Idir an Da Sholas
Sisters Maighread and Triona Ní Dhomhnaill have been singing together since they were children, and they have both chosen to make performing Irish music their life's work: Maighread as a solo singer and Triona as a singer and instrumentalist with theBothy Band, Touchstone, andNightnoise. So it comes as a surprise to discover that the release ofIdir an Dá Sholasmarks the first time they have recorded together. The sisters learned most of these songs from their father Hiudai and their aunt Neili, who were well-known singers in their native Donegal. And when the two sisters join together in harmony, a sound that Maighread describes as a "miraculous collision," you can hear all the joys and sorrows of family life in their voices. In keeping with the family-gathering feeling of the songs, Maighread and Triona invited their brother Micheal, a respected musician in his own right, to back them on guitar, and their distant cousinDónal Lunnyto produce the CD and play bouzouki and bodhran. The performance of the Dhomhnaills onIdir an Dá Sholasis as good as Celtic vocal music gets.--Michael Simmons