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The Paul McKenna Band

EP:The Paul McKenna Band

Website: http://www.myspace.com/paulmckennamusic

Singers of the quality of Paul McKenna come along about as often as a fair election in Zimbabwe. In David McNee, Ruairidh MacMillan, Sean Gray, Ewan Baird he has a band with the potentially to dominate the Scottish/Irish traditional scene for the next twenty years and be spoken about in the same breath as Boys Of The Lough. They are not there yet, but you can feel the potential in the Paul McKenna band. This five track ep has a freshness and energy about it that I haven't heard for such a long time. If you do nothing else today, find some time to give your ears a real treat.

Album:A Little Piece Of England

Website: http://www.patsymatheson.com

Rising pheonix like from the ashes of the much missed Waking The Witch, Patsy Matheson returns with her first solo album in way too long. "A Little Piece Of England" is a hugely powerful album that absorbs love, life and politics. "Precious Little Soldier" humanises the tragedy of war, the impact on family, especially if you're not married when your partner dies. The simplicity of delivery, normally vocal and guitar, help to emphasise the bleakness contained in the album, but it's not an album of despair, more an album of strength of spirit, from first pen touch to last note

Kris Drever John McCusker Roddy Woomble

Album:Before The Ruin

Website: http://www.navigatorrecords.co.uk

Scottish music seems to be going through a real boom at the moment. There's been a plethora of riches from Ecosse dropping through the office letterbox. As trios go, Kris Drever, John McCusker & Roddy Woomble are quite a formidible crew. All have forged reputations solo and as parts of other groups, all have qualities to bring to the party. It was difficult to see how the whole was going to improve on the sum of the parts, but fortunately, egos appear to have been left at the door, with the resulting "Before The Ruin" being a contemporary folk album with strength in depth.

Old Crow Medicine Show

Album:Tennessee Pusher

Website: http://www.myspace.com/oldcrowmedicineshow

Old Crow Medicine Show are one of my all time favourite bluegrass bands, but one that I've always prefered live. They've got a dynamic they share with an audience that they don't seem to be able to capture in the studio. "Tennessee Pusher" hasn't really changed that for me, but it has narrowed the gap. That might be because Don Was is behind the desk and maybe his being a little more removed from the genre has alowed him to pull out a bit more performance. It's good old boy stuff, bootleggers have been replaced by drug dealers as the songs come into today.

Single:I Like Being At Home

Website: http://www.myspace.com/ivorgametunes

Ivor Game cuts "I Like Being At Home" away from the "Wake Up And Sing" album to try and get some much deserved attention for that release. It's a song that celebrates being alnone. Liking one's own company is not in anyway like being lonely. It leads to a bright and witty, uptempo song that shows there is more to the singer/songwriter craft than confrontation and negativity. Game's song is almost written with a spring in it's step. It's a celebration of a life style. It's jaunty, almost jazz like it places and hopefully will bring people to the album.

Album:The Unruly Ones

Label:Tiny White Girl

Website: http://www.danawylie.net

"The Unruly Ones" isn't so much an album as a songbook. 13 vignettes on life. It's bluesy, ballsy, verges into jazz, people and places, reminiscent of the old style night clubs, smokey bars, small piano band in the corner being listened to by an appreciative audience. Throw in some harmonica, a little sympathetics percussion and your getting close to Canada's Dana Wylie Band. Of course that doesn't tell the whole story. Haven't mentioned Dana's stunning vocal yet. This is an album with life and pace, good tales and a little bitterness and an occasional squeeze

Kate Burke & Ruth Hazleton

Album:Summer's Lonesome Tale

Website: http://www.kateandruth.com

I missed this when it first came out, time to repair the damage. Kate Burke & Ruth Hazleton hail from Australia and were recently on tour in the UK. In a sense they were bringing their songs home. "Summer's Lonesome Tale" is a traditional folk album, but most of the songs covered have picked up different words and influences as they travelled to the colonies. Some of the songs have Australian accents, others Canadian and US, the thing they have in common is their heritage. There's some renown guests join them to add to the accent. A delightful album and music history lesson.

Album:My Mother's Children

Label:Drift Records/Navigator

Website: http://www.myspace.com/maryhampton

Mary Hampton, has a plain, almost austere singing style that is highly reminiscent of the great Shirley Collins, except Mary writes her own songs rather than collects them. I've got out of the habit listening to this plain folk style and it can take a couple of run throughs before everything clicks into place and even then, may not be to your taste, but "My Mother's Children" is an album that deserves your attention, even if you decide no. It's not revival, Hampton adds her own naunces and flavours, whilst the influences are clearly on her sleeve. Poetic and epic.

Website: http://www.roadhousegb.co.uk

I really like the Vaughan Oliver designed packaging, Mandie G, Suzie D and Kelly Marie Hobbs provide a good solid backing unit, but in all honesty, there isn't a lot else to recommend "Sea Of Souls" from Roadhouse. I delayed the review so that I could come back to it and see if that made any difference, it didn't. I don't know what surprises me most. That Roadhouse manage to trot out so many tired cliches or that it's released on Blues Matters Records, the recording arm of the highly respected and authoritative blues magazine. There is plenty of blues that's better than this

Album:Whiskey Hearts

Website: http://www.myspace.com/deanowenspace

"Whisky Hearts" is Dean Owens latest release and it seems to find him at his most relaxed. He's worked with a lot of the personel on the album before and it seems to have allowed him to grow into his musical skin. His previous albums have been slightly stilted, as if he's found the weight of experctation a little too much for him. Deam seems to have shaken that off and "Whiskey Hearts" is a better album for it. It's an album rooted in Americana, with more than a hint of Glasgow. Some of the album seems very personal, almost like you're in the front room at a family get together.

Album:Dreams Of Breathing Underwater

Website: http://www.eliza-carthy.com

I've got a bit of a reputation for looking for the best in a release. I deliberately held back on this one. I wanted to make sure that I wasn't taken in by the hype or decieved by my ears. I didn't want to rave about "Dreams Of Breathing Underwater" only to be disappointed by it a little way down the line. Hindsight is a wonderful thing when it comes to reviewing. I should have gone with my gut instinct at the time. Eliza Cartthy has got stronger album by album. She's found new influences from her time with Salsa Celtica, added them and delivered an album that is Magnifico!!

Album:Beginnings:The Best Of The Early Years

Website: http://www.http://www.clannad.ie

When Clannad released their debut album, Sunderland had just won the FA cup. With all they've achieved in the subsequent thirty five years, it's sometimes easy to forget that they started off life as a family band playing tradition songs, in both Gaelic and English in a bar in Gweedor. "Beginnings" does a great job, over two albums, of returning is to Clannad's roots and a damned fine journey it is to. You forget what a good harpist Moya was/is. The great thing is that the songs have remained fresh, maybe the reason why Clannad have had that longevity.