Kirstin Hersh wows at Edge Festival

Aug 19 2008 by Andrew Welsh, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

FORMER Throwing Muses frontwoman Kristin Hersh dazzled onlookers at The Edge Festival at the weekend.

In the first in a week-long series of shows at St Cecilia’s Hall in Edinburgh’s Cowgate, Hersh regaled a crowd of around 60 spectators with an unusual part-spoken word, part-musical performance on Sunday night.

Positioned in front of a series of projected images in the former church, the US alternative rock pioneer read excerpts from her upcoming memoir, provisionally titled Paradoxical Undressing, playing guitar at the same time.

In between passages, the distinctive singer-songwriter played acoustic renditions of songs from every phase of her career, which spans more than two decades.

Intelligent, poetic, humorous and starkly honest, dressed all in white Hersh shone like a beacon of creativity in the intimate venue as she recounted across two hours her early days in Throwing Muses as a 15-year-old schoolgirl.

Kristin Hersh’s startling and revelatory residency continues until Saturday, part of a diverse range of attractions at The Edge, formerly T on the Fringe.

Other upcoming highlights include Pendulum (Thursday), Kate Nash (Monday) and The Raconteurs (Tuesday, August 26), all at the Corn Exchange, and Santogold at the Liquid Room tonight.