Blue Rose Code, Dan Brown
St James Episcopal Church, Leith - 07/07/25
Ross Wilson (guitar and vocals), Lyle Watt (guitar), Dan Brown (piano, electronics)
The last time Ross Wilson’s imaginative musical project Blue Rose Code played at St James in Leith was for Hogmanay, raising spirits after the official New Year celebrations had just been cancelled. Their return for a four night residency at the Edinburgh Fringe this year has been equally well-received, featuring different musical guests each evening.
Tonight the guest turn was eclectic Glasgow-based musician Dan Brown (not to be confused with either the novelist or the Massive Attack accomplice), who opened with a tender, thoughtful set. His tunes are rooted in personal experience and in a sonic world which combines ambient and experimental electronic textures and timbres with piano-based instrumental balladry.
Brown provided the musical groundwork for the evening, navigating a couple of small technical glitches good humouredly. Employing a modular synthesiser, sequencer and Studiologic Numa X digital piano, his short, impressionistic tunes drift between beauty and melancholy, sometimes laced with deep bass vibes and trippy beats. On a couple of occasions the endings were a little abrupt, interrupting what was otherwise a thoughtful melodic flow with hints of something more left-field. An engaging talent.
Blue Rose Code itself is a movable musical feast based around Ross Wilson’s confessional, subtle and passionate style of alt-folk Caledonian song writing. This evening he was accompanied throughout by long-time collaborator Lyle Watt on guitar.
Starting with ‘Jericho’, the great majority of the songs this evening were Blue Rose Code originals, many well known to the band’s loyal followers, plus a couple of neatly arranged covers. One was a fabulous version of Jackson Browne’s ‘Something Fine’, in honour of Wilson’s mother, who he credits for his diverse musical interests.
The other borrowed tune was a tongue-in-cheek “cover of George Harrison covering Bob Dylan” with the otherwise poignant, heartfelt ‘Mama, You Been on My Mind’. This was amplified by some Harrisonesque guitar slides from the proficient fingers of Lyle Watt – whose lead lines and solo contributions were masterfully precise and artful throughout. Dan Brown also joined the duo from time to time, contributing some well-placed accordion.
Heartfelt is a good word to describe Wilson. A naturally exuberant frontman, full of wry patter, he has an underlying seriousness about life, love, loss, social dislocation and human possibility. Sylvia Platt spoke of “bleeding poetry”. Ross Wilson bleeds songs. His voice articulates thoughtful lyrics with feeling and urgency, but without seeming rushed. He also uses the whole body of his acoustic guitar: knocking, strumming and picking like a sound sculptor. You could say that he wears his sleeve on his heart.
These days Wilson is mobile between Edinburgh and Liverpool. As an ever-changing project, Blue Rose Code reflects his musical charm, ranging from local references to much larger concerns. Tonight that included a reference to drug use and recovery in Scotland. “If we are truly to become the country we believe we are, we’ve got to do better.” A powerful message, matched by emotionally-charged music, with a touching communal rendition of the beloved Scottish folk song ‘Wild Mountain Thyme’ as the evening’s denouement.
