Kate Rusby Live in Leeds DVD

If anyone in the folk music world can pull off having a live DVD release, it is the talented and beautiful Kate Rusby. Her infectious smile and generally odd sense of humor are in stark contrast to the songs filled with pain, loss, heartbreak and all round rotten bad luck that befall the unfortunate cast of her setlist.

Despite the subject matter of the songs, Kate Rusby Live in Leeds is one joyous night of music. The first thing that stuck me was the way the concert was shot. I can't put my finger on what it is, but it all looks magical and the theater itself certainly has a wonderful character that must have been a joy for the director.

Next there is Kate's band. Made up of the best folk and traditional musicians in the UK , or anywhere for that matter, the band blend together into softly layered colors for Kate's performance. John McCusker appears to take the helm as the musical director and rightly so. He is a talented player and multi-instrumentalist from Glasgow and has a track record as one of the finest players ever to come out of Scotland . He is more than ably assisted by Michael McGoldrick a Manchester native who has been a member of Lunasa and Flook as well as having his own very successful solo career. Also in the band are Ian Carr, Andy Cutting and Ewan Vernal all very well known in music circles in Europe and all amazing players in their own right.

Then of course there is Kate. She takes the audience in hand and leads them through almost 90 minutes of beautifully played and sung music. Kate's voice is sweet and filled with a love of every word she sings, from the old traditional songs of England to more recent composition by writers like Richard Thompson. Lots of the songs were written by Kate herself though and it's those that I feel will be sung for years to come by many people learning folk music in England . They are as strong as any of the other songs on the DVD and with Kate's personal touch they live a life of their own.

As if the concert itself wasn't enough there are also loads of extras on this DVD. There are interviews and a tour diary (which just made me want to jump back in a tour bus and hit the road), band biographies and song details. There is even a lovely version of Iris Dement's Our Town played while sitting round a table backstage at the Cambridge Folk Festival.

All in all, this is one of the best music DVDs I have seen in a long time and it is Kate's hilarious banter between songs that lifts it from just another concert. You can see the fun the band members have together and it shows in the tightly played and passionately sung renditions of every track.

Anyone with an interest in folk music of any kind will love this DVD and it may even inspire a few other bands to put a bit of imagination and love into their own video projects.

The DVD is released on June 29th in the US on Compass Records and you can find out more HERE or visit Kate's website HERE