It was with some trepidation that I agreed to review this gig. Transatlantic Sessions is a veritable institution, now in its 31st year of annual performances celebrating the connections between the musical traditions of Scotland, Ireland and North America, with a diverse repertoire featuring six singers and ten musicians.
The house band was led by its longstanding musical directors, Jerry Douglas on dobro and Aly Bain on the fiddle. Also playing the fiddle were John McCusker and Tatiana Hargreaves, and combined with Michael McGoldrick on flute, whistles and uilleann pipes, they provided a distinctive traditional Irish/Scottish sound. Also in the band was James Mackintosh on drums and percussion, Daniel Kimbro on double bass and bass guitar, John Doyle on guitar, Allison de Groot on banjo and Donald Shaw on keyboards and accordion.
The first featured singer, Darrell Scott exemplifies the Transatlantic Sessions mission. He is best known as a Nashville musician and songwriter, and his hits include Long Time Gone for the Dixie Chicks, but tonight he effortlessly blended his style with the Celtic music framework of the band. Scott started with one of his own songs It’s a Great Day to Be Alive and this was followed by a Phil Cunningham composition (Irish Beauty), which he had set to words with the title Wandering Johnny.
Next up was Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh who is best known for her traditional songs sung in Irish. She started with a beautiful version of Si Bheag Si Mhor, written several centuries ago about a mythical battle between two groups of fairies. This was followed by what she described as “two little children’s songs”, including the lively jig Nead Na Lachan (The Duck’s Nest).
The annual Transatlantic Sessions tour always starts at the Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow before making its way to Edinburgh and then on to major concert venues in England, so of course players and singers of Scottish traditional music are well represented. For several years Karine Polwart has been part of the team and this year she performed her composition Rebecca, a moving song inspired by a tree in West Lothian which survived being cut down by a chainsaw along with Liberty Tree, an old song that includes words written by Thomas Paine, which she dedicated to the Palestinian musician Ahmed Abu Amsha who teaches in the camps in Gaza.
Kathy Mattea from West Virgina is a long-standing regular at the Transatlantic Sessions. She is a Grammy Award winner and was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry last year. She performed a Nanci Griffith song Love at the Five and Dime, a bit hit for Mattea forty years ago, followed by another of her great number one country songs Come From The Heart.
Each of the featured singers performed more songs in the second set and there were also songs from members of the band – John Doyle and Daniel Kimbro. All of the singers were on stage throughout, either contributing backing vocals or reclining on comfortable sofas.
To close, Karine Polwart led her fellow vocalists (and the audience) in singing Wild Mountain Thyme. As this is now an endangered species, Polwart says it feels like an act of resistance to keep singing it.
The performance opened and closed with instrumentals and there were several more during each of the two sets. The band kicked off with the traditional Waiting for the Federals, also known as Seneca Square Dance (as performed by Ry Cooder for the Long Riders soundtrack). The tune is thought to pre-date the American Civil War and has several other names, but the band’s version translates it back to its roots on this side of the Atlantic. The encore, Far From Home, is a staple of the Transatlantic Sessions and celebrates the Celtic side of the equation, although its origins are thought to be from a tune developed by Irish immigrants in California. It’s an exhilarating reel with perfectly executed driving rhythms from the drums, bass, guitar, banjo and accordion, and the fiddles, pipes and whistle trying to outdo each other with their embellishments.
If you want to listen to this year’s concert, Live From Celtic Connections 2026 is available from Vertical Records.
