Sylvia Barnes - The Colour Of Amber

(September 2007) Soo Sewin' Silk * Baltic Street * Fair Annie * The Turn Of The Road * Glasgow Lassie * Lonely Waterloo * The Colour Of Amber * The End O't * Prince Heathen * What Can A Young Lassie Dae Wi' An Auld Man * Todlen Hame.

Sylvia Barnes’ pedigree in traditional music is a long and distinguished one. Together with her late husband Jim, she formed the vocal nucleus of the influential Glasgow band Kentigern, and was one of the elite group of female vocalists to sing with The Battlefield Band before moving to England in the 1980s.

Sylvia fronted several bands during this time and continued to perform as a duo with Jim, becoming firm favourites with folk club and festival audiences throughout the country and abroad. They released a number of well-received recordings. Sylvia continues to be in demand as a solo singer, being a frequent guest at singing festivals in this country and in Ireland, and was recognised as Scots Singer Of The Year at The Scots Trad Music Awards of 2006.

Among the very top flight of Scots singers, Sylvia is a dramatic performer with a wonderful voice. She can render passion, humour and gentle sentiment with equal ease. Her deep commitment to her songs and her involvement in them bring them to life in a way that few other singers can achieve. This album highlights and emphasises these comments.

The songs comprise big ballads Fair Annie and Prince Heathen, traditional songs Soo Sewin’ Silk, Todlen Hame, Lonely Waterloo, The Colour Of Amber and Glasgow Lassie, poems by Violet Jacob set to music (The End O’t and Baltic Street), The Turn of The Road by Les Barker, plus an arrangement of Robert Burns’ song What Can a Young Lassie Dae Wi’ An Auld Man.

Guest musicians include Sandy Stannage (guitar), Jennifer Wrigley (fiddle), Hazel Wrigley (guitar, piano) and Frank McLaughlin (smallpipes, whistle).

"One of the finest ballad singers of her generation."