Releases > Releases March 2025
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BRIAN FINNEGAN
Shepherds
Own Label, 8 Tracks, 43 Minutes
www.brianfinnegan.bandcamp.com/album/shepherds-3
Readers of a certain age may recall a series of books Learn to Play the Tin Whistle, produced by The Armagh Pipers Club. On the cover of one of those books is a photograph of tousled haired, freckle-faced children playing tin whistles, and that image has been reworked as The Three Whistlers by Lorcan Vallely for the charming cover of this CD.
Brian Finnegan is a past pupil of Brian and Eithne Vallely, who have been the driving force of the Armagh Pipers Club since the 1960s. The club has produced dozens of professional traditional musicians, and Brian Finnegan is one of the finest players to not only come out of Armagh but to come out of Ireland. His work with Flook over the past 28 years is without doubt on the very leading edge of traditional music. However, he had to start somewhere, and on this album he revisits some of those formative tunes he learned so many years ago. He says in the liner notes these are: “Tunes I picked up from my mentors and musical heroes.”
The personnel on Shepherds is a tight minimum of three: Brian Finnegan (whistles/flutes), Seán Óg Graham (guitars, bass, button accordion, bouzouki, moog, cavaquinho, programming) and young Ollin Roa Finnegan (drums/handpan). Seán Óg recorded and mixed the album at his Bannview Studios in Portglenone.
The album begins with the Holly Bush impelled on with an opening guitar riff. Brian enters with a sprightly triplet-filled rendition of one of the most popular tunes in the tradition. Hanley’s Tweed/The Long Drop/The Flooded Road to Glenties follow with Brian leading the melody and Seán matching with his accompaniment, stressing the dominant beats, until the piece ends with even more energy (is that double tracking of the whistles?).
The Langstrom’s Pony set is less hurried. Here the attention shifts to long notes, articulating the phrasing, the guitar here is lyrical rather than percussive. Dobbins Flowery Vale/Bánchnoic Éireann Ó are two slow airs, the latter named for an Armagh beauty spot. Here Finnegan’s whistle is emotional, as if longing for a lost summer.
Brian switches to the low whistle on the set The Humours of Ballylaughlin/The Mystery Jig. The ensemble sound fills The Mystery Jig with long notes held over the running melody. The longest track at 7 minutes is Ar Éireann Ní Neosfainn Cé Hí/Cait’s Jig. Sean Óg takes the lead here on a very resonant guitar with some subtle hammer-ons. We have to wait for over 2 minutes for the whistle to join in and the wait is worth it; the synergy between the two instruments is magical, right down to an unexpected cadence. Its final two minutes are devoted to Cait’s Jig. Brian Finnegan is a maestro and the success-of this part is in its laconic swing.
The album closes with Tom Billy’s/Winnie Hayes’/The Luachrachan’s/Seanamhac Tube Station. The first tune will be for ever associated with DeDannan and maybe this selection is a nod to Brian’s myriad influences. What is certain is that he makes these tunes his own. He’s been around the world a few times since his formative years at The Armagh Pipers Club, and this album proves how good you can get when you get the best of starts.
Seán Laffey
JOSEPHINE MARSH
Music in the Frame
Own Label, 11 Tracks, 51 Minutes www.josephinemarshmusic.com
Josephine Marsh released her previous solo album in 1996 and on this follow up’s eleven tracks, we get a flavour of the music she’s been making over those intervening three decades. There are old tunes, which you’d find in O’Neill’s 1001 such as The Old Pensioner, which she couples with Joe Liddy’s The Garravogue and Liz Carroll’s Ricky White’s Face.
Josephine is joined on this, her fourth album by Seamus Cahill on guitar, Mick Kinsella on harmonica, Pat Marsh on bouzouki, Angelina Carberry on banjo, Blathnaid Marsh on piano, Andrew Kinsella on banjo, Jack Kinsella on pipes, Steve Larkin on fiddle and Gerry Madden on mandolin. The artwork on the cover features an original painting by Josephine herself.
She has the deft ability to merge old and new tunes into seamless presentations, for example Tomgrany Castle and The Stack of Pancakes. This album opens beautifully with Josephine’s original planxty: Anna Foxe. It trips lightly off her accordion and is the perfect welcome to this collection of her original compositions, new tunes from a raft of respected composers and solid traditional sets. There are a couple of waltzes, the Canadian La Valse De Beau Canton by Andy de Jarlis, and Waltz Genevieve by Pat Costello. You can hear all these tracks on her website (What are you waiting for? Get clicking).
For some full-on immersion check out the eight-minute long dramatic track, the Scottish air, Roslyn Castle; to me it has a feeling of a Breton “Complainte Maritime” about it. She segues this track into Offaly’s Paddy O’Brien’s O’Reilly from Athcarne, an O’Carolan tune. The last track on the album is a double header of the Jig For The One Row followed by Paddy Marsh’s Jig, both written by Josephine, and to be frank Paddy Marsh’s could soon become my favourite jig of 2025.
All the tunes are accessible and paced perfectly for learning. With this album Josephine has not only reaffirmed her standing among the country’s finest box players, she is also up there now with the foremost modern composers in the tradition. You could say she is now firmly in the frame!
Seán Laffey
JAMES CULLINAN
Here It Is
Raelach Records RR 024, 14 Tracks, 50 Minutes
www.raelachrecords.com
The Clare fiddle tradition has had its share of legendary names associated with its hallowed ranks from PJ Hayes to Paddy Canny to Tony Lennane and Martin Hayes among others. Now comes James Cullinan’s turn. This is not James Cullinan’s first recording, he has previously featured on the seminal 1984 vinyl LP Disirt Tola, the brainchild of Gearoid O hAllmhurain and also made a trio album with his wife Carol and flautist PJ Crotty. However now comes Here It Is, his debut solo album, and thanks to Jack Talty’s Raelach Records, it emerges proud and shining and ready for inspection.
It’s a beautifully hewed piece of work with the concentration clearly on fluent playing and exemplary execution, based around a repertoire peppered with subtle nuances and homage to such greats as Galway’s Paddy Fahy, a set of whose fine jigs occupies one track and older tunes such as Murphy’s Hornpipe, a favourite of the Lachtan Naofa Céilí Band whose line-up included Willie Clancy. The backings are subtle and unobtrusive while Mick Conneely, Carol Talty, Steve Cooney and Kevin Crawford to name a few, add to the backdrop. The main feature though is James Cullinan’s playing, which is both expressive and fluent on sets like Nia’s Barndance/Lord McDonald’s/Ballinasloe Fair and Charlie Mulvilhill’s/ The Meelick Team Jig. These are typical examples of the Derula, Kilnamona natives’ approach to traditional music and its presentation. Adjectives such as sweet and eloquent often creep into the consciousness when listening to Here It Is.
This album creates an atmosphere of a musician completely at home with his repertoire and approach. Clare fiddle playing doesn’t come any better than here with 14 tracks of pure delight for the ears and a great addition to the annals of recordings of the county’s music.
John O’Regan
SEÁN GAVIN & COLM GANNON
The Boys of 25
Own Label, 13 Tracks, 38 Minutes www.SeanGavinMusic.com
Two fine young Irish musicians based in America, Seán Gavin and Colm Gannon play flute, pipes, melodeon and button accordion on a selection of lively dance music from vintage sources. Reels and jigs are spelled with hornpipes and flings, and there’s even a barndance: Dermot Byrne’s composition for his daughter Nia. With the exception of Barndance for Nia, the material here is from the 20th century or older. Much of it is well-known, but perhaps not in these versions.
Seán’s flute and Colm’s accordion open with The Ash Plant and Woman of the House, two old favourites, the second drawn from John McKenna’s New York recording around 1930. John Blake accompanies on piano, jumping to guitar on other tracks, with bouzouki from Mike Gavin and a touch of percussion from Cecil Morton. The lead duo is energetic throughout as in their exuberant treatment of the hornpipe Bantry Bay: they bounce off each other and stretch the tunes between them, which makes for exciting and dynamic music.
Gavin switches to uilleann pipes for the title track with fine regulator work alongside flying fingers on the chanter, and then it’s back to flute for Breeches Mary and Tom Billy’s Jig. Both musicians perform with flair and technical brilliance, and highlights are numerous. I’d draw your attention to Chicago fiddler Johnny McGreevy’s version of The Kid on the Mountain and the hornpipe The Few Bob learnt from Joe Ryan. The pair round off this most enjoyable collection with a trio of old Kerry jigs starting with one I know as Dan the Cobbler and two jazzy show-piece reels with no holds barred.
Alex Monaghan
FOURWINDS
Allta
Own Label, 11 Tracks, 38 Minutes
www.fourwindsirishmusic.bandcamp.com/album/allta
FOURWINDS are Caroline Keane: concertinas, tin whistle, vocals, Tom Delany: uilleann pipes, whistles, vocals and Robbie Walsh: bodhrán, percussion, vocals. They are joined on Allta by Alan Murray: bouzouki, guitar, vocals, Laura Kerr: fiddle and Barry Kerr: flute.
There is a comic song from Robbie Walsh, whistling and playing the bodhrán on The Great Big Roaming Ass. Whilst New York based, Glaswegian Alan Murray sings the remaining three songs: The Snows of France and Holland, John Conolly’s Men of the Sea and a version of Pat Reilly he calls the Blue Cockade, set during the Crimean War. Each song has a character all of its own and this variety is a measure of the care and craft FOURWINDS bring to their opus.
Considered as an instrumental band, there are tracks here that snap crackle and pop, referencing the energy and wildness of some of the finest music made in the 1970s. The way Tom Delany’s pipes enter in the second section of The Road to Cúl Ros reminded me of Paddy Keenan at his most expressive. No wonder, the album’s title Allta, translates into English as Wild.
There are some thoughtful passages too, such as Delia Keane’s / Planxty Browne /Allistrum’s March. The bouzouki establishes the first melody, closely followed by the concertina and then the pipes with Walsh’s bodhrán adding a deep bass, simple, but so effective. Allistrum’s March dates to the early 1860s; one version was in the repertoire of Maurice O’Keeffe from Kiskeam, County Cork, others came down to the present day from Willie Clancy. I’m sure Maurice O’Keeffe would have been familiar with the first tune in the selection they call The Slide to Lisdoonvarna, made up of The Humours of Mountcollins / Sleamhnán Sheáin Dan Neil / The Road to Lisdoonvarna / Finbarr Dwyer’s. Like many of the tracks on Allta, this is lively happy music, destined to get your toes tapping. Caroline has composed a new tune, part of the set McKinneys of Chicago, commissioned by the late and much missed Maryann McTeague Keifer for the owners of Chief O’Neill’s pub in Chicago.
FOURWINDS may revere the music of 50 years ago, but they are not a pastiche tribute act. The core trio has a sound that belongs to them and them alone, and it fits squarely in the zeitgeist of this century. Allta is an album to search for and enjoy. Stop by their Bandcamp page, it has all the tracks with information on the tunes and songs. You’d be wild if you missed it.
Seán Laffey
MACDARA YEATES
Traditional Singing from Dublin
Own Label, 9 Tracks, 38 Minutes
www.macdarayeates.bandcamp.com
Macdara Yeates is one of a crop of young artists associated with the recent resurgence of traditional singing in Dublin, alongside acts such as Lankum, Ye Vagabonds and Landless. In 2012, Macdara became a founding member of “The Night Before Larry Got Stretched”, a unique monthly singing session based in The Cobblestone pub, which has spawned some notable vocalists since its inception. From 2013 to 2017, Macdara was a member of the acclaimed traditional/folk band Skipper’s Alley, touring internationally.
This is his debut album under his own name, and he takes the opportunity to evoke the raw and unadorned beauty of solo ballad singing with minimal accompaniment from guitar or bodhrán, or simply a-capella. The tone is set on the opener Johnny I Hardly Knew Ya, a well-known anti-war song as relevant today as it ever was. His baritone voice is strong and assured, but unadorned with niceties, which just adds to the authenticity of his delivery.
Here, he has compiled a master list of those songs which have engaged him most, and they are presented with the care and attention associated with a true connoisseur of the fine art of balladry. Many of the tracks will be familiar with powerful renditions of classic songs such as The Shores of Lough Bran and The Kerry Recruit. He includes a great version of the humorous Dublin ballad The Herrin’, and I was particularly drawn to ballads with beautifully sparse guitar accompaniment – One Starry Night is wonderfully atmospheric, and Boys From Home captures the sadness of the forced emigrant.
This recording is unashamedly sparse, raw and authentic, capturing the true spirit of the singing sessions which have become such a feature of Irish traditional music. Macdara Yeates can be proud of his initial offering, which is sure to enthral his many admirers.
Mark Lysaght
MARLA FIBISH & REBECCA RICHMAN
Playdate
Noctambule Music, 11 Tracks, 48 Minutes
www.marla-becca-music.com
Mandolin and fiddle mostly, combined with many other things, this duo plays new and old material with a lightness of touch and a togetherness which is a joy to hear. Listen to the effortless step into Arthur Darley’s or The Swedish Jig. Smile at the sweetness of Spring Forward. Gasp at the grinding old-time groove on Old Maids of Galway. Gourd banjo, tenor guitar, concertina, harp, piano and more are fused into musical sculptures, seven guests contributing to the arrangements of two dozen pieces. Half the tunes here are Fibish compositions, a mix of Frisco and Irish influences: the melodies are transcribed in the detailed sleeve notes which can be downloaded from the duo’s website.
Jigs and reels, polkas and slow airs, Playdate is a varied and surprising collection of moods and tempos. The silky harp on Carole Jean, the driving rhythm of Connie the Soldier and the cheeky swagger of James Kelly’s cover all bases in Irish music. The delicious waltz My One and Only by California fiddler Laurie Rivin is a clear highlight, soft and lyrical with a hint of growling fiddle. The sprightly polka Weekend with Christa, a composition of Marla’s, is perfect for mandolin. The Sport of the Chase, one of several traditional slip jigs here, is a final burst of energy. Also known as New Claret, it precedes the achingly slow Requiem for David, which ends this absorbing and rewarding album.
Alex Monaghan
TRIP
In Terra’s Keep
Trip Music Records Tmrcd002, 10 Tracks, 43 Minutes
www.trip-music.com
The stand-out line-up of Trip features: Michael Biggins (accordion), Tiernan Courell (flute), Craig Baxter (bòdhran), Isla Callister (fiddle), Alasdair MacKenzie (guitar & voice) and Rory Matheson (piano). They have been playing together since they were 18-year-old students at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. This is their second album, its title and themes relate to the land.
Trip employ a driving high energy attack for a number of their tunes such as The 50 Reels, which is their ebullient opener. Their lead singer and talented song writer is Alasdair MacKenzie; his Sadness Passed is musically wrapped in a rolling piano riff, giving the song forward momentum. That same synergy is felt on Not A Cloud with the piano’s interspersed blocked chords, a distant but distinct bodhrán at double speed and Tiernan Courell’s flute overtopping it all with the main melody. There is an interconnection on a pair of tracks in the middle of the album. The first is Trip’s interpretation of Seamus Egan’s Tune for Roan, written for his young niece; this is followed by An Ghrian ar Bhinn Ghulbain, evoking the rising sun on Benbulbin in Sligo.
If you are looking for a surprise, then listen to Blessed Are The Meek, an old Status Quo number, here given a fresh simulation by Alasdair MacKenzie, who brings out far more in the words than you’ll find in Francis Rossi et al’s original recording.
The album finishes with August Ascent, flute, piano and accordion taking the main honours; the tunes are new to the Scottish tradition, Laa Luanys and WD-50. It is an upbeat way to end a first-class second album. The production of In Terra’s Keep was financially supported by Creative Scotland and Culture Vannin. In Terra’s Keep will be available on all digital platforms on April 11th 2025. In Terra’s Keep my be grounded but Trip are looking at the stars.
Seán Laffey
ROBERT ZIELINSKI
The Day Dawn
Own Label, 15 Tracks, 43 Minutes
https://robzielinskimusic.bandcamp.com/album/the-day-dawn-2
Robert Zielinski grew up in Karragullen in the Perth Hills of Western Australia. He first heard the fiddle when he was seven and recalls being transfixed when hearing his Polish grandfather play the violin. His grandfather bought him his first violin and thus began an odyssey that runs to this day and his immersion in traditional music of the Celtic countries, particularly that of Ireland and Scotland.
Robert came to Ireland at the age of 17 and moved to Feakle in East Clare and met such mentors as PJ Hayes, Martin Hayes, Martin Rochford, Francie Donnellan, John Naughton and Joe Bane, all of whom became friends and fellow players. He remained there for 14 years and the rhythmic, relaxed quality of East Clare music has remained with him.
The Day Dawn is a revised version of his second album released originally in 2018. Here it is revamped and renewed with ten new recordings added to five of the original album’s cuts. Among the friends taking part are Tim O’Shea and Paddy Jones and his Australian mentor Mick O’Doherty. The opening set Andy McGann’s /The Humours of Scariff has a profound East Clare influence, while the duet The Sprig of Shillelagh sounds straight out of a kitchen session. The title track The Day Dawn, a favourite of Shetland fiddler Tom Anderson, has its honourable regal qualities, while Neilidh Boyle’s Highland, a Donegal tune, is rendered with suitable subtlety. The Drunken Piper is a heads down, one minute Donegal reel. The Man of the House /The Tap Room are excellent slow reels while Garret Barry’s again heads for East Clare. Finally Flax in Bloom sends the album home happy in its laid-back beauty.
Quality, relaxed East Clare music played with poise and precision, The Day Dawn pulls its weight mightily.
John O’Regan
JENN BUTTERWORTH
Her By Design
One in Ten Records 110CD001, 8 Tracks, 39 Minutes
www.jennbutterworth.co.uk
In 2019, Jenn Butterworth was named Musician of the Year at the Scots Trad Music Awards and after listening to this album you can hear how well-deserved that accolade was.
Many of the songs on Her By Design are old, modernised and rejuvenated by Jenn and her crew of 9 musicians. This is 21st century folk music with arrangements and orchestration that comes at us straight out of the box on All Our Days. She has her own way with classic American folk songs too, such as Little Sparrow, her version of Fair and Tender Ladies.
Jenn takes a feminist perspective on this album; women are the central characters, not always heroines, sometimes at the mercy of society and economics. For example in The Housewife’s Lament, the original was written in 1872 by Eliza (Sproat) Turner in her book Out-of-Door Rhymes, a case of plus ça change:
Life is a toil and love is a trouble,
Beauty will vanish and riches will flee,
Pleasures will dwindle and prices they double,
And nothing is as I would wish it to be.
Irish listeners will recognise Jenn’s Jeanie, known here as Anarchy Gordon, made famous in Ireland by Mary Black. From the same era, Jenn dips into Robin Dransfield’s Fairmaids of February, an old country name for spring daffodils.
Her record label is One in Ten, its significance revealed in a song of the same name, she explains as follows: “I wrote this song recently about Endometriosis, a condition where tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows in other places in the body, causing a great deal of pain. Although one in ten women are affected by endometriosis, there hasn’t been a lot of research into causes and treatments.” This is an original song that will wear its style well in the years to come.
The final track, Her Bright Smile Haunts Me Still, was collected by Frank and Anne Warne from sisters Eleazar Tillett and Martha Etheridge on the Outer Banks, North Carolina in 1951. Its original text is by W.T. Wrighton and J.E. Carpenter in 1864. Like many of the tracks on Her by Design, it is an old song in Jenn’s new style and so fitting for the times we live in.
Seán Laffey
