Athens Hotel
...I happily raise a toast to "Athens Hotel", the memorable new CD from...Colcannon. "Athens Hotel" is a powerful collection of mainly original music that honors the Celtic tradition by using it to make new and definitive music. With the release of this album, Colcannon takes its place as one of the best American Celtic bands playing today. Surprises and chance-taking abound. Stellar jazz trumpeter Ron Miles and trombonist Bill Stanley lend a New Orleans brass band lilt to "Ben's Two-Step/Jumping Ship". Irishman Mick Bolger's throaty, soaring voice warm;y hugs the lyrics and gives the proceedings an unmistakably authentic ring. Tim O'Brien's production on the traditional and original songs is impeccable, giving full voice to the band's gifted instrumentalists. (John Lehndorff, Boulder Daily Camera 6/93)"Athens Hotel" is an accomplished blend of folk and Celtic influences with plenty of heart and soul to spare. It's worth buying for the title cut alone, an original bittersweet prayer for the homeless distinguished by the same rough-edged sentimentality that marks the best work of poet/vocalist Tom Waits. I'll be the first to admit it: it's hard not to get choked up as the band plays a brassy Salvation Army flourish and sings lines like "and God be good to anyone who's sleeping out tonight. Tuck them in and keep them warm and don't turn out the light." Colcannon's versatility is confirmed by "Sister Josephine", the cut which follows immediately after. A comic tale of a suspicious "nun" with tattoos and hairy knuckles, it's amusing without being condescending or offensive.