Burnsong Winners' Concert, Scottish Parliament, 30 November

The great thing about the Burnsong songwriting competition is the nature of the prize. There's a chance to gig at Parliament, some exposure too, but most of all, there's the chance to spend a week in a beautifully located house with all the other winners, being intensively coached in other forms and styles of writing, and cross-collaborating on new songs.

 

The value of this experience is demonstrated at the Parliament event (which takes place on St Andrew's Day, no less). It is a late afternoon gig that, in the airy surroundings and with an audience made up largely of industry types and friends 'n' family, has an atmosphere much like a broadcast studio; which in fact, it sort of is: BBC Scotland's Iain Anderson is our host, and the show is being broadcast on his show later the same evening.

 

One way in which the value of the residency is clearly brought to mind is that all the acts talk about the immense privilege of working with the others, and return to the subject of this unique experience throughout.

 

But most of all, the difference is in the songs they perform. Specifically, the songs they've pulled together in the past week, working together off the cuff, are, for the most part, better even than their winning songs. The prize's value is instantly audible in their work.

 

This is particularly true for the younger winners. American Emily Elbert's winning song, 'Thinking High-Bred Redirected', demonstrated instantly interesting guitar work but suffered - as played live, at least - from poor pronunciation of the complex lyrics, which lost impact. For the new song, however, she was responding to the exercise of writing in a simple 'AABA' song structure, in a way that enabled her voice to shine, the more conventional form by no means underwhelming her individuality. Scotland's Lisa Rigby managed to create great tone with her traditionally styled 'Tinto Hymn', sung with a thick almost-Gaelic lilt over the nasal drones of a sruti box. However, the rousing homeward-bound style finisher she performs with the rest of the housemates - indeed written as part of an exercise to write a 'big finisher' - is just that: the sort of song that would take a handful of listens to know by heart, and that speaks to a common emotion in articulate fashion.

 

Clearly a balance has to be struck here, between encouraging performers to hone their skills, without simply shaping them into mainstream contenders. But if there is a feeling that once could veer close to the middle-of-the-road during this session, there is also a very strong atmosphere of education and respect. And in a music industry that remains animosity-ridden despite its increasing afflictions, that sort of support and growth is only to be applauded.