instrumental four-piece was triggered when song writer and vocalist Adam Holmes decided to leave. Having been with the band for their first two albums, his absence would likely prove problematic if they wanted to include his songs in the set. Fortunately, they could welcome both his voice and electric guitar back for the Fruitmarket concert and so we have the delights of Weary Days from the 2015 album Despite The Dark and Mary from 2012’s Break It Up. Two songs that, for me, epitomise his time with the band.

Also returning to the band as a guest, Chris Waite, the band’s original guitarist, adds electric guitar to Dark Reel, a Fraser Fifield composition that’s probably my favourite amongst the instrumentals on Despite the Dark. It’s a showpiece for Steven Blake’s piping that builds and builds over seven minutes and, although the live version is no longer than the album recording, the fuller sound makes for an even more impressive performance.

The Glorious 45 is the other track chosen from Despite The Dark. A two-tune set, the first tune, Ophelia, features its composer, Ali Hutton, guesting on whistle. The second tune, written by Steven Blake, brings pipes to the fore once again, with Ali and Steven both blowing up a storm. Another two-tune set, Elliott’s, takes the band even further back in their history. Recorded on their debut album, it’s a Finlay MacDonald composition and Rura managed to lure him away from the day job as Director of Piping at Glasgow’s National Piping Centre to join them on stage. Elliott’s starts gently, focussing on Jack’s delightful fiddle playing. Then, when the second tune takes over, the pipes lead, Steven, switching to keyboards, letting Finlay take centre stage. The entire band build up a fair head of steam, making merry with one of the more energetic pieces on the album, much to the delight of the crowd.

This run through some of the high spots of the album wouldn’t be complete without mentioning one final guest, Breabach’s James Lindsay. His double-bass subtly enriches most of the album’s tracks without ever hogging the spotlight, whilst he’s also responsible for adding synthesiser when needed. James is no stranger to Rura, although never a touring member, he played bass guitar on their debut album.

Fittingly, after this trip through their history, the album closes, as did the concert, with two more tracks from the 2018 album. Horizons Pt.1 and Pt.2 perfectly illustrate the Rura of today, consummate musicians, composing tunes that hit home on so many different levels. The two Horizons are complete contrasts, the first a sparse, contemplative tune, written by Steven but featuring Jack’s delicate fiddle. Part 2, after a calm enough start with guitar and fiddle, rapidly picks up pace becoming a glorious crescendo.

When the shout “One last time Glasgow, let’s see your hands, come on, make some noise” rings out, the image of a jumping, waving, cheering, in fact typically Scottish audience, comes instantly to mind. In these times, when we’re starved of live music, it’s bound to stir up memories. For many, those memories likely arrive tinged with a longing for what we currently can’t have but give Rura a few seconds and the energy and brilliance of their playing is enough to drive away such thoughts. For Rura, February 2nd 2020 was a night they’ll never forget and, armed with this album, we can all acquire a small stake in those memories, along with some of the very best contemporary Scottish music.