Dan Reeder Sweetheart Oh Boy OBR-036 *** American singer-songwriter with a great aptitude for the understated, if you feel mellow or would like to do so Mr Dan Reeder pretty much fits the bill Dan Reeder didn’t make it into the music business, full time, until late in life but he is making up for it. That isn’t to say […]

Clare Burson Thieves Criterion Music ***½ Darkness and doom-suffused songs set in an ambient landscape This is a strange little record, all wrong turns and misdirection. A title or a sound tells you one thing, a tune or a lyric tells you the exact opposite. It opens with Boat Of Leaves, which you might think from the title is folky […]

Celtic Fiddle FestivalÉquinoxe Cat No: Loftus Music: LM003 ****Excellent example of Celtic fiddling—overflowing with joy and with talent to burn I had the great fortune to listen to this CD on St Patrick’s day with a couple of cans of Guiness inside me but even in that ambient mood I was not prepared for the sheer brilliance of […]

Cedar Hill Poverty Row Blue Circle BCR-011 **** New songs, new musicians producing a good time tested, familiar bluegrass sound Released on Dixie and Tom T Hall’s Blue Circle label, Cedar Hill consist of songwriter / lead vocalist Frank (mandolin) and Lisa Ray (fiddle), Joe Wieneman (rhythm / led guitar), Rob Collins (banjo), Kenny Cantrell (banjo) and Ferrell Stowe (resophonic […]

Catriona McDonaldOver The Moon Peerie Angel Productions ****Folk tradition brought neatly up-to-dateOf course, it helps that Catriona McDonald is beguilingly beautiful. But, luckily, her playing matches up to her looks. This is the Shetland fiddler’s second solo album on her own label Peerie Angel Productions. Winning the BBC Radio 2 Young Tradition Award whilst still studying […]

Bill Staines Old Dogs Red House RHR CD 208 *** Simple, homely songs sang by a voice typical of many folk country singer-songwriters, mellow and low-key – where the lyrics take pride of place Bill Staines has been a purveyor of his art for years, and though many changes have taken place in the outside world during this time his […]

Allison Owsley Strong Enough Rosebud Records *** Lovely debut album that is all country Hailing from the small town of Cross Timbers in Missouri, Allison Owsley knew that she needed to head for Nashville to realise her dream, and at nineteen years of age she took that huge step. Seven years on and she now has a degree in music […]

Pickin’ & Grinnin’ Lynn Miles & Alana Levandoski Brontë Music Club, Rathfriland, Co. Down November 23 The promotional flyer invited recipients to come along and view, at close quarters, a pair of fine Canadian songbirds, rarely seen in these parts and only just flown in for a fleeting winter visit. A not insignificant crowd heeded what turned out to […]

Duke Special, Juliet Turner Barrels, Berwick on Tweed, July 16 We came to listen to the new ‘star’ on the horizon, Juliet Turner promoting her new album Season Of The Hurricane and ended up praising her support act as well. The appearance of Duke Special was the first of many pleasant surprises at Barrels. This was the […]

Pickin’ & Grinnin’ Eleanor McEvoy Kirkstyle Inn, Glenmavis, May 24 It was my first time at the Kirkstyle Inn and first opportunity to experience Eleanor McEvoy live. On both counts I was impressed. The evening got off to a promising start with the support act provided by Glasgow-born lass, Maeve O’Boyle, who treated us to selection of tracks […]