Sandy Brechin, accordionist and all-round good guy, has got together fellow squeezers Jock The Box, Gary Innes and Gregor Lowrey, fiddlers Ewen Henderson, Ronan Martin and Gavin Marwick, joining them with Dave Cantwell, drums and percussion; Ian Chapman, bass; John Inglis, vocals and guitar; Brian McAlpine, keyboards and guitar; Davy Methven, pipes and Davy Sinclair, mandolin. As if that’s not enough, Ken McClusky of the Bluebells has a guest spot on backing vocals and harmonica as his song Young At Heart is given a traditionalised makeover, which makes you think it was meant to be done that way all along.


With such a choice of musicians to mix and match, there is a huge range of styles shining through in arrangements and content, but the skeely production of Brian McAlpine ensures that the mixture remains constantly engaging, as we move between songs and dance sets which allow every single contribution to be featured in a crisp, clear and very pleasing manner.


If you want driving jigs and reels, you’ve got them; if you want slower waltzes, they’re there; if you want songs to join in with, or just relax and listen to, they’re included. All in all, a cracking album from what must be the best- named band of the century.


Gordon Potter David Kidman ROBIN LAING


Whisky For Breakfast Greentrax CDTRAX361


LUKE DANIELS The Mighty Box


Wren Records WRCD2011


that please the ear, and this is only improved with the accompaniment of a wee dram, as he recommends.


David Scott does a masterful job on the knobs and providing the lion’s share of the accompaniments, but honourable mentions also to his spouse and daughter, Ursula and Maisie respectively, on backing vocals, and an all but brief appearance by Jenna Reid on fiddle.


Despite my previously held opinion that Robin had pretty much exhausted the subject with his last (third) whisky CD, I stand corrected – he’s found the mother lode and taken possession of it. A true bard of the water of life. I just pray that he’s got clearance to use the titles of various spirits he name checks, five in songs titles alone and more than I can be bothered counting elsewhere in the body of the songs. As our troubadour whisky ambassador he’s probably safe (mind you I’ve probably upset the monks of Buckfastleigh…).


Grem Devlin TOM ACTON


Down The Irish Gravel Road New Folk Records NFR4108


Another of Tom’s strongest suits is his ability to convey in simple, spacious imagery and intuitive language his keen rapport with the Irish sensibility; he finds poetry in the everyday, and he evidently appreciates finding positive elements in this turbulent world (Beyond The River), also valuing one’s occasional ability to escape from city life (The West Hills).


Other songs derive their inspiration from special places Tom has visited: Lissadell is a tender love song set on the strands of Co. Sligo, whereas The Water Song was written after a visit to Avoca in Co. Wicklow. Musically, Tom’s songs, seemingly effortlessly, draw on the rich and vibrant contours of Irish traditional music (for instance, Here’s To… takes the form of a lively jig, while the lilt and rhythm of Cobh Town seems to reference The Star Of The County Down).


For instrumental accompaniment, Tom is fortunate to be able to call on a team of talented musicians comprising Steafan Hannigan, Guy Roelofs, Ad Vermeer, Rudy Velghe, Raquel Gigot, Jenny Van Diggelen, Jasmijn Scholtens and Ruben Van Boven, with Annemiek Van De Padt on backing vocals. All in all, it’s impossible to resist the gentle charm and immediate appeal of Tom’s music, and the discerning listener who appreciates pleasingly unassuming songwriting craft should find this a record worth tracking down.


Career whisky enthusiast Robin Laing continues his exploration of his liquid muse with typical aplomb, with an accomplished supporting cast. The CD comprises 10 originals and two trad arrangements, with a bonus track, Ein Letztes Glas featuring German words by Hans-Willi Ohl to an Ian Sinclair tune (Tak A Dram). This album boasts a much fuller production than previous offerings from RL, which makes for a satisfying listening experience, although I am conscious that much of this will not be reproducible in a live context, as he tends to perform solo shows, but what the heck, it works fine for me from start to finish. Glad to hear a kindred spirit who still believes that whisky is our National drink (and not Buckfast), and can conjure up carefully crafted songs and arrangements


The Living Tradition - Page 50


Dublin-born Tom is a singer-songwriter and published poet who has been playing music for over twenty years either solo or in a duo or full band. His debut CD, Dark River Tumbling, was released back in 2004, but it never came my way so I can’t make any comparisons with this, his second album, which bears a 2009 publication date (a third album is likely to appear towards the end of this year, according to the biog supplied).


On the evidence of Down The Irish Gravel Road, Tom’s writing conveys a warm and natural affinity with Ireland and its rich cultural heritage. He finds specific inspiration in its personalities – writers such as W.B. Yeats (whose life and poetry directly inspired two of the album’s songs, Sligo Fair and Northern Girl), the 18th century playwright and poet Richard Brinsley Sheridan (subject of an affectionate homage-cum-toast Here’s To…) through to musicians such as Johnny Doran, one of the last of the travelling pipes players (subject of a tribute song that here is melded to a rendition of one of his favourite tunes, Guy Roelefs’ The Road Up Ahead).


The title is a suitable description for the elegantly constructed white box housing the two CDs constituting this amazing magnum opus from accordionist Luke Daniels. The statistics themselves are astonishing to anyone familiar with recording work. 71 tracks (compiled from traditional Irish music manuscript collections, other contemporary musicians’ sessions and recorded output, and eight of Luke’s own compositions) amounting to almost 110 minutes of music recorded over two days at a studio in County Sligo in, as Luke self-confessedly, and perhaps unsurprisingly, puts it, “a playing marathon I am unlikely to repeat!”


The wide assemblage of tunes embraces strathspeys, reels, jigs, slip jigs, hornpipes,


Sponsored by BIrnam CD


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