Mama Kin & Jenn Grant in Whelan’s, Dublin, on 29th April 2014

There seems to be some kind of Canadian-Australian-Hibernian mid-week alliance in full flow in Whelan’s. Tonight’s show is a double-header, with Novia Scotia singer-songwriter Jenn Grant and Fremantle’s Danielle Caruana – a.k.a. Mama Kin – taking turns to charm the all-seated crowd, and in turn both appear delighted with the warm response to their sets.

Ireland, apparently, is the only place outside of her native Australia that Caruana has released her second album, ‘The Magician’s Daughter’, and while her bond with this country is espoused throughout her set, Jenn Grant’s abiding memory of Dublin is of a different hue. Her last visit to Whelan’s six years previous saw her guitar split in two at the Ruby Sessions, she good-humouredly tells us. There’s no such wanton unwanted destruction tonight, and how could there be in a candlelit haven such as this?

From the dustbowl beginnings of The Fighter, through the playful lounge of Wild Animal, to a fine rendering of Bombshell, Grant is joined by a rhythm section that threatens to overpower her vocal and acoustic guitar. It comes as a jolt when Grant begins with a sweet, folk or country inflected song, then the band joins loudly to completely change the mood. It feels as if there’s a disconnect between the players and the song for the most part, although when Mama Kin joins them for a cover of Leonard Cohen’s Lover, Lover, Lover, it all works, as the bass lays down the rich groove that Caruana bops along to behind Grant.

Set closer I’ve Got Your Fire takes it back to that unfortunate tendency of Grant’s organic sounds battling the volume and attack of her colleagues, but as the set ends on the mellifluous dual-acapella of the two women, it’s a reminder that Grant’s voice is worthy of a more intimate encounter.

“I thought I’d start the night on a high note” quips Mama Kin after the opening lament of Cherokee Boy, the first of a run of tracks from her latest album. She informs us that she’s become addicted to introducing her songs, and she’s not kidding. The intros range from the witty to the endearingly mawkish, always with tongue firmly in-cheek.

There’s Rescue’s tale of Disney-itis, or the pitfalls of waiting around for a perfect life; Bosom Of Our Bed’s soulful R&B, written “to remind myself to be less of a cow more often”; the neorealism of mastitis remedies and cabbage leaf covered boobs; the self-help nonsense of rivers running to the sea while we ill-advisedly hold on to the banks in fear before The River As She Runs. It’s all good fun, though, and Mama Kin’s schtick is nothing if not entertaining.

She’s well served by her accompanying musician, and the night’s unsung hero, Bree Van Reyk. Van Reyk sits behind the drumkit to Caruana’s right, underpinning that strong vocal with the rumble of toms or multi-tasking with accordion; sometimes one or the other, other times both at once. That gentle breathy embellishment of the latter adds weight and nuance to the songs, particularly on Red Wood River; the pair are joined by Jenn Grant on backing vocals, but it is Van Reyk’s momentum that carries the song.

Caruana goes it alone with Ned Kelly, a song in which she plays matchmaker and pairs him up with Delta Dawn. We get a verse of the latter, made famous by Tanya Tucker but recorded by a host of country stars, just a snippet of one of the many influences Mama Kin draws upon. Was It Worth It announces itself as a thunderous blues rocker before the curfew calls and Caruana asks “Do you wanna play the encore game now?” She and Van Reyk run off, a chant of “one more song” goes up, and they re-appear with a wry “We were not expecting this!”

For all the jokey shenanigans Caruana, and Grant before her, seems truly humbled by the turnout and the crowd’s clear enjoyment of her set. Whistle And A Light comes with one last lengthy allegory about the “chuck-out pile” (something about your female friends wearing your boyfriend, or maybe your boyfriend wearing your clothes – it was aimed more at the ladies in the audience), a bit of Latin funk cheese with smiles all round.

Caruana and Grant, while coming at the live show with a different approach, complement each other’s style, with guest appearances on one another’s songs tying the night into one. If Mama Kin’s is a slightly more machinated and boisterous affair, it is Grant’s that seems to linger in the memory. Despite reservations about the accompaniment overshadowing the songwriting, there is a subtle appeal to her performance – at least she left with her guitar intact.