‘I like this place, because even though there’s not many of you here, it sounds as though there is!” Ray Cooper’s quip may have been accompanied by a laugh, and prompted similar amusement among the audience, but actually it was a great shame to see the Holywell so sparsely populated last Friday. Cooper – better known to many as ‘Chopper’, the bass guitarist/cellist/ vocalist of folk group Oysterband – is a strikingly original musician, who is not only multi-skilled but also has an instinctive ability to engage with his audience, and he really deserved a better turnout than this.

The concert was a preview of his forthcoming album, Tales of Love, War and Death By Hanging, a fascinating and eclectic collection of songs, many penned by Cooper himself, reflecting aspects of English, Scottish, European and American history. These were interspersed with entertaining and witty commentary from Cooper, whose relaxed, informal approach made this feel more like a family party than a concert.

Cooper is half Scottish (“the upper half – my bottom half’s Sassenach because I can’t wear a kilt”) and this was reflected in a clutch of songs from north of the border. These included the story of legendary robber, war lord and folk musician Ian McPherson, who reputedly played the fiddle and danced a jig on the scaffold when retribution finally caught up with him; and a contrastingly moving setting of words by Robert Burns pleading for peace during the Jacobite Rebellion. In between were songs about the English Civil War and the Battle of Agincourt, a light-hearted song about a young man climbing through his lover’s window at night, and a Flamenco-style song about a Spanish lady.

Cooper’s knack for evoking atmosphere – from the tranquillity of an English pastoral scene to the desolation and loneliness of the Arctic – made this a compelling and enthralling evening. Look out for the album, due for release in May on the Westpark label.