NUALA KENNEDY

CD Review

First of all I would like to apologise to everyone for the gap in posts and delay in writing reviews. I have been in the convoluted process not just of moving house but moving country. I am now working from Williamstown, Galway, Eire. Over the last few months I have been dealing with solicitors, moving firms, estate agents and banks on both side of the Irish sea, some of which moved more quickly than others. On top of this I have been living out of boxes and trying to keep two cats, stressed out by house hopping between very kind and understanding family members and long journeys in their carriers, from going stir crazy.  
However, now I am fortunate enough to be looking out over green Irish fields in a blissfully peaceful area as I write this. So thank you to all of Folkall's followers, readers and visitors for your patience and loyalty. I will of course be keeping the reviews and news going from now on but will be expanding my coverage beyond the West Midlands for obvious reasons. 
I hope you enjoy my blog in the coming weeks and months and will continue to read, enjoy my efforts and spread the word. 
Also keep your messages and comments coming. I can be reached on danny@dfarragher.wanadoo.co.uk, danfare60@gmail.com or dannyfarragher@hotmail.co.uk. I am also on facebook and Folkall has it's own facebook page, you can also contact me on twitter @dannyfarragher. 

Behave The Bravest

From the first words from Nuala Kennedy sung on the new album in her distinctive and clear voice, you can feel the Irish spirit running through her tones like the lettering in a stick of seaside rock.

Nuala Kennedy

Kennedy, who is based in Scotland and will be celebrating her fortieth birthday next year, has let her Gaelic roots off the leash.
She has a voice which is something of a cross between Cara Dillon and Fay Hield, having the soft Irish brogue of Dillon with the power and clarity of Hield which makes for a fascinating listen.
The Lovely Armoy opens her fourth album which has been recorded while she was touring the world with her band. Not only do you get her singing but her whistle playing gives it a strong opening call with Johnny Connolly adding some nice features with the button accordion for this song of migration.
Kennedy gives her take on the traditional His Bonnet So Blue and when she is not singing she is filling the air with the sound of her flute which is wonderfully accented by Shona Mooney on the fiddle. The first of the tracks sung in Gaelic is Mo Bhuachaill Dubh Dhonn and Kennedy gives it such energy with her voice annunciating her native language with precision. The wonderful thing about this track is you don't have to know what she is singing about to enjoy it. What singing doesn't of course project is the time Kennedy took to research and translate this track before putting into some sort of shape for the album.
Le Funambule or The Tightrope Walker is where Kennedy really gets her lips working with the flute for the fairly intricate tune which has several layers working under her expert playing. There is once again the fiddle of Mooney, the strings of Eamon O'Leary and the percussive underbeat of Mathias Kunzli who all add to the whole as Kennedy flies along with the tune, finally bringing it down to a soft tone.
O'Leary opens the next song which is the traditional Fair Annie of the Lock Royanne. It's another chance to for Kennedy to show just how clear her voice is and how easy she makes holding a note sound, she even has time to add the odd tremble in her voice. It is a wonderfully folkie track with even the archaic-style grammar adding to the enjoyment for the listener. Even though it's the longest track on the album it's worth listening to every second.

This is followed by the second helping in Gaelic, Urchnoc Chein Mhic Cainte (The Fair Hill of Killen). The words used are a couple of centuries old and come from the pen of Peadar O'Doirnin. Kennedy's style this time has an almost Indian tinge to it but again the clarity of her singing means you can almost see her on a cliff top singing into the wind and raging sea and holding her own against the elements.
The love song does have a haunting quality about it which is exacerbated by Kennedy's caramel smooth whistle playing.
A trio of reels then come in, at first, reminding of the opening of Cecilia from Simon & Garfunkel. But Glen Where The Deer Is/The Ivy Leaf/The Dublin Lasses is soon off on its own tangent with Kennedy's machine-gun style flute playing almost daring the listener to keep up.
Kennedy gets her voice back in action for The Lion's Den/The Burning House which is another traditional song which has gone through may guises.
Her bold singing and Kunzli's percussion gives this song close to a military marching sound which eventually gets softened by Kennedy's flute.
Death and the Lady has a strange juxtaposition in that the song is about death, not the inevitable event but the character itself. The tune is fairly light even if the subject isn't, but Kennedy's accent which seems to seep through more than on any other track and somehow adds to the lack of respect for the Grim Reaper.

The new album

The album goes out on a double jig under the title of The Broken Lantern and if you wanted evidence of Kennedy's skill with the flute then this is it. Not only is the pace breathtaking but she seems to make the musical tube yodel as the tune weaves every which way to create a fascinating tapestry of sound.
It's pretty certain you will play this album several times on the trot because although it's only 11 minutes under an hour long it goes by far too quickly and it's too good a CD to play once and then put back in the sleeve.

Behave The Bravest is out now on the Under The Arch Records label and is available from the artist's website and for download.

SAID THE MAIDEN - IONA LANE - ROOT & BRANCH

CD Reviews

First of all I would like to apologise to everyone for the gap in posts and delay in writing reviews. I have been in the convoluted process not just of moving house but moving country. I am now working from Williamstown, Galway, Eire. Over the last few months I have been dealing with solicitors, moving firms, estate agents and banks on both side of the Irish sea, some of which moved more quickly than others. On top of this I have been living out of boxes and trying to keep two cats, stressed out by house hopping between very kind and understanding family members and long journeys in their carriers, from going stir crazy.  
However, now I am fortunate enough to be looking out over green Irish fields in a blissfully peaceful area as I write this. So thank you to all of Folkall's followers, readers and visitors for your patience and loyalty. I will of course be keeping the reviews and news going from now on but will be expanding my coverage beyond the West Midlands for obvious reasons. 
I hope you enjoy my blog in the coming weeks and months and will continue to read, enjoy my efforts and spread the word. 
Also keep your messages and comments coming. I can be reached on danny@dfarragher.wanadoo.co.uk, danfare60@gmail.com or dannyfarragher@hotmail.co.uk. I am also on facebook and Folkall has it's own facebook page and you can contact me on twitter @dannyfarragher. 

Of Maidens and Mariners

You could be forgiven for thinking Said The Maiden had enlisted the talents of Seth Lakemen for their opener on their new EP.

Jess Distill, Hannah Elizabeth and Kathy Pilkington
who are Said the Maiden

It has that gutsy, definite sound, however it's Hannah Elizabeth rasping the bow across the fiddle, carrying the lyrics all through the tune. But then Jess Distill, Elizabeth and Kathy Pilkington have always been able to produce a sound which belies the Hertfordshire trio.
Their arrangement of The Soldier and the Maid is strong, solidly traditional and has a tune which surrounds their harmonising voices like a castle tower. They come up with an interesting choice for their a Capella track. They do have wonderfully strong but gentle voices and their harmonies weave together as intricately as a Persian rug in their version of Dolly Parton's Jolene. It does take some getting used to because the song is so familiar and needs several hearings to bed in properly, but they fortunately have the skills to carry it off.
They keep the harmonies going for a live version of Spring Tide Rising recorded at Redbourn Folk Club, not quite a Capella their voices take centre stage and are highlighted by the understated music and the simple but highly effective song is given a little more colour by the inclusion of the audience providing the refrain.
Also recorded at Redbourn, the final track Polly Can You Swim? is a lively sea shanty which the trio imbibe with really energy with just their voices only adding the percussive highlight on the chorus. Their style on this track gives it authenticity and you can almost see them on the deck of a galleon entertaining the crew, the role of which is again provided by the audience.
The EP is the follow up their A Curious Tale which was a fine album and this shorter offering keeps the standard up and some.

Of Maids and Mariners is available now through the band's website.

Dry Stone Walls

There is a rawness and under-produced quality to Iona Lane's new EP which actually, with seven tracks and nearly an half hour of music, sits somewhere between the format and a full blown LP.

Lane's voice is wonderfully restful and peaceful, and while it doesn't hold the strength and clarity of someone such as Fay Hield it does have the sweetness of some of her peers such as Kate Rusby and Ange Hardy.
On some tracks there is even a depth and emotion you associate with the much lamented Sandy Denny.
Opening with Brown Eyes, one of six tracks written by Lane, she does have a childlike quality to her singing which is not entirely surprising when you consider the multi-instrumentalist from Lancashire is only 17 and was studying for her A Levels while making the record.
It's a simple ballad played very well and perhaps not the best opener as it does lack a certain oomph and what sounds like slightly laboured flute instrumentals from Bess Shooter doesn't help.
Plane to Spain gives a better feeling of how smooth Lane's voice is and you start to get more emotion in her vocals which do bring to mind the early offerings of Sinead O'Connor. There are times during the song where lane is almost speaking the words rather than singing them which adds to the depth of the ballad.
The track which follows, Seasons, is one of the best on the EP and certainly has the feel of Denny's ethereal tones. Her singing is rather interrupted by Shooter on the sax which doesn't quite sit right in the grammar of the song as a whole.
The title track sees Lane using that mixture of almost speaking lines between the definite singing and, whether by accident or design, she uses it very effectively to give the ballad some variety and atmosphere.
There is a slightly more country feel to Orkney and she sounds as though she is mirroring the movement of the wild seas around the islands with her voice dropping and picking up pitch. There is further added interest from the faster underbeat of Joel Shooter on the drums and the precise inclusion of Lane's slide guitar skills.
Si Bheag Si Mhor is a traditional instrumental which does have the feel of an exam recital rather than a free-flowing tune. It does sound laboured and over cautious in its execution.
The final track Here We Go Again is almost a sister ballad to the opener although this track is more intricate and has a more free-flowing feel to it as well as Lane's voice sounding more confident.
Lane has a really enjoyable voice and an easy style of performing which is always worth listening to. It will be immensely interesting to watch and to hear how she will develop. There is a great deal of talent there and you get a sense that where she is now is the start of something that a lot of people are going to take notice of in the future.

Dry Stone Walls is available now from the artist's website.

Overground

You have to give it to Root & Branch when it comes to opening tracks then the title tune of their EP is simple superb. It's the sort of tune that if it were the wake tune on your alarm clock you would leap out of bed and start dancing.

Root & Branch

As fishers of music the intrepid band of Nathan Bontrager, Stuart Graham, Ewan McDonald and Jess Whelligan they cast their net far and wide covering the traditions of the UK and across the pond to the US.
Overground is a trilogy of The Ladybird, The Stone Frigate and The Overground Reel and kind of sneaks up on you before blowing the cobwebs out with Bontrager sawing at the fiddle and kept bouncing along by Jones on the banjo who throws in triplets like they are going out of fashion. The middle set morphing into a hoe down-style reel and would get a wooden leg tapping along.
This is followed by the much more sober Poor Old Soldier (The Rogue's March) where the strong vocals remind very much of the great Dick Gaughan. The words are complemented perfectly by the rest of the band especially Bontrager and his mountain sounding fiddle playing with the mandolin adding some strong highlights to the tune.
They stay with the bluegrass sound for The Road to KRK/Reuben's Train the first part of which is an intricate mixture of sounds made to appear simple by the bands obvious skill and chemistry. They crank up the energy for the second part and what comes across really strongly is the enthusiasm for the music they play.
Reuben's Train is a real footstomper and one every listener should indulge in.
The penultimate track of the five is Back of the Change House which although still strong with the fiddle and bouzouki has a real doleful and thoughtful sound to it which is full of emotion. This eventually gives way to some wonderful and lively mandolin and layer after layer is brought in almost like the players had restrained themselves enough for the second part, The Plagiarist.
The EP goes out with The Blackest Crow a gentle and thoughtful ballad which is given a real depth and almost a melancholia through the gentle thrumming of the cello and a real haunting quality from Whelligan's voice.
If an EP is an appetizer for an album then this one should have you slavering with anticipation like a a starving mutt outside a butcher's window.

Overground is available now from the band's website.

HAMISH NAPIER

CD Review

The River

First of all I would like to apologise to everyone for the gap in posts and delay in writing reviews. I have been in the convoluted process not just of moving house but moving country. I am now working from Williamstown, Galway, Eire. Over the last few months I have been dealing with solicitors, moving firms, estate agents and banks on both side of the Irish sea, some of which moved more quickly than others. On top of this I have been living out of boxes and trying to keep two cats, stressed out by house hopping between very kind and understanding family members and long journeys in their carriers, from going stir crazy.  
However, now I am fortunate enough to be looking out over green Irish fields in a blissfully peaceful area as I write this. So thank you to all of Folkall's followers, readers and visitors for your patience and loyalty. I will of course be keeping the reviews and news going from now on but will be expanding my coverage beyond the West Midlands for obvious reasons. 
I hope you enjoy my blog in the coming weeks and months and will continue to read, enjoy my efforts and spread the word. 
Also keep your messages and comments coming. I can be reached on danny@dfarragher.wanadoo.co.uk, danfare60@gmail.com or dannyfarragher@hotmail.co.uk. I am also on facebook and Folkall has it's own facebook page and you can contact me on twitter @dannyfarragher. 

At first glance the eye-catching artwork for this album gives the impression of it being firmly in the traditional folk camp, however, right from the opening track of Hamish Napier's personal journey it's clear he has no respect for boundaries when it comes to his music. 

Hamish Napier

First impressions, as in the opening track Mayfly, allude to a contemporary style which borders on jazz with a folk strand, but there is much more to it than that.
As you delve deeper into the album which is inspired by the Spey, the river of the title and which runs through Napier's life like the music does through the album, you realise folk music is very much a part of the Scottish artist's musical make up.
Napier's interpretation of the insect which leads a short but frantic life is mirrored in the weave and weft of his flute.
The title track is based around the multi-instrumentalist's skill on the piano where Napier tries to capture both the movement of the water and the landscape through which it cuts a swathe and he does it exceptionally well. This track is best listened to with your eyes closed because then the tune will carry you along like a fallen leaf in the swell or you can glide over the river like a bird of the air.
Napier, like a lot of Scottish musicians, seems determined to push the boundaries of what could be perceived as folk but at the same time keeping that traditional strand strong and true, and at times the listener guessing as to how and when it will come through.
Napier is more than capably abetted by fellow musicians Sarah Hayes, James Lindsay, Martin O'Neill and Calum MacCrimmon who all add to the imagery and emotions created by the main artist's compositions.
The Whirpool, another feature of the Spey, is characterised by Napier's impressive and almost breathless flute playing which dances along nicely. Which is appropriate because it does so into the slightly melancholy piano opening of The Dance, but once again this soon gives way to the gentle but wonderfully intricate tones of his flute.
If you wanted concrete evidence of Napier's respect for folk then the true story of tragedy entangled with myth is the clincher. The Drowning of the Silver Brothers is exactly what it says, two siblings became victims of the Spey in the 1930s and in Napier's mind, as he put together this haunting tune, was the White Horse of Spey a legendary kelpie who lured passersby onto its back before bolting and drowning them.
The beautiful voice of Napier's flute has the class of Sir James Galway and the emotive qualities of Gheorghe Zamfir, who admittedly played the pan pipes, but the artist's skill creates the same other-worldly sound.

Fate of the Kelts/Out To Sea is a musical lesson on the fate of salmon in the Spey from their spawning to the arduous journey out to sea before returning once again to their beginnings which are somehow mysteriously imprinted in their genetic make up.
Napier again uses the piano and flute to chart the journey and the changes for each section alluding to a different part of the aquatic lifespan.
Floating gets a little funky and does have a retro feel to its jazzy style as Napier creates the sense of floating down the Spey which was once done by teams of loggers. It's all in the interpretation as the modern tune seeks to tell the story of this time past on the river.
Huy Huy! is a story of language which is peculiar to the area and perhaps as you don't fully understand the musical narrative so you get a sense of how it was slightly foreign to Napier because the only words he appeared to understand were what became the title of the track. Iasgairean Nan Neamhnaid/The Pearlfishers is both a true and cautionary tales as much as it is a warning against environmental vandalism. The tune has an urgency and harshness and there is a lament-like quality to Napier's singing perhaps brought on by the misuse of nature's resources he has witnessed.
The final track is in two parts with The Spey Cast/Old Man of Dunshee taking the first part. The gentle flute sound tells the story of fishing on the river and how for one particular angler, who had reaped the rewards of the stretch of water for most of his life, was eventually returned and consumed by the Spey in what is a wonderful example of the circle of life. Napier's slow and thoughtful flute playing gives the feel of the time spent on rivers waiting and hoping for a bite but always with the lightness fishermen feel for being outdoors and revelling in nature at its best.

The stunning artwork for the album

The second instalment, The Raft Race, races along as the makeshift crafts would have in the surge of the river. Napier's machine gun style on this tune also conveys the feel of the merriment enjoyed by the rafters as they often ended up riding nothing more than flotsam and jetsam by the end of the race.
Napier's skill on the flutes, piano and a wide range of instruments, is impressive and his willingness to move folk into other areas may not sit will with all traditionalists but as a debut album you can't fault the musician for being innovative and daring and it has to be said it's worth getting hold of it simply for the wonderful pen-drawn artwork from Somhairle MacDonald, although if you are going to go down that route it would be worth finding out if there is a vinyl version, although you can order prints of the artwork by following the link to the artist's website.

The River is out now on Strathspey Records.

SHOW OF HANDS

First of all I would like to apologise to everyone for the gap in posts and delay in writing reviews. I have been in the convoluted process not just of moving house but moving country. I am now working from Williamstown, Galway, Eire. Over the last few months I have been dealing with solicitors, moving firms, estate agents and banks on both side of the Irish sea, some of which moved more quickly than others. On top of this I have been living out of boxes and trying to keep two cats, stressed out by house hopping between very kind and understanding family members and long journeys in their carriers, from going stir crazy.  
However, now I am fortunate enough to be looking out over green Irish fields in a blissfully peaceful area as I write this. So thank you to all of Folkall's followers, readers and visitors for your patience and loyalty. I will of course be keeping the reviews and news going from now on but will be expanding my coverage beyond the West Midlands for obvious reasons. 
I hope you enjoy my blog in the coming weeks and months and will continue to read, enjoy my efforts and spread the word. 
Also keep your messages and comments coming. I can be reached on danny@dfarragher.wanadoo.co.uk, danfare60@gmail.com or dannyfarragher@hotmail.co.uk. I am also on facebook and Folkall has it's own facebook page and you can contact me on twitter @dannyfarragher. 

regards
Danny

CD Review

The Long Way Home

Make no mistake this is grown up folk and if the genre ever wanted to create a sub-genre where the music is elevated to high art then Steve Knightley and Phil Beer's new album would be among the first candidates. Unsurprisingly it has been nominated for best album in the BBC Radio2 Folk Awards.

Steve Knightley

The title is a clear indicator that they have come full circle and the spirit of Albion has become strong enough for them to create a collection that is as English as ale in the pub, hardy fishermen fighting for a living in the seas or markets on village greens.
The duo bring history to life with their music in the opening track Breme Fell At Hastings, the battle which was a defining moment for England as a nation.
What sounds like one of the languages created by the much-loved JRR Tolkien this track opens with Michael Wood speaking Saxon and the narrative focuses upon Breme who personifies the nation he is "the heart of England".
Knightley tells the tale more like a storyteller than a musician which proves highly effective and together with Beer, Miranda Sykes, Ange Hardy and Knightley's teenage son Jack they create a story which has the feel of the old Norse sagas.
Hallows' Eve is one of the more seasoned songs on the album and which has been a staple part of the duo's repertoire for some time. Hallows' Eve or Hallowe'en is a cause of celebration for many cultures and while is it here celebrated as being very British is it the Irish who claim to have the roots of Hallowe'en, Jack O'Lantern and trick or treat.
But with all this aside it is a song of celebration of the old passing and the new yet to come, about reunions with friends and the dearly parted where all come together.
Beer, Knightley and Sykes are joined this time by Bridge Inn Shandymen who add the feel of a celebration not only of the winter which lays ahead but of the year passed.
This gives way to the much mellower and far more acoustic Hambledon Fair which draws its lyrics from several sources and is a gentle ballad from Knightley, helped along by the soft tones of Jackie Oates' voice and silky strains of her viola. This is a beautifully lyrical songs where the two voices harmonise wonderfully.

Phil Beer

The pace is picked up again for the title track where you can really hear how well Beer and Knightley work together. Their long association means their ability to complement each other is almost telepathic and this country-style song shows their skills at their best.
They couldn't really have produced an album about their English roots without including a shanty and Keep Hauling is it. Bringing back the Shandymen to provide the salty vocals this song is obviously rooted in tradition but still has that modern feel to it as Knightley's softer voice fronts the refrain from the Shandymen to produce a sound which probably couldn't have come from anywhere else but England.
'Twas On One April Morning has traditional folk running through it like a DNA strand and they pull out the stops for this one even down to the clack of the Morris Men's sticks. The hopping tune is further enhanced by the presence of two of Beer and Knightley's most successful discoveries, Phillip Henry and Hannah Martin.
There is a slight deviation with Sweet Bella in that it comes through on 12 bar blues almost with a ragtime strand to it, not a style you immediately associate with Albion but then folk music has never been exclusive. Beer on his mandolin and Henry on gobiron add some really cool colour to the song.
The Old Lych Way is one of the real gems and shows you why Beer, Knightley and Sykes so often work together because when they mesh, as they do on this track, something magical happens.

Miranda Sykes

In this haunting ballad of the path of the dead the three of them have drawn strongly on Gregorian chant style and it works beautifully.
Walk With Me (When The Sun Goes Down) could be accused of being slightly narcissistic in that's it's a folk song about a folk festival and the town of Sidmouth which holds the event. However, the song is a beacon of hope in that SoH are letting everyone know that there are things in life other than austerity, greedy bankers, soundbite politicians and cutbacks. There is a whole culture and tradition in havens such as Sidmouth where people still find time to sing, dance and tell stories about ordinary, everyday life. The trio are once again joined by Henry and Martin on dobro and fiddle respectively.
Virginia is a song Beer dug out and overlaid a new tune. This is a deportation song where prisoners were shipped off to the Americas and his unadorned style of singing, with a hint of melancholy, just highlighted by Knightley's guitar is about as traditional a folk offering as you will get.
John Harrison's Hands is SoH's version of the tale of a true English pioneer written by two great Scottish musicians, Dick Gaughan and Brian McNeill. Harrison was a clockmaker who saved countless lives with his marine chronometer.

The new album

The extraordinary story is told simply and the tune is kept secondary to the lyrics allowing Knightley to tell the tale again taking on his role as storyteller rather than musician for his fascinating narrative.
Their final track is a romantic and gentle ballad which once again employs the skills of Oates and Hardy to produce what is a gorgeously voiced song of a couple separated by war and ends what is an incredibly, intricate and thoroughly enjoyable collection of songs.
The Long Way Home achieves what it set out to do and shows the eclectic sounds and traditions which have come from these shores and, even more so, they have shown that only those who are steeped in the music of the folk and the land from whence these tunes come can tease out what many others overlook and lose sight of in the cacophony of commercial music.

The Long Way Home is on the Hands On Music label and available now through the band's website and download sites.