Reviews

Artist: Jamie Smith
Album:Jamie Smith
Label:Self Released
Tracks: 10
Rating: ***
Contact: www.jamski.co.uk

One of the great advantages of writing instrumentals is that you don't have to come up with the words to match the tune. Consequently you can let the sillier things in life name a song, without having to come up with some obscure words to match the event. Such is the case with the opening track on Jamie's debut cut..
"Clare Toast" is a set inspired by a friend who put the toast under the grill and forgot about it until the kitchen and flat were full of smoke. A great thing to name a song after. As with a lot of traditional music, "Clare Toast" is actually a set of tunes, which, on this occasion Jamie wrote the first half and then took a Brian MacNeill to finish it off.
Most traditional based Scottish Fiddle music is a blend, rather than a single malt. The trick is to find which flavours go together. Despite his relative young age, it's something Jamie seems to have mastered very quickly.
"Jamie Smith" the album is a healthy mix of both selfpenned and learnt tunes. It borrows heavily from taditional sources and puts them in with contemporary pieces.
He's also managed to put a good strong band around himself to ensure every possible fibre is drawn out of each song and exposed to the air. Jamie manages to find strength in every combination of tunes he assembles into sets.
That said, he's not the finished article. You can hear flashes in his songs that say "I'm good, but I know this could be better." Like most folk musicians, I'm sure Jamie will find other bands and projects to sit alongside his solo work. He can learn from that and build on a solid foundation.
The great thing about music is that it's fluid. Jamie Smith should be able to float a lot of boats and have them join him on the journey.