CCA, Glasgow
3rd Feb, 2023
Raveloe took to the stage at the CCA Glasgow to give a well written performance of her songs (all her own writing) that we were lucky to catch because of the covid restrictions. Kim Grant started her musical life in 2019 as a solo artist and ended up recording during these restrictions. Her band looked great on electric guitar like a rock band in set up, and her music had transformative powers and the lyrics were close to her heart, their togetherness and tightness had us glued. It rolled around with a feeling of suffering stories and painful things but put to a kind of Celtic rock with grace. She stood tall and ready, leading the band and the audience through her songs.
The room at the CCA was a nice space with about 144 capacity so there was a warmth of intimacy; allowing for the music to find an easy conveyance travelling very well. Stina Marie Claire (which I think was an alias) was followed on by her band Honeyblood who were all in white, playing, violin, cello, guitar, drum and keyboard. She did very well talking about herself and the group.
Music for her was an obvious necessity, and her voice had an epic, enjoyably sad tone to it as she opened her throat. Her stories were founded on that sadness, an advocate of crying during pain, let it out she said. She began with a song called ‘The Human Condition’, a name somewhat cutting edge in music.
There was a variety in the performance not only of genres but also instrument swapping. As she announced that the evenings sway would be all or some or none. Written fresh from her EP the tales she told were of solitude, suffering but from a point of personal (ongoing) experience, all in some kind of loss.
It stepped up and up as the songs grew great flesh and they started chopping things up. With great rhythms strong, broad and eventful. She even got the band to quit the stage a couple of times leaving her to perform some solo numbers on guitar and piano. There were many things that were a first for her. One being that it was the most musicians she had played live with.
She came across stronger and closer to us, reeling us in to a world of hurt, grief and night terrors (that can be pretty heavy). So she had presence, and another worldly style sharing her burden and asking us for at least acceptance as a character still in love. She created a changing persona that by the end we saw happen before our eyes, in her last songs she simply sat at the piano to sing in a now prevalent sadness, another thing new to her.
I felt as gently as I could when taken up by this page who signalled some great craft with no little naivety on what she would do and say onstage. And her listeners paid due attention offering outcries between songs and great whoops of support.
The all in white stage presence and innocently looking dress she wore had some kind of comment to it (all details ticked), maybe of that innocence or some kind of clinical appearance. After all she commented that the evening was more about therapy than a live music show (though of course it was for both.)
She came on, held out her hand, as music felt its physical presence grow, her voice become more and more profound and went on until we were in her hands just as she was. She put a broad story into place, she suffered in her experience and she brought it all on with only about an hour’s worth of music. We left with a treasure in our hearts and some alleviation from our heads. Not to mention her outreach for sordid things too many still suffer. Great music to be picked up and allow yourself an insight into how you may be feeling yourself, on the open stage of the 2023 Celtic Connection.
Daniel Donnelly
Mumble Music 