I have to admit that I hadn’t heard of Diana until last year, when I came across some of her tracks in the Celtic Music Radio library and now, I’m hooked!

I was part of a full house on Wednesday night, where Diana was appearing and I was so impressed by her, as was everyone in the room.   Her repertoire, was mainly influenced by Appalachian music, which is where she discovered her birth family roots lay.

I was delighted when Diana sang the first track I ever played of hers, “Love O Love”   The second I ever played was “If I Had A Gun” made all the more powerful by her quiet, sensitive rendition of it, but the song which moved me most was “Oh Mary How I Love You.”   It was written by Diana after a trip to Scotland , which spookily coincided with an article in The Scotsman newspaper about The Hillcrest Mining Disaster of June 19, 1914 in America.

One of the miners killed, was Robert Anderson from Stirling, aged just 35. Diana was moved by this story and as she was driving a few miles from Stirling when she decided to look up his family and was not only given a friendly welcome, but also some of the letters which he wrote to his wife Mary, every one of which began, ‘Oh Mary how I love you’. Again, a song so strong by it’s simplistic and poignant arrangement and of course, beautiful delivery.

I spoke to Diana after the concert and found her to be, as her writing suggests, natural and sincere. I wish her well with the rest of her European tour and hope that we will have the privilege of hearing and seeing her again in Glasgow.

Moira Kerr

Singer-songwriter and presenter, Celtic Music Radio 95FM