@ Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, on Fri 6 May 2016

Lock up your daughters, keep your hands on your wallets – they’ve let the Leithers uptown! It’s OK though, the patrons of the Queen’s Hall can rest easy. There’s nothing in this folk and roots-tinged triple bill at Edinburgh’s TradFest that poses a threat to delicate city types.

First up, Blue Rose Code – the trading name of songwriter Ross Wilson. He’s the first to have a pop at his hometown’s reputation, remarking how the staff thought he was here to rob the place. He doesn’t sing like a petty criminal, though. Far from it. His smooth tones carry clear and strong through the hall. The rain-drenched cityscape conjured by the keys and effect-laden guitar call to mind his semi-namesake, the Blue Nile. There’s moments where it all goes a bit John Martyn, and it’s no surprise to hear his twitter pal Ricky Ross and sometime collaborator Karine Polwart clunkily namedropped. This is a man well-schooled in the bluesy/soulful side of the Scottish musical canon, and he’s a fine representative for it.

Dick Gaughan is a genuine Leither of an older vintage, and by his own admission, he’s not been well. This is his first time on a stage for more than four months. He’s a little shaky, a little ponderous; at points it visibly seems a struggle. Yet there’s no quelling the fire in his belly. No Gods (And Precious Few Heroes) is fair spat out down the mic, and the Orgreave campaign gets a mention, and a round of applause. There’s some sweet reminiscences of the Edinburgh scene of yore, when the White Horse, Waverley Bar and Holyrood Tavern (now reduced to ekeing out an existence as an odious gastro-pub) were a circuit of bars a young folkie could work. It’s the roughest and the rawest performance of the night, and all the better for it.

Headliner Dean Owens – Edinburgh’s Marcus Mumford – and his band the Whisky Hearts have received rave notices in these pages before, and are equally beloved by the likes of Radio 2’s Bob Harris. The easy-going patter and radio-friendly lilting country sound should mean they’ve a long career carved out for them. Man From Leith, Owens’ tribute to his dad, and the song after which the evening is named, rightfully wins hearts here, with an audience that contains many relatives and friends. There’s an amusing anecdote about Nick Lowe‘s 2012 Queen’s Hall gig, which ended in an audience punch-up (I was there too, and can confirm it did). It reveals a slightly surprising influence on Owens, and also the genuine thrill he experiences playing here. Owens too has duetted with Karine Polwart – has anyone not?! He’s pulling up a chair at the top table of Scottish music.

A proud, heartwarming night for Leithers, then, but odd that it takes the oldest performer to add the edge to proceedings. Polish takes precedence over protest in the modern folk idiom.