Gig Review: Muireann Bradley at Moth Club

Muireann Bradley turns Hackney’s Moth Club into a time capsule as we step back into a set that wouldn’t look out of place in the heyday of the Greenwich Village scene.

There are few artists as capable of making yourself completely immersed in a unique time and or place as Muireann Bradleywhilst making the whole thing feel new and distinctive. Her Irish background hailing from County Donegal and unique origin makes her perfectly suited to bring these classics new life – as make no mistake this is a largely cover set; but her method of evocative storytelling is second to none: if you weren’t aware going in and she didn’t hold these songs up with the reverence of a believer looking at their gods to worship, you’d think Bradley wrote them herself. She’s a natural; gifted and places you in the groove from the first song to the last.

Trains mean that Niamh Bury’s set I only catch the last few songs of; but she too is equally magical and it’s a fascinating pairing of talented acts. Both her and Bradley have played together before of course; and Bury talks a little bit about it on stage: the celebratory evening for former president of Ireland Michael D. Higgens; who launched a debut spoken word album ‘Against All Certainty’ which allowed for a real proving ground for them both and establishing what will be no doubt an important connection long term. She pulls from her debut album ‘Yellow Roses’ and sings the magical ‘Beehive’ – an alluring hybrid of a track that looks at the myth of folk wisdom and science in a song that feels refreshingly direct given its poetic gaze. “I overheard a conversation,” she sings, “With a scientist and a shaman // they were saying the same things using different words.” It is remarkably mature, gifted and proving herself to be a natural lyricist all in one phase – that flows throughout the rest of the song and indeed the rest of the set; explaining the neatness of complexities wrapped up in a bow.

Bradley opens with Candyman, a traditional take on a song associated with Reverend Gary Davis. Her influence is felt from growing up with her parents and being played Mississippi John Hurt or Davis himself; both of whom are covered here. The blues kinds of lures people in; it attracts people with a sense of longing and guitar purity that is instantly felt long by the time the disarming cover of ‘Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright’, finishes. Her storytelling is as gifted as her covers as the way she weaves the origins of these folk singers really gets you feeling as though you stumbled into a bar in Greenwich village and caught the last heyday of Joan Baez. An anecdote for ‘Freight Train’ cover that let to Elizabeth Cotten’s rediscovery is fascinating; with a small child being looked after in a shopping mall by Cotten herself and that small child turning out to be Peggy Seeger; whose parents would recruit her as a nanny and later discover her musical talent. That natural free flowing energy and sense of discovery is fading from existence; but not here, not under Bradley’s watch -  as home here naturally reliving the past as she is creating her own myth: the disarming take on Seeger’s ‘Whistle Daughter Whistle’ throws you off when she says she can’t whistle but carries a tune perfectly. “I cannot whistle, mother, I guess I don't know how; But if I had a young man, oh, how happy I would be” addresses the gender divide that has a startingly frightening relationship with current day politics despite being written in 1954.

Much of the record is pulled from ‘I Kept these Old Blues’. A cover of ‘Green Green, Rocky Road” captures the spirit of 60s folk as does “When the Levee Breaks” harkens back to the blues, a transformative melody carried with the veteran experience of someone beyond her years. The vocals are astounding, the charming diffidence and skill with a guitar keeps the audience engrossed to what she says is one of the best crowds she’s played in a  while. It feels like you’re getting as much as a folk and blues history evening as a gig – transported to a time and place few artists are capable of. You see her switch between the likes of Blind Blake and Stefan Grossman; drifting back between Elizabeth Cotten even beyond her covers and it’s rare to have an artist use largely a covers set and make it feel fully her own in quite the same way. December 2023 saw her rewarded with a stunning standing ovation at Jools Holland’s Hootenanny at 17; and she’s only gone from strength to strength since. Her effortless charm is clear and inviting; drawing the audience in with a sense of thrill and vocals that make sure that the most prolific of yappers stop the second she starts singing. Tom Waits gets a run-around here; utilising new material – or making old material new again – and the way Bradley is capable of making the old, well-worn, covered many-times-over tracks feel rejuvenated and full of life is worthy of praise in its own right.  

Photography By: Raminta Ceponyte