It’s raining in Downend tonight. But it’s the sort of rain that you get after a really hot day. It brings with it that smell of grass that we all know but no-one can really describe. It makes the pathways through Christ Church Downend’s graveyard sparkle with a bit of reflected light. It makes everything feel a bit fresher.

This is the first concert back after Downend Folk & Roots’ annual August break, and this, too, feels fresh. That’s mostly down to the four-piece on stage, who’s take on folk music definitely sits in the ‘fresh’ category.

RANAGRI, named after lead-singer Dónal Rogers’ family farm in County Carlow in Ireland, describe themselves as indie-folk, but there are flecks of so much more. The lineup is ‘trad-plus’ too… alongside Rogers on his acoustic guitar, there is Eleanor Dunsdon on harp and Jordan Murray on a myriad of percussion instruments. Then there’s Eliza Marshall, playing a variety of flutes and whistles, and it is she that takes this band of super-talented musicians to a new level; she that transforms these pieces into gold-dust.

The band are touring a soon-to-be-released new album, Say Hello, which follows the people who left Ireland in search of a new life: the hopes they carried across the oceans, the hardships they faced and the ties they kept with home. Drawing on family letters and on the memories of Dónal's mother Lena, who still lives at Ranagri, the songs explore the excitement of leaving, the pain of separation and the wish to stay close to the place that shaped you. It is one family's story, but it speaks to everyone.

The opening number, An Derreen, really sets the scene. Almost seven minutes of sweeping soundscape, Dunsdon’s harp and Marshall’s flute skipping around one another, while Rogers’ guitar and Murray’s bodhrán driving the music along. It’s music to lose yourself in.

The theme of the evening is perhaps best summed up on Bound for New York City, which tells the story of a group who boarded the SS Cedric in 1904, headed, via Ellis Island, to a new life in the Big Apple. It’s recently been played on BBC Radio 2 and you can see why; it’s a proper ear worm.

Rogers tells us that when his mother was a child, visitors often came in the middle of the night, wandering around farm lands, and often they would sing you a song in exchange for something to eat. They’d then be allowed to sleep in the barn with the cattle. The resulting song, Knight of the Road, puts Rogers vocals front and centre, and deservedly so.

By the time Ranagri finish their set, with the ethereal Strange World (featuring Murray on a hammered dulcimer), they’ve had the almost sold out audience in this church dancing and clapping, and, after a well-deserved standing ovation, they return for “just one more”, to delighted whooping and hollering. It’s a reaction rarely seen for a band in this corner of South Gloucestershire, but it’s entirely merited.

Opening the evening were a Bristol/Devon duo, NIC JANAWAY & SARAH OWEN. They’ve played on this stage before, in their electro-folk guise of Solarference, but their new album, till all these things are done, sees them exploring stripped-back, acoustic versions of songs they’ve loved performing live over the years, and their 25 minute set is a thing of true beauty. Spiderweb shirt and prickle holly bush stand-out, but they save the best for last. Pretty saro sees their voices weaving around each other in melody and counter-melody, and it’s met with the now famous “audible sigh” that this audience reserves for those special, spine-tingling moments.

So the heatwaves of the Summer may be behind us, for now, as we enjoy the freshness that some welcome rain brings… but September also ushered in some wonderfully fresh music at Downend Folk & Roots, as it so often does.

Words: Bea Furlong
Photos: Barry Savell

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