Category Archives: Music

Colleen Raney’s Here This Is Home

The Irish song tradition is really many traditions, the main lines either the more loud and boisterous sound of groups like The Dubliners, or the more gentle approach of ensembles like Planxty and Patrick Street. I find it hard to … Continue reading

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Nick Burbridge & Tim Cotterell’s Gathered

Nick Burbridge is something of a Jack-of-all-trades. For more than a quarter of a century he has been active as a writer. He has written poetry, novels, short stories, plays and songs. He has also found time to co-found folk … Continue reading

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Beoga’s Live at 10

There are times when reviewing is a sheer pleasure. This is one of those moments. Beoga is an Irish five-piece group, four men and a woman, with keyboards, button accordion, fiddle, bodhran/percussion and one member doubling on guitar and button accordion. … Continue reading

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Grateful Dead’s So Many Roads (1965-1995)

 This review is by Brendan Foreman. So often dismissed as a anachronistic hippie band that would somehow never die, the Grateful Dead actually formed a keystone of sorts between the traditional forms of American roots music and the rock music … Continue reading

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Yo-Yo Ma’s The Essential Yo-Yo Ma

Brendan Foreman wrote this review. The cello is easily one of the most versatile of all musical instruments. Its midrange tone allows the cellist to provide the musical and emotional anchor of a given piece, much like the bass guitar … Continue reading

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Ralph Stanley & the Clinch Mountain Boys’ The Complete Jessup Recordings Plus! Featuring Ricky Skaggs & Keith Whitley

What a treat this collection is. Real Gone Music has re-released on two CDs three obscure LPs from the early 1970s when Keith Whitley and Ricky Skaggs first joined Ralph Stanley & the Clinch Mountain Boys. The titles originally were … Continue reading

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Taraf de Haidouks’ Maskarada

We first heard of Taraf de Haidouks a few years ago. They played a gig at one of our favorite local venues, the Center for Cultural Exchange, now under new ownership as One Longfellow Square. Alas, they played less than … Continue reading

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Hugh Morrison’s Scotland is Free

It feels a little strange reviewing a CD titled ”Scotland is Free” a few months after the Scottish people voted ”no” in the referendum about breaking free from Great Britain. But in defence of Mr Morrison I must admit the … Continue reading

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Chris Eckman’s Harney County

Some parts of Harney County, Oregon, are among my favorite places on this planet. They include Steens Mountain, the Alvord Desert, and the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, which lately has been in the news around the country because it was … Continue reading

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Freakwater’s Scheherazade

Scheherazade, Freakwater’s eighth album, stands a chance of being the hardest-hitting country album of the year. On this, their first album in more than 10 years, Catherine Irwin and Janet Beveridge Bean gaze deep into the dark, twisted and just … Continue reading

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