altan and mary black: green grow the rushes

Mary Black, Altan, and Paul Brady at the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow...that'd be a dream gig, you'd think and it was. This was in January 2006 and I had the good fortune to be there. Mairead, lead singer and ace fiddler with Altan, was losing her voice though, which had Mary stepping in for more singing than she'd planned -- and that's why she's got the lyrics written out on a page here. Burns song in the heart of Burns country as a last minute fill in with someone else's band and arrangement -- it was actually delightfully informal to see her glancing at the lyrics now and then in the midst of this big deal concert and never missing a beat.
A gig not to be forgotten, and this excerpt from the BBC coverage brings bit of it home.