Tommy McCarthy & Louise Costello
Album: Grace Bay
Label: Copperplate
Tracks: 14
Website: http://www.copperplatemailorder.com/

It's taken a while, but at last the debut album from traditional Irish duo, Tommy McCarthy & Louise Costello, "Grace Bay" finally means that fans of the couple can at long last listen to them anytime they like.

Both artists play more than one instrument over the fourteen songs and sets that make up "Grace Bay" and there's a good collection of other musicians brought in to help round out a number of the pieces, including their daughter Rose who contributes fiddle and bodhran man, Johnny 'Ringo' McDonagh, at times almost recreating the feel of a session.

Almost inevitably when you consider who put this album together, "Grace Bay" isn't an album that takes from the tradition, it puts many a tune back in which is why the genre/style still manages to sound fresh. It's also an album that is dedicated to the memory of their respective fathers and with their daughter along it is an album that also serves to remind of the familial nature of Irish music and its proponents.

The playing is throughout is of the highest quality and you can really hear the enthusiasm for what they are playing shine through pretty much on every note. If there is a weakness, it's also in the album's strength and that is in just how well it captures the 'tradition'. This is an album that makes no compromise in trying to cross to a wider audience, rather one that feels comfortable in its own skin and if you want to enjoy traditional Irish music, maybe sometimes you need to move towards it, rather than have it come to you.

Neil King