MADDY Prior made a welcome return to York with two new voices, as opposed to Steeleye Span, and proceeded to deliver a journey around England, the USA and Middle Europe that alternated between the spine-tingling and rollicking jollity.

Accompanied by the very talented Hannah James on accordion and clog and Giles Lewin on fiddle, alto recorder and bagpipes, Maddy introduced a wonderful range of songs that moved from Lancashire industrial folk to plains songs and folk/country ballads from the US through to the truly unusual yodelling start to the second half, a parallel harmonic song from Slovenia and a children’s healing song from Georgia.

Weaving through the music and voices were Maddy’s whirling scarf dances and Hannah’s superb clog performances. It’s been a long time since I have seen the clog tradition performed so well and the songs she is working on for her own show, Jig Doll, brought me to tears: haunting, rhythmic threads of melody and nonsensical repetitive vocalisation that really lifted the whole evening.

The finishing touch was a polished rendering of a favourite piece, The Fabled Hare, which is truly a superb blend of nature, myth and magic. A great evening and a taste of what promises to be a talent to watch for in Hannah James.

Review by Alison Spaven