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Somewhere beyond or behind all musical borders lies a creative terrain where bluegrass, jazz, classical, pop, and various world musics mingle, played by musicians who care more for inspiration than they do for genre. If that place has a name, it’s surely the Republic of Strings, for no one knows its contours better than veterans Darol Anger, Scott Nygaard, and a wave of young brilliant string players. They have created the visionary musical landscape of Generation Nation, the group’s second album for Compass Records.

Drawing from an array of sources that includes Ornette Coleman, Scandinavian string bands, Aretha Franklin and the quartet’s own members, Generation Nation documents a unique intergenerational exchange. Compelling musical textures, elegant solos and vocals all emanate from a startlingly diverse group of guests. “There’s a lot of respect and love going on among the players,” says Anger, “and I think it comes out in the music”. One listen proves that he’s exactly right.

Generation Nation’s music emerges from the deep empathy that has developed among its members over nearly three years of concert appearances and informal exchanges. “We’ve got a bit of telepathy going,” says cellist Rushad Eggleston, while Anger notes that “we’ve been in the trenches for awhile now, and like in a jazz group that’s been playing together for a long time, you develop an extra-sensory perception of what the other person is going to do. And it’s the deep nature of string band music to foster this.”

“Everybody is so tuned into each other,” says Anger, “that sometimes it seems that we’re just one big instrument playing. There are meticulously arranged moments all over this record and everyone’s a highly trained musician, but often we just went by feel.” Adds Nygaard, for whom Generation Nation marks a return to full-time music after a long stint as editor of Acoustic Guitar, “Everyone’s playing is so rhythmic that I don’t usually need to take a time-keeping role, and so I can play off what everyone else is playing without worrying that anything is going to fall apart. It’s an indefinable band, and that allows me to define my own role for the guitar.” And, Eggleston concludes, “We all cover for each other, it’s nice for me, being a low badger-like animal, that if I go out for a stroll, so to speak, someone’s always going to mind my den. I can feel secure knowing my cubs are safe at home!”

If Generation Nation relies on intuition for its coherence and wit, it is built on the technical foundation of New Acoustic Music, a style that Anger helped to pioneer during the 1970s and 1980s with groups such as the David Grisman Quintet and the Turtle Island String Quartet as well as on his own groundbreaking solo projects.

“I love traditional music of all sorts, but I’m more interested in using all my musical ideas when I play,” says long-time collaborator Nygaard, who was among the musicians attracted by the work of Anger and his colleagues. Scott’s statement serves well as a concise articulation of the New Acoustic credo. Yet over the years, this music’s breadth and difficulty served as a deterrent to younger musicians — until now.

“There’s this phenomenon of music camps,” Anger explains in accounting for the new wave of interest in New Acoustic Music that gave rise to the Republic of Strings — and that has made a huge difference. These musical kids now have somewhere to go, and they have a community’a real one, not just a virtual one, which stretches across many of these camps — it’s largely the same crowd of kids! I’m lucky to be able to teach at these things, so I’m pretty connected, and what I’ve seen is just beautiful. Kids are always going to be competitive about music, but because everybody’s there to learn, you see people steeped in a spirit of cooperation; they’re getting the idea that if we make something together, and we really focus, when we come out the other end it’s going to have this amazing feeling.”

Drafting Eggleston and fiddler Brittany Haas — two of the brightest youngsters to emerge from that scene — Anger set about creating a group that would meld the experience he and Nygaard had accumulated with the inquisitive energy and enthusiasm he had seen in the new generation. And on Generation Nation, the group has taken the next step, inviting as guests more young musicians who bring their own talents and perspectives to their appearances.

Some of these youngsters who appear on the recording are Aoife O’Donovan (one of the four vocalists on the recording and Eggleston’s band mate in the acclaimed roots band Crooked Still) to cellist and fiddler Tristan Clarridge, (the youngest person ever to win the National Fiddle Championship three times). They are musicians who, as O’Donovan says, see figures like Anger as “an idol and a peer at the same time”. The generational theme is continued with songs like “Bluebird”, a Buffalo Springfield pop hit from the “60”s, in Anger’s words “re-traditionalized” and featuring the most wildly generational lineup: Darol’s old friend Terry Pinkham on vocals, with her phenomenally talented son Josh on mandolin. The final perfect twist to this story is that Terry is the granddaughter of the great Texas fiddle champion Benny Thommasson, who taught Mark O’Connor and inspired Darol in the 1970’s.

The combination of generation-spanning, close-knit community and wide-ranging musical freedom helps define the Republic of Strings and Generation Nation. “I feel that working with musicians of all ages keeps it real. Each generation, brings different influences into the music,” O’Donovan says, adding that “it’s amazing to be in the presence of musicians like Darol and Scott who always have incredible ideas, but are also open to the ideas of musicians like Rushad and myself.”

The Republic of Strings has created a work which, while rooted in the near and distant past, points to an exciting future. “The music seems to be a way for people to connect with something real,” Anger says with tangible excitement. “As consumer culture “that sort of fakery aspect of it” takes over, people get hungrier for something that seems to speak to something real. There’s a spiritual element in music that’s very strong, and music also exemplifies community. It works for these kids, and it works for adults, too” it’s worked for me for 30 years.” And judging by the sound of Generation Nation, it can work for everyone who’s willing to listen.

Written by Jon Weisberger

“Lord you know I’ve been so many places/At least I know I have a longer view”, sings Leftover Salmon lead singer and mandolin player Drew Emmitt over a rollicking mandolin lick on the title track of his third solo effort, Long Road. “I’ve been on the road since the 80’s – can you believe that? That’s 25 years, a quarter of a century…Long Road is all about where I’ve been, what I’ve seen, where I’ve ended up and I invited all of my friends I met along the way to help me tell the story.”

Revered as one of the most energetic and innovative mandolin players on the jamband/newgrass scene today, Emmitt’s “inestimable talents” (An Honest Tune) don’t end with just the instruments that can be picked. Holding the wheel steady on acoustic and electric slide mandolin, acoustic and electric guitar and mandola, Long Road also showcases Emmitt’s superlative storytelling and versatile vocal abilities. With seven originals, including co-writes with John Cowan (“Long Road”) and Jim Lauderdale (“I’m Alive”), Emmitt saavily chose a few best-of-life-on-the-road songs, such as Supertramps’ “Take the Long Way Home”, Marshall-Tucker Band’s “Take the Highway”, and Van Morrison’s “Gypsy in my Soul”. Co-produced by Emitt and Compass Records co-founder Garry West, “my heaven band”, is how Emmitt describes the special guest musicians on Long Road: Billy Nershi of The String Cheese Incident (dobro), Chris Pandolfi of The Infamous Stringdusters (banjo), Andy Hall of The Infamous Stringdusters (dobro), Stuart Duncan (fiddle), Tim O’Brien (harmony vocals), Alison Brown (banjo), Darrell Scott (vocals), Eric Thorin (bass), Jeff Sipe of The Aquarium Rescue Unit (drums), John Cowan (vocals), Reese Wynans (Hammond B3), Steven Sandifer (percussion) and Tyler Grant (guitar). Hallelujah.

Following a decade of success with Leftover Salmon, Emmitt released his first solo effort, Freedom Ride, in 2002 drawing on the talent of peers John Cowan, Peter Rowan, Sam Bush, Ronnie McCoury, Vassar Clements, Stuart Duncan and Randy Scruggs. Critics and fans loved the collaboration and Emmitt relished the chance to record with some of the giants with whom he’d shared festival stages. “It’s amazing,” he said, “it’s like walking in a dream….Standing on stage next to Sam (Bush) is pretty indescribable.” In 2005 he followed up with Across The Bridge, an equally impressive effort showcasing Emmitt’s bluegrass chops and songwriting talents as a straight-ahead bluegrass man. After touring as the Emmitt-Nershi band with Billy Nershi of The String Cheese Incident for the past year and making several reunion appearances with Leftover Salmon, Long Road finds Emmitt rejuvenated and once again taking the contemporary, live gig, fresh everytime approach to bluegrass music.

Drew Emmitt will be on tour throughout the summer and fall of 2008, including appearances with Leftover Salmon at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival and the 10,000 Lakes Festival and with the Emmitt-Nershi band at the High Sierra Music Festival, the Rothbury Festival and Jam Cruise 7. Drew Emmitt and The Waybacks toured the US  in October 2008.

Paddy O’Brien, button accordionist and musicologist, was born in Co. Offaly, Ireland, in 1945. Throughout his life, O’Brien has been one of the leading forces in song and tune collection of the Irish tradition. O’Brien spent years amassing traditional songs, folklore, and tunes, accumulating over 3000 jigs, reels, and marches alone. In 1994, O’Brien received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts for the mass recording of over 500 tunes to be published in the Paddy O’Brien Tune Collection: A Personal Treasury of Irish Jigs and Reels.

In his young adult years, O’Brien made his debut as a button accordionist with the Ballinamere Céilí Band in 1966. He then toured with U.S. in a trio before winning the solo accordion competition at the 1969 Oireachtas. In 1975, O’Brien won the highest honor in his field, the All-Ireland Senior Accordion championship.

Until the late 1970s, O’Brien lived in Dublin, playing with John Kelly and Joe Ryan, as well as the Castle Céilí Band and Ceoltoiri Laighean. In 1978 he relocated the the U.S. to create the band Bowhand with fiddler James Kelly and guitarist Dáithí Sproul, with whom he released Is It Yourself? (Shanachie,1978) and Spring in the Air (Shanachie, 1980).

In the early 1980s, O’Brien joined with Seán O’Driscoll and singer/guitarist Tom Dahill to form the group Hill 16. They debuted a self-titled album in 1984. In 1988, O’Brien issued his first ever solo record with Green Linnet, Stranger at the Gate. Later, in 1995, O’Brien joined with singer/guitarist Pat Egan and piper Michael Cooney to form Chulrua, (Cool-roo-ah) with whom he has performed all over the U.S. and Canada as well as offering workshops at festivals and schools. Chulrua recorded three albums on the Shanachie label, their most recent in 2007.

Renowned composer, producer and arranger Bill Whelan has worked extensively in theatre, film and television. His grammy winning album of music for Riverdance The Show is certified Platinum in the US, Ireland and Australia. His orchestral work, The Seville Suite was specially commissioned for Expo’92. The Spirit Of Mayo was first performed in 1993 by and 85-piece orchestra in Dublin’s National Concert Hall. As a producer, Whelan has worked with U2, Van Morrison, Kate Bush, Richard Harris, The Dubliners, Planxty, Andy Irvine, Patrick Street, Stockton’s Wing, Davy Spillane and Bulgarian/Irish band, East Wind. His recently completed trilogy of pieces for chamber orchestra: Inishlacken, Carna and Errisbeg are included on his latest CD, The Connemara Suite.

Irish vocalist Karan Casey and guitar virtuoso John Doyle were founding members of traditional supergroup Solas, a band known for rousing, furious tunes and striking renditions of traditional songs.  In Exile’s Return, the two former bandmates reunite to create a stripped-down CD that showcases the power of those songs.  Since Solas, each has carved out a unique and acclaimed place in contemporary Irish and folk music.

Karan Casey has recorded five solo albums, has won Best Irish Female Vocalist twice, Best Irish Folk album and a GRAMMY for her collaboration with Paul Winter. She has been nominated for the BBC Folk Awards and has performed with Peggy Seeger, Liam Clancy, James Taylor, and Tim O’Brien. On her 2008 CD Ships in the Forest, Casey’s evocative, haunting, and often imitated voice was accompanied by piano and cello.  USA Today has called her work “shiver-inducingly excellent”.

John Doyle’s rhythmic guitar chops and effortless harmonies make him much in demand as a musical partner.  He currently tours with Joan Baez as her musical director, and with virtuoso fiddler Liz Carroll.  Doyle and Carroll played for President Obama in March 2009, and their CD Double Play received a 2010 GRAMMY nomination. Doyle also received a nomination for the 2009 “Tommy Makem Award” by the Irish Music Association.  He’s played with Kate Rusby, Alison Brown, Mick Moloney and Linda Thompson, among others, and worked as a producer for Billy McComiskey. Irish Edition calls him a “dream guitarist.”

Casey describes the CD as a way of “pushing back a bit” to shine a bright light on the songs. Simplicity “takes a lot more depth,” she says. “You have to be a lot more confident in your playing and singing to take an honest, direct, simple approach.  You can’t hide anywhere.  It’s a very exposed album.”  The spare arrangements on Exile’s Return cut right to the heart of the music, and that was the point. “A song is very intimate,” says Doyle, “even if it’s a very traditional song. Each song has a personal meaning.”  On this CD, he says, “all the songs have an element of loss and yearning. At the end of the day songs are what carry stories of love, and all human emotions.”

All of the songs are Irish, Scottish and English, though the CD was produced by Appalachian multi-instrumentalist Dirk Powell.  Powell brought his own “tendencies toward simplicity and seeking the soul in the music” to the table.” The twelve songs feature only Casey and Doyle on vocals, with Mike McGoldrick joining in on flute and whistle, Powell adding some banjo and double bass, and Doyle on guitar, mandola, bouzouki.  The sparse sound highlights the words.

Recording this CD has been something the pair have talked about for over seven years. Playing together in the studio created “A feeling of coming home,” says Casey. “John in his guitar playing really does catch me, almost like he knows what I’m thinking.” Doyle says, “Karan’s soul is in the music.  We fit together, like hand in glove.” 

“A voice that’s both awestruck and tender”
—The New York Times

‘Angels Without Wings’ is an album of original compositions glowing with special guests from the worlds of folk, pop, rock and bluegrass. Featuring collaborations with Mark Knopfler, King Creosote, Jerry Douglas, Tim O’Brien, Karine Polwart, Louis Abbott (Admiral Fallow) Julie Fowlis and more.

When Mark Knopfler and Jerry Douglas offered to play on Heidi Talbot’s new album, they thoughtfully recorded their parts in several different styles – some were instantly recognisable, others more low-key. Talbot’s husband, producer and bandmate John McCusker joked, “you’ve got the best guitar players in the world and we’re blending them in?” But both musicians knew that for Talbot, the song always comes before the name.

Subtlety is Talbot’s magic ingredient – from her gossamer voice to the delicate re-working of traditional and contemporary material that earned her rave reviews for her 2008 breakthrough In Love And Light. The girl from Ireland’s Co. Kildare, who spent several years in New York as a member of the Irish-American supergroup Cherish The Ladies, slips effortlessly between musical worlds but retains a personal modesty rooted in traditional folk.

Talbot began writing songs on her 2010 album The Last Star. In just two years she’s become a master of the art, sometimes composing alone, sometimes with McCusker and Boo Hewerdine (who form her touring band). Kenny Anderson (King Creosote) became a new creative foil after the pair discovered a mutual admiration:

“He was asked to pick his fantasy band for The Independent and he picked me and Morten Harket from A-ha on joint lead vocals,” Heidi laughs. She conceived the melody for Button Up – a brooding, urgent acoustic love song – with Anderson in mind, and he sent back his own lyrics.

“At home we listen to Belle And Sebastian and Teenage Fan Club as much as we do The Fureys and Mary Black,” she says, of her song-writing’s broad appeal. The best modern folk music gets right to the heart of human drama while remaining oblique about time and place: ‘Wine & Roses’ is a poignant contemporary reminiscence about young lovers “holding hands and rubbing noses”; I’m Not Sorry is a mini-psychodrama written from a single moment of reflection – “I felt it so it can’t be wrong to sing about it.”

And while the timeless language of traditional folk will always be an inspiration, there are traces of Americana in ‘When The Roses Come Again’ (feat. Mark Knopfler), a delicate country-tinged duet with bluegrass legend Tim O’Brien, and Parisian romance in the unforgettable title track by Boo Hewerdine, laced with vintage accordion.

Talbot and McCusker were keen to capture the spontaneity of performance: the album was recorded live in Glasgow’s new Gorbals Sound Studios with her regular team Ian Carr (guitars), Phil Cunningham (accordian), Michael McGoldrick (flutes/whistles), James Mackintosh (percussion), Boo Hewerdine (acoustic guitar) and Ewan Vernal (bass). “If people made mistakes we’d just keep going,” says Heidi. “On some of the tracks you can even hear the harmonium creaking. These guys are friends, they all give their opinion. They’ll say, “that’s it! That’s the take!’”

Talbot’s close-knit creative environment has fostered her confidence as a songwriter while allowing her to welcome in surprising new collaborators. These ever-evolving musical relationships can be heard on this, her most sophisticated and vibrant recording to date.

Many ties bind our own musical traditions to those of Appalachia and points west. The Unwanted is a beautifully loose-limbed celebration of those cross fertilizations, with an inquisitive ear cocked towards the future too. – Irish Times

“It is the best of the barley from both the Old World and the New, a first class and sometimes a very particular interpretation of a great selection of songs (and some tunes).” – Folkworld

The Unwanted is a group consisting of Cathy Jordan, Rick Epping and Seamie O’Dowd. Between them, they encompass a vast range of the music of Ireland, America, and other places geographically and culturally linked to these lands that encircle the Atlantic Ocean. From the rich traditions of both sides of the Atlantic have come the source and inspiration of the music of The Unwanted—three Sligo-based musicians, each with exceptional talent and a lifetime dedication to their music.
The songs and tunes of the Atlantic Fringe—the combined traditions from Ireland to Appalachia and beyond—are the result of generations of movement and migration, of leave-taking and homecoming, back and forth across the ocean in an endless tide of cultural exchange. Lyrics and melodies borrowed from one land wash ashore on another, only to return again later transformed, peopled with new characters and set in different modes.

Roscommon born Cathy Jordan, lead singer for acclaimed group Dervish, moves effortlessly and with soaring voice between Sean-nós, Appalachian ballad and contemporary folksong, lending rich accompaniment on bodhrán and tenor guitar. Her engaging stage presence and easy interaction with the audience turns a simple concert into an evening at home among good friends. Sligo native Séamus O’Dowd (guitar, fiddle, harmonica) grew up steeped in the tradition of Sligo fiddling, early on expanding his repertoire to include the New World traditions and today he is as accomplished playing blues on slide guitar as he is playing jigs and reels. Seamus is well known both from his years with Dervish and from his performing with the best of Irish traditional musicians such as piper Liam O’Flynn and accordionist Máirtín O’Connor.
Rick Eepping (harmonica, concertina, banjo, jaw harp), a native of California, has been moving back and forth between Ireland and the United States for over 35 years and has been playing the music of both lands since childhood. Having played with musical greats as varied as Bill Monroe, Texas bluesman Mance Lipscomb and Irish accordionist Joe Cooley, Rick brings to the group a wealth of experience and authentic style.

Together, The Unwanted demonstrate a deep understanding and appreciation of the music of both the Old World and the New, and together they have created a seamless fusion of these traditions, showing that the process of transformation arising from the musical ebb and flow along the Atlantic Fringe continues today. Wherever they perform, The Unwanted are finding that they are welcome and very much wanted, indeed.

Star quality is a rare phenomenon — a bewitching magnetism impossible to define, yet when present, we recognize it instantly. Singer and traditional musician Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh possesses that level of magic, mesmerizing audiences world-wide since she joined forces with scintillating Irish music ambassadors Danú in 2003.

The Cork Evening Echo’s Paul Dromey hailed Muireann as “a real find,” and the Danú albums which feature her — The Road Less Travelled (2003) and When All Is Said And Done (2005) — drew lavish praise from critics in Ireland and beyond. “An accomplished vocal talent in both Gaelic and English, her singing has a rich fluent quality,” said John O’Regan of Irish Music Magazine. Reviewing Danú in concert for The Irish Times, Siobhán Long singled out “the balance Nic Amhlaoibh achieves, armed with one of the earthiest and most distinctive voices, not just in traditional circles, but anywhere.”

March 14th marks the US release of Daybreak: Fáinne An Lae, Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh’s enchanting debut solo album on Compass Records. This exciting and eclectic 12-track collection showcases Muireann’s sparkling vocal talent, along with her consummate artistry on both flute and whistle. Most of all, it casts light on her intuitive ability to research and tastefully select from both the traditional and contemporary music repertory, re-interpreting and delivering her chosen songs and tunes with heart-warming eloquence.

Contemporary compositions from Richard Thompson (“Persuasion”) and Gerry O’Beirne (“Western Highway” and “Isle of Malachy”) flow seamlessly into traditional songs such as “Free and Easy” (learned from the singing of Róisín White), “Slán le Máigh”, “The Emigrant’s Farewell,” “An Spealadóir,” “Banks of the Nile,” the lovely lullaby “Seoithín Seothó,” and a heartfelt rendition of “The Parting Glass.” Muireann’s flair as a traditional instrumentalist is showcased on two sets of tunes.

Musicians making guest appearances on Daybreak include Danú colleagues Oisín McAuley and Eamon Doorley; guitarists Gerry O’Beirne, John Doyle, Tony Byrne, and Shane McGowan; Scottish singer Julie Fowlis; and percussionist Billy Mag Flohinn.

A native Irish speaker, Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh spent her formative years steeped in the music, song, and culture of the West Kerry Gaeltacht, where her fiddle-playing father Feargal was a major early influence. As a Fine Arts student in Dublin, and later Limerick (she holds an M.A. in Traditional Music Performance from the University of Limerick), she was a familiar and sought-after participant on the traditional music session circuit there. Now a regular contributor to television and radio programmes at home and abroad, Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh was featured prominently in the recent “Highland Sessions” BBC television series, which celebrated the best of Irish and Scottish traditional music and song.

Self-produced, Daybreak is an engaging and expressive debut, crystalline in clarity and dazzlingly beautiful from beginning to end. Even amidst the current widespread renaissance in traditional Irish music, the work of Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh shines out like a beacon. Her approach to her craft is thorough, fashioned from sterling technique and a comprehensive understanding of the music’s roots.

Before Liz Carroll and John Doyle, Irish music in America struggled to compete with the music of the Old World. With a new generation of creative powerhouses living in the United States, however, the tables turned, and with John and Liz at the forefront, the US became a place for vibrant, forward-thinking Irish music. A match long in the making, Carroll and Doyle pursued remarkably parallel paths in becoming torch-bearers for the new Irish-American music.

Both fiddler Carroll and guitarist Doyle began their careers young, recognized as instrumental virtuosos. Carroll won the Senior All-Ireland Championship at age 18, not a small feat for an American. While Carroll traveled eastward across the Atlantic, Doyle moved westward, relocating from his family home in Dublin to New York. Introduced to Irish music by his grandfather Tommy, Doyle was playing professionally by age 16, and soon joined an energetic collection of New-York based Irish musicians, including Eileen Ivers and Seamus Egan.

Doyle’s partnership with Egan became Solas, the supergroup which would come to define Irish-American music. Doyle pioneered a rhythmic, sophisticated approach to Irish guitar accompaniment, setting a new standard for the instrument. The group recorded four tremendously influential albums together before splitting, and Doyle was dubbed “a master of his art with guitar” by The Celtic Café and “a master finger-picker” by Acoustic Guitar Magazine.

Meanwhile, Carroll continued to record, both as a solo artist and with the trio Trian. Like Doyle, the precocious fiddler became known not only for her facility with the tradition, but also for her innovative original contributions. Penning most of her own tunes, Carroll was termed “a fiddler reaching beyond herself” by noted critic and radio host Earle Hitchner. Her 1988 self-titled solo CD was chosen as a select record of American folk music by the Library of Congress.

The millennium was a milestone for both Carroll and Doyle. Already more than one decade into stable, successful careers, the fiddler and guitarist each broke new ground in their solo work — and also began contributing regularly to one another’s recordings. Both instrumentalists released two solo CDs between 2000 and 2005, and all four albums featured hints of a duo project to come.

Doyle, previously known as the “ex-Solas guitarist,” literally found his voice, recording several vocals for his debut solo release Evening Comes Early in 2001. Wayward Son, Doyle’s July 2005 follow-up, features more vocals, and has already garnered considerable critical acclaim in the month since its release.

Working without Solas for the first time, Doyle not only spread his wings with some singing, but also took advantage of the opportunity to feature one of his favorite players — and writers — on both discs. “Liz Carroll is a really good friend of mine and one of my favorite fiddle players in the world,” Doyle said in an interview following the release of Evening Comes Early “She is also my favorite composer of tunes.”

In 2000, Carroll released her first solo CD in 12 years, Lost in the Loop then followed that with Lake Effect in 2002. Co-producer Doyle was a conspicuous and highly influential presence, anchoring all but two of the tracks on Lake Effect with his trademark rhythmic style – and a softer side not often showcased in his work with Solas. The Irish Echo praised Doyle’s “spare, note-perfect accompaniment” on the Carroll slow air “A Day and an Age,” and Bill Margeson called the production of Lake Effect simply “perfection.”

Their debut duo album, In Play was lauded by fans and critics alike, bringing together three old friends — Carroll, Doyle, and Irish Music.

Calling their new album Sé (pronounced Shay) — Gaelic for Six — may initially sound like a modest gesture from the maverick Irish instrumental outfit Lúnasa. “It’s true that we’ve been fond of direct, one-word titles in the past,” offers flautist Kevin Crawford. “And we did put it to a vote on our website — the fans had their part in it.” But there is something behind the title — an acknowledgement of progress, along with an acknowledgement of all the pressures and rewards born of the band’s willingness to explore new ground and constantly challenge themselves. Over the course of the five previous albums, Lúnasa have consistently taken traditional elements of acoustic Irish music and deconstructed them, welding those elements to bold new rhythmic frameworks that elevate the band’s virtuosity and create a thrilling new fusion all their own. Giving their sixth album a sparse, numeric title is Lúnasa’s way of accepting the challenge before them: they know that they are no longer the hot new band on the block — they are established as innovators, and are unafraid to take chances and continue to expand their music.

“We achieved what we wanted with The Kinnity Sessions,” Crawford says of the band’s much-lauded 2004 release and nomination for BBC Radio’s Folk Album of the Year, which captured the driving fury of their concerts with a punchy, live-in-the-studio recording process. “We were looking to create a more produced, studio-oriented album this time around.” The band’s lineup — Sean Smyth (fiddles, whistles), Crawford (flutes, whistles), Cillian Vallely (Uilleann pipes, whistles), and Trevor Hutchinson (double bass) — is capable of a wide range of textural variations, whether breaking off into intriguing sub-groups or in dizzying full-band counterpoint. Sé takes advantage of the Lúnasa’s resourceful musicianship, and also brilliantly uses a seismic shift in the band’s development as an opportunity to expand their sound.

“Donogh Hennesy bowed out last year,” Crawford explains, referring to the band’s founding guitarist. Hennessy’s precise fretwork was ingrained into the blueprint of their sound since the inception of Lúnasa. Rather than run out and find a Donogh clone, the band enlisted two musicians to fill the guitar role. Each contributes to Sé, individually on some tracks, and together on others. Tim Edey provides shimmering nylon-string accompaniment, whereas Paul Meehan adds steel-string. “Before it would have been Donogh layering things,” says Crawford. Now it’s two minds, interacting and contributing their own concepts and reactions. The result is a wider array of colors, and intriguing new variations on the band’s rhythmic core. Also notable on Sé is the haunting electric guitar of Conor Brady, particularly his electric slide guitar (another new color for Lúnasa) on “Boy in the Boat.” On the stately “Midnight in Avilés,” another guest, Karl Ronan, provides an elegant overdubbed trombone choir.

The new avenues opened up by Sé are seamlessly grafted onto Lúnasa’s instantly identifiable foundation, thanks to careful tune-selection and the production of bassist Trevor Hutchinson. “When it comes to finding material, Cillian and I start the process,” Crawford says. “We dig through hundreds of CDs, LPs, mini-discs, etcetera. We’re looking for something that’s unusual. Something that might suit the band, and hasn’t been widely recorded in the past.” For Sé, Vallely and Crawford started with over 200 tunes. They learned them inside and out, experimenting with different keys, rhythms, and meters. They then presented the songs to Trevor, Sean and the guitarists, working out how the accompaniment could strengthen and amplify the initial qualities that first drew them to the material. The individual songs are fashioned into sets (medleys), which spiral upward in intensity — often incorporating a number of different grooves within one set. One of Lúnasa’s trademarks remains their unique ability to modulate from one rhythm to another, while making the transition seem like the next logical step in a set’s unfolding drama.

Making a new album, Crawford concludes, is a challenge on more levels than is first apparent. “It’s not really easier for us!” he says with equal parts exhaustion and awe. “It gets tougher with each album — because you are constantly trying to make it sound fresh, but still sound like Lúnasa.” Fortunately, from day one Lúnasa has had a refreshingly edgy sound all their own — one that incorporates the haunting modality of traditional Irish music with a jazz-like fluidity and the unrelenting drive of the most well-oiled bluegrass bands. Sé is the hard-won, hand-hewn next step in Lúnasa’s unending evolution.

Shooglenifty is one of Scotland’s most unique musical exports. This six-man band is credited being the originators of ’acid-croft’, a fiery and infectious blend of Celtic traditional music and dance grooves that band members decribe as “hypno-folkadelic ambient trad.” The Chicago Tribune described their trippy blend as “a bit like a jam between the Tannahil Weavers, Phish and The Chemical Brothers.” While their sound is difficult to put into words, audiences from around the world have fallen under their musical spell.

A supremely dexterous and witty live band, their energetic live performances have kept them in constant demand around the world. The Evening News in London, England said of a Shooglenifty live performance, “This virtuoso band started building crescendos from the start, each one higher than the last, until the final, shuddering chord left the crown breathless and cheering wildly.“ Once some of those fans regained their composure, they began asking (or begging and pleading, depending on who you talk to) the band to record a live album. Shooglenifty, whose members include: Malcolm Crosbie, acoustic and electric guitars; Garry Finlayson, banjo and banjax; Angus A. Grant, fiddle; Luke Plumb, mandolin, banjo and bououki; Quee MacArthur, bass and percussion; and James Mackintosh, drums, machines and darabuka, happily complied.

Radical Mestizo, to be released on June 28, 2005 is the band’s third release on the Nashville, TN-based Compass Records. The ten tracks on Radical Mestizo were recorded in Mexico City, Mexico; Cumbre Tajin, Mexico; Glasgow, Scotland; Bloomington, Indiana; and Lochailort, Scotland. Now more than a decade old, Shooglenifty has played for Prince Charles and Nelson Mandela, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, has performed at the Bumbershoot festival in Seattle, WA alongside Cornershop and Beck, and back in 1996, became the first band ever to incite a stage invasion at Sydney Opera House.

Radical Mestizo features fan favorites, “She in the Attic.”, “Arms Dealer’s Daughter” and “A Fisful of Euro”, but each of the ten tracks marries traditionally based Scottish tunes with a rich pallette of influences including Africa, Arabic, funk, electronic and Latin sounds. Radical Mestizo displays the band at their very best: immediate, raw and inventive.