When Barbara Dickson played live for the first time to an American audience in 2014, they rose to their feet in respect and admiration. she was surprised, but nobody else seemed to doubt the magisterial presence of a great interpreter of song at work.  She was unadorned, playing her own guitar. they understood the essence of the woman she is and her way with words.

From the Scottish folk scene of the 1960’s to the Royal Albert Hall in London she has captivated people with her soulful, intelligent readings of material from traditional songs of her native Scotland to working class heart-rending theatre roles where her own background has infused the emotional content of whatever she touches. In addition, her generation expressed itself in new writing which she also embraced and the late Gerry Rafferty once said that her version of ‘the right moment’ was his favourite cover of any song he’d written. she chooses songs like jewellery.

Other musicians respect her great musicality and Troy Donockley, with whom she records and creates work, says of her, that she stands alone in her commitment to the truth in song. Aly Bain, the great Scottish musician, described her as having the best female voice ever to come out of Scotland.  Billy Connolly has reported that her voice ‘nails him to the wall’. the legendary bass player Danny Thompson is effusive in his praise. Scottish chanteuse Eddi Reader has reported that when she started out they said to her ‘You’re good, but not at good as Barbara Dickson’.  Dickson would modestly say that this is pure opinion, but there is no doubt that all the accolades she has been awarded over the years recognise that she has been touched with a gift that is of great importance to her and she continues to share it with everyone.

It’s not about technique, she says, but what is in your heart. that is the secret.

Platinum albums 6 , gold albums 11, Olivier awards 2, No.1 records 1, OBE 2002, 5 honorary awards from UK universities.

Anthony Toner is a singer songwriter based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He’s currently working on Our Lady of the Wind and Rain – his ninth album of original material, and hatching plans for an extensive run of tour dates in the first half of 2019.

Famed for his engaging between-songs patter and his accomplished guitar playing, he is one of Northern Ireland’s most popular live acts, chalking up dozens of live shows a year as a solo acoustic artist, ‘In the Round’ with friends, and also on electric guitar, playing slide blues in the Ronnie Greer Blues Band. In each setting, his command of the instrument and his voice are pressed into service to deliver some of the finest lyrics you’ll hear in contemporary roots music.

He’s been described as ‘James Taylor meets John Prine in a second hand book shop’, and that about captures his style – literate, warm, insightful and connected.

Listen to Antony Toner

http://anthonytoner.net