«Welcome to the Willson Home» is written on the front door of the flat, where Withered Hand’s Dan Willson lives with his wife, his two kids and the kitty. It is a stone-grey dwelling house in the West of the city, not a classy part of town, but one with the certain charm of what you might call the “other” side of Edinburgh. After a cup of black tea we follow Dan up on a shaky ladder to the windy roof. With a view on the brewery, the rugby stadium and a church (there’s always a church wherever you look in Edinburgh!) in this residential area under the grey and cloudy sky, Dan aka Withered Hand goes for a stirring performance of “Religious Songs”. It is too freezing to stay outside for another song, so we climb down again and settle in the staircase with the neighbours coming back from work. Once the background noises come to an end and the bike has been leant again, Dan plays “No Cigarettes” and a breeze of sadness fills the staircase. With the reverberations of that episode we get back altogether in the cosy kitchen for a chat and another cup of black tea with the pleasant Willson family, while the kids help their dad out drawing in the guestbook.

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