Dana Masters, Northern Ireland’s Queen of Soul
Born and raised in America, the singer now residing in Northern Ireland blew the crowd away at Belfast’s recent Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival.
Whilst the rest of the Belfast city could be forgiven for enjoying the early May sunshine, it was amidst the haze of evening barbeques that I made my way to the marquee at Custom House Square this Thursday night for Dana Masters performance as part of the 18th Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival. This was my first experience of the festival itself, which this year is delivering a wide range of events from acts including Eimear McBride, The Sugarhill Gang, The Divine Comedy and Tir na nOg, all held in Belfast’s hippest district, among a medley of bars, eateries, graffiti, cobblestones and the iconic Albert Clock, as well the eponymous St Anne’s Cathedral itself.
Masters is originally from Columbia, South Carolina (and not, as stated on the promotional material, the non-existent Columbia, Ohio which Masters insisted on telling the audience), she met her Irish husband in Los Angeles and now resides in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, mother to three Irish born children. This information came among the many anecdotes interjected by the infectiously relaxed and upbeat lead singer.
Throughout the night, Masters was ably supported by her 6-piece band, including famous Northern Irish jazz trumpeter Linley Hamilton, and they began the evening’s proceedings in a melancholy blues style. Despite the weather, it felt a privilege to be sat at a candle lit table, scattered among 100 or so eager participants. For me, the gig came to life three or four songs in with the performance of Feels Like Love from Masters’ most recent, and oft plugged, EP, ‘Crossing Lines’. What followed was a wonderful fusion of gospel, blues and soul delivered beautifully by our long-limbed hostess whose big voice is matched both by her physical stature and the size of her personality.
The small crowd received plenty of encouragement from Masters to top up their glasses for the second act and most duly obliged. The second act included takes from the aforementioned Crossing Lines, Masters’ first EP ‘The Basement Sessions’, unrecorded material and my second highlight, a taut and stirring cover of Sam Cooke’s ‘A Change is Gonna Come’. Masters relayed the importance of this song to her given her origins in America’s Deep South and her grandmother’s involvement in the Civil Rights Movement. Given the forces unleashed and emboldened in Europe and the US over the past 18 months the song struck a chord and it saddened me that the collaborative musicianship on display was in such contrast to increasingly divisive nature of western mainstream politics.
There was time for one more however and Masters left the stage to rapturous applause and a keenly felt desire from the audience for “One More Tune” that wasn’t to come. All that was left was to depart into the cooling evening and reflect on a talent I had previously been unaware of and who Northern Ireland can be proud to call one of our own. Masters isn’t exactly a novice and has performed regularly with Van Morrison, I’ll be doing all I can to spread her gospel, soul and blues far and wide.
