GREAT BIG SEA
The Hard And The Easy
The Hard And The Easy is the most recent release from Great Big Sea. This St. John's-based, Juno-nominated band, fuses Newfoundland traditional music with modern pop in a crowd-pleasing formula both heartfelt and vital.
A pure force of nature-much like the ocean surge they take their name from Great Big Sea’s blend of instruments like mandolin, bodhran, fiddle and concertina, along with their vocal harmonies, revels in the melodies they create and the Newfoundland tunes they love. Their sounds bellow joy.
The band is Alan Doyle, Sean McCann and Bob Hallett, and their new album could just as easily have been entitled: Sean, Bob and Alan’s Party Favourites. Indeed the play list could be described as their own personal Top 10.
The Hard And The Easy is a wonderful CD and it gives mainlanders a great opportunity to hear some of the real traditional music of Newfoundland. Great Big Sea are the byse who truly know how to sing these songs and play the music on the traditional instruments - what great ambassadors for Newfoundland!
This solid and straightforward acoustic album of traditional and local songs is a first for singers and multi-instrumentalists Sean McCann, Alan Doyle and Bob Hallett, but it’s a logical progression. Newfoundland music and Newfoundland culture are both their genesis and their raison d’être.
Tracks on The Hard And The Easy are: Come and I will Sing You; Old Polina; The River Driver; The Mermaid; Captain Kidd; Graceful & Charming (Sweet Forget Me Not); Concerning Charlie Horse; Harbour LeCou; Tishialuk Girls Set; French Shore; Cod Liver Oil ; and Tickle Cove Pond.
The album also includes a bonus DVD of band interviews and live performance footage. Look for The Hard And The Easy at fine records stores everywhere.
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MARGIE ADAM
Portal
Margie Adam is a rarity among musicians in that she has created two distinct bodies of work. She has a reputation as a singer-songwriter of elegant love songs and inspiring songs of conscience. At the same time, she expands the boundaries of solo piano music.
Praised by gold-selling pianist George Winston as well as Grammy-winner Janis Ian (If I could play piano like Margie Adam, I wouldn’t have to bother singing). Margie Adam provides music for the soul.
Her music is soothing, stress-busting, meditative and just what we need for today’s fast paced and impersonal life. It’s joy to our senses without any demands from us. Her music is well suited for transportive pursuits such as yoga, meditation or massage.
Portal features a 47-minute disc of 10 reflective piano pieces that brilliantly balance emotion and intellect, plus a bonus disc of spectacular imagery of Scotland’s Callanish Standing Stones with ensemble score. Think of it as an eyes open meditation.
The bonus seven minute DVD of spectacular sunrise-to-sunset Celtic images with evocative multi-instrumental score will introduce a new generation to the timeless magic of Margie’s music. The DVD provides the perfect ambience for meditation or pre-sleep relaxation (great for all ages). Hospice workers have called this new audio-visual experience “seven minutes free of pain” and it is becoming popular at health and wellness venues.
Margie Adam's Portal is available online at CDBaby.Amazon and www.margieadam.com.
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MICK, LOUISE & MICHELLE MULCAHY
Notes From the Heart
Traditional Irish music is a family affair with the Mulcahy’s of Abbeyfeale, County Limerick, who have just recently been voted “the most talented musical family in Ireland.” Their music is firmly rooted in the West Limerick and Sliabh Luachra styles, but also has a Clare influence.
Father, Mick Mulcahy, and his daughters Louise and Michelle, play a dazzling array of instruments on the album. Mick plays button accordion and melodeon; Louise plays concert flute and uilleann pipes; Michelle plays fiddle, concertina, harp and piano.
This is the second album from the family. Their first, The Mulcahy Family, was released on the Shanachie label in 2000.
Released on the Clo Iar-Chonnachta Teo label in Connemara, County Galway, the liner notes are in English and Irish, and they give a wonderful history of where each piece of music originated from, the composer and musician. If you wanted to learn more about traditional Irish music, this is the CD for you. There are 17 tracks consisting of reels, jigs, flings and slides. It doesn’t get any more traditional than Notes From The Heart. For more information, visit: www.cic.ie.
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