Betty and the Boy, Eastgate Theatre, Peebles

When Bettreena Jaeger announced during the second half that one of the first engagements Betty and the Boy will be fulfilling when they get back to Oregon is a collaboration with a ballet company, I’d lay good odds that not an eyelid batted among the audience. There’s a graceful, waltzing quality to much of the quintet’s music that would be ready-made for dancing beyond the kind that’s normally associated with bluegrass and old-time groups.

But then, bluegrass is just the handiest handle to put on Betty and the Boy. There’s certainly something of the Appalachians in what they do and mandolin, banjo, guitar and double bass, which feature prominently, are all associated with that genre. The violin and cello that complement these instruments take the carefully honed and toned accompaniments closer to a kind of rustic chamber music, though, and help to spotlight Jaeger’s singing in a voice that’s totally beguiling and almost child-like in its determinedly clear enunciation.

Jaeger’s voice dances, too. Indeed, on a left-field version of Melanie’s Brand New Key, a rare cover among original songs that often adopt an attractively dark hue, she almost seemed to be roller-skating through the melody, in keeping with the song’s roller-skating allegory, and if she didn’t quite pull-off its intricacy to perfection, it was still quietly thrilling in its own way.

Her partner domestically and musically, Josh Harvey (aka The Boy), sings in a grainier tone and the two voices blend beautifully, sharing musical tales of Jaeger’s father’s draft-dodging adventures in Sweden and even dedications to their pet parakeet with an old-time charm that’s natural and as appealingly down-home as apple pie.