A Double Dose of Celtic Music from Compass Records

02/01/2007 01:37AM

Nashville (Tennessee), USA - Compass Records has announced the release of Oisín McAuley's (Danú) solo debut, Far From the Hills of Donegal and the duet album from Éamonn Coyne (Salsa Celtica) and Kris Drever (Lau), Honk Toot Suite.
 
 On his debut solo album titled Far From the Hills of Donegal, Oisín McAuley embraces the opportunity to express musical ideas in a manner that reflects his highly individual and progressive style of fiddle playing. "You'll probably hear a lot of stuff that is not very traditional, that reaches a bit beyond that," says McAuley, who has been a member of the award-winning band Danú since 2001.

This collection of songs shows McAuley's approach to tradition is an eclectic one. It begins with the many flavors of Donegal music, moving through Sligo to Brittany to Quebec, and back to Western Ireland. McAuley infuses his traditional musical styling with jazz, bluegrass, and classical.

Renowned tenor banjoist Éamonn Coyne and celebrated guitarist/vocalist Kris Drever have put their own distinctive and collaborative mark on the music of Honk Toot Suite, from lively Roscommon reels to Breton tunes to Norse laments to their own fusions of those traditions.

It is a method of collaborating and carrying forward tradition that is as old as the sharing of music and as new as tomorrow: the end result is one of the most enjoyable Celtic duet records to be released in recent years.

Buy Far From the Hills of Donegal and Honk Toot Suite.

World Music Central
http://www.worldmusiccentral.org/article.php/20070131193708222