July 2012
Album review – The Plum Tree And The Rose. “Sarah McQuaid has a voice that oozes warmth and richness.”
Sarah McQuaid
The Plum Tree And The Rose
Waterbug Records
Sarah McQuaid has a voice that oozes warmth and richness. Her gentle folk songs are accompanied by some stylish acoustic guitar playing which allows the voice to take command and draw you in to the stories. Now resident in the south west of England, Sarah McQuaid has lived in the US and Ireland and she has been able to draw on the folk traditions of all these places on this third album. There is a theme to some of the songs about the relationship between people and places, which gives rise to a couple of the album’s highlights centred on Derbyshire – Derby Cathedral, with its haunting outro, and Hardwick’s Lofty Towers. There is also a cover of Solid Air which is even more laid back than John Martyn’s original.