Irish American News  February 2015

Piping It In

by Jack Baker

The second CD on my list this month is yet another gem from New Folk Records (www.newfolkrecords.com) Led by Ken Onstad, New Folk has been releasing a steady stream of top-notch traditional Irish music recordings for some time now, and, despite declining CD sales, it looks like they’re going to continue doing so for folk like me, and others, who like their music in that format. I may be jumping the gun a bit on this CD since it won’t be released till next month (March) but I got my review copy and it’s just too darn good for me to be quiet.

The CD is “Bright and Early, Something to Crow About” and boy, is it ever. Coming together on the album are the combined talents of Paddy O’Brien on button accordion, Dáithí Sproule on guitar and Nathan Gourley on fiddle, three giants of Irish music. The CD features 16 tracks of reels, double jigs and hornpipes that will keep the dancers moving and the non-dancers tapping at least one toe. No vocals, all instrumental, this CD will introduce you to a bunch of tunes that Paddy has collected over the years and trots out now to let us enjoy the musical magic to this talented trio. I love this stuff, it flows like water, wraps itself around my soul and makes all the daily troubles go away, exactly what good music is supposed to do. Sorry to say that this one won’t be in the store till next month but I can honestly say that this one was worth waiting for.