My first opportunity to see Fay Hield with her trio (Rob Harbron and Sam Sweeney) was an enjoyable affair, and also my first experience of London’s ’Folklahoma!’ nights.

The venue was a church and not the easiest to find but for the bunting guiding us in. Inside was a cross between a warehouse and a souk, with huge palm tree lights. Being one of the colder days this year it was unfortunately not the most hospitable of venues for temperature. I look forward to going back in the summer, when it will be great.

Luckily, there was plenty of toe-tapping to be done for the support act, Sophie and Fiachra. With fiddle and pipes they play a pacy mix of Irish and Quebecois tunes. We even had one audience member dancing a very good Irish jig!

In two sets we were treated to about two hours of Fay’s beautiful singing, strong yet playful, and covering material from the US and UK, ballads and nonsense songs. There’s also a delicious gruesome thread to some of Fay’s repertoire, with plenty of death, some by quite unusual means, all delivered with a lovely Yorkshire brogue.

The first half opened with an American folk song about being bitten by a rattle snake. This was followed by a nursery rhyme accompanied by Sam on the nykelharpa. One great advantage of having Sam and Rob on stage is the large range of instruments they can play between them, providing a wide range of backing appropriate to the mood of each song. ’Mad Family’ may be a nonsense song, but it is jaunty and catchy, and was certainly one of the highlights of the first half, alongside the mournful and beautiful ’Little Yellow Roses’ set in the Spanish Civil War, and the wonderful ’The Looking Glass’ by Rudyard Kipling (with a bit of help from Peter Bellamy). It was also great to hear Sam and Rob strike up for a tune set.

The second half was an equally enjoyable affair, with the trio showing no signs of flagging despite two very lengthy sets. The ’Banks of the Nile’ is a favourite of mine, and was delivered with the right level of aplomb and sensitivity. ’King Henry’ was a great fast number, and all too soon I was singing along to the ’Grey Goose and Gander’ as the last song of the night.

This was originally to be the album release tour, but the album has been delayed until a bit later in the year. After a very enjoyable night I am really looking forward to getting my hands on a copy, although I have to lament that not all the songs I heard can possibly make it onto there.