Category Archives: Music

Kreg Viesselman’s Kreg Viesselman

Christopher White wrote this review. From the opening lines of “New Hampshire Snow” to the last notes of “Jordan’s Shore” Kreg Viesselman’s eponymous CD is revelatory, yet comfortably familiar. The reviews quoted on his Web site hint at reasons for … Continue reading

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The Skirlers’ Cutting the Bracken

Take Lorraine Kelly and Marion Storey both on fiddles, add Allen Bowling on highland and border pipes, Bob Smith on vocals, mandolin, guitar, tin whistles and bodhran, Chic Judge on highland pipes and vocals, and Tom Docherty on guitar and … Continue reading

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Danny O’Keefe’s Danny’s Best 1970-2000

You probably remember Danny O’Keefe, if you know the name at all, as the performer of the all-time classic tune “Good Time Charlie’s Got the Blues.” I think I have heard this song done by more pub singers than any … Continue reading

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Beth Nielsen Chapman’s Beth Nielsen Chapman, You Hold the Key, Sand and Water, and Deeper Still

Michelle Erica Green wrote this review. It didn’t surprise me to learn that Beth Nielsen Chapman would be singing at the National Cathedral memorial service on September 11, 2002. Chapman’s “Sand and Water” has become one of the best-known contemporary … Continue reading

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Sean McCarthy’s The Songs of Sean McCarthy

Mattie Lennon wrote this review. Sean McCarthy was born in Listowel, one of ten children, on 5 June 1923. Known to audiences worldwide through songs like “Step it out Mary” and “Shanagolden,” he remains an honored figure in his own … Continue reading

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Annbjørg Lien’s Aliens Alive

Asher Black wrote this review. “Behind every traditional hardanger fiddle tune there is always a story, always a fairy tale, and you actually tell the stories when you play the fiddle.” ~Annbjørg Lien Annbjørg Lien finds, in folk music, everything … Continue reading

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Yann Falquet’s Les Secrets Du Ciel

Guitarist and singer Yann Falquet steps outside the familiar confines of Genticorum, the Quebecois folk trio in which he has recorded and toured for more than two decades, with a set of traditional songs on Les Secrets Du Ciel. Though … Continue reading

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Christopher Zuar Orchestra’s Exuberance

The thing I like most about a big band is its almost infinite potential for varied tones, colors and textures. That’s always been true of big bands going back to the swing days, and it definitely applies to the big … Continue reading

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Ilmu’s Mua

Ilmu’s sophomore album Mua is a fresh journey through the dark sounds and emotions of the North. Rooted in the Karelian Republic’s mystical cultural heritage, the band, who recently moved from Russia to Finland, weaves a tapestry of sound that … Continue reading

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Smithfield Fair’s Cairdeas (Kinship)

The very first thing I did upon receipt of Smithfield Fair‘s newest effort — aside from popping the disc in my player, of course — was pull out the liner notes and check how many tracks were original compositions. On … Continue reading

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