Much was expected of Paul Herron when Edinburgh-based Greentrax Records released his first album, Different Worlds, back in 1992. Other singers have picked up on his songs, notably his opening pair here, Donegal Dreams and Voiceless Millions, but not a lot has been heard from the man himself.
The Scottish tour which he started on Saturday (he plays folk clubs in Montrose, Aberdeen, Glasgow, and Stonehaven from tomorrow until Friday) was intended to re-establish his name and win him some new friends - and it'll be a surprise if he fails to achieve the latter.
An immediately likeable chap with a ready quip and a relish for good-natured badinage, Herron performs like the pal asked to sing at a party. Not your loud, life and soul type. He has a soft singing voice, with phrasing sometimes, perhaps inevitably, reminiscent of Christy Moore, and an eagerness to please ratherthan batter an audience into submission.
Aware that the vast majority here were hearing him for the first time, he mixed the familiar, ranging from a sweet, unaccompanied My Laggan Love to an enthusiastic version of Van Morrison's Brown-Eyed Girl, in with his own songs, which were of variable quality and drew performances to match, the weaker ones telling of love and invoking jolly nice times but lacking conviction, whereas those dealing with political issues carried much more lyrical weight and brought out an admirable steeliness and confidence in his singing.
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