Local Ground
For their 10th album, the veteran Irish ensemble has gathered 13 traditional and newly composed tunes. These are transformed via singer/fiddler Mairéad ní Mhaonaigh¹s Gaelic-speaking Donegal birthright and gussied up by the group¹s modern yet reassuringly earthy acoustic arrangements. The set list includes several of the jaunty dance tunes that are the soul of Irish music;Is the Big Man Within/Tilly Finn¹s Reelis an especially fine example. But Ní Mhaonaigh¹s fragile, girlish soprano creates many of the album¹s most memorable moments,Adieu My Lovely Nancyand a lullaby,Dun Do Shuillinger in the heart and ear. She and her husband, accordionist Dermot Byrne, own a pub in a small village called Teelin and it must be a great place for musicians to swap songs and tell tales. Indeed, the entire album has home-town warmth to it, a sense of achieved heritage that is at once soothing and invigorating. --Christina Roden