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Muireann Bradley: I Kept These Old Blues review – a playful take on American classics
The teenage Irish singer turned to her guitar during Covid, and this album of traditional blues tracks showcases her dexterity and elegance
Born and bred in County Donegal, she sang the traditional blues song Candyman – taught to revivalists by the renowned gospel musician Reverend Gary Davis in the mid-20th century – with a light and frisky southern US accent, fingerpicking her guitar with playful dexterity. Bradley’s bright, limber vocals are clear and inviting, and when she leaps to higher intervals, there’s a thrill in hearing her land back in lower registers with acrobatic effortlessness. The latter bring nicely tricksy vocal arrangements and percussion such as sagattes, the zarb and the daf to the album’s best tracks, La Roumanço de Pèire d’Aragoun and Ô Ventour.
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