MARGO CILKER
Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh, April 29
Elegantly road-worn tales from compassionate country-rocker
Cilker and band: one musician down, but songs bound along
SIMON WELLER
FOR both Margo Cilker and opening act Mally Smith, a peripatetic lifestyle has played a crucial role in their music. Smith, a Bostonian who relocated to Edinburgh eight years ago, writes sparse, brackish songs, elegantly finger-picked on her guitar, strewn with references to the natural world – herbs, fire, water, birds, trees and such. One song, she says, is about the veil between worlds, another is inspired by an ancestor who was executed during the Salem witch trials. Far from ostentatious, for Smith these uncommon reference points are useful tools to explore more familiar territory: depression, say, or a relationship breakup. “Sad songs make me happy,” she explains at one point.