Archie Fisher – One of the true greats!
Just off one of the main trucking routes in St. Paul among factories and warehouses is The Celtic Junction. A diamond in the rough if you will that specializes in Scottish and Irish dance, art and music. Last night those of us lucky enough to make it down to The Celtic Junction were treated to one of the most captivating, transfixing concerts that an audience could hope to attend from the legendary Archie Fisher.
Legend is a word that gets thrown around A LOT to any musician with a list of accomplishments, but for Archie there are few to compare him to. A Member of the British Empire (an honor bestowed upon him by the Queen), Archie is as fine an entertainer as you could hope for. His ballads and story songs took us from the dusk of St. Paul to the Borderlands just south of Edinburgh where Archie lives.
His smooth baritone is accentuated by graceful playing, unique tunings, hearty stories and an infectious laugh. Archie performed two healthy sets drawing from his seemingly endless repetoire as well as many songs from his latest album Windward Away. Highlights (besides the whole show) were “Ontario Dust,” “Bonnie Border Lass,” and the great sing-along “The Final Trawl” with the audience singing “Haul Away… miladio” to their hearts delight. Every song was preceded with a story of its origin or some experience that lead to the tune… making the experience all the more richer.
Archie is one of the true greats and seeing him live is one of those moments in life that you will remember when and where you were when it happened. The performance lifts your soul, soothes the mind and leaves you with a mysterious hankering for a finely malted Scotch…. Hmmmm. Anyway, last night wrapped up his North American tour, but hopefully it won’t be long before he returns to give us another extraordinary evening.