Boys Of The Lough Midwinter Night's Dream CD

MIDWINTER NIGHT'S DREAM is a collection of carols, dances, ritualistic pieces (both Christian and pagan), and winter-themed Celtic songs. As on The Boys of the Lough's previous releases, MIDWINTER features instrumentation indigenous to Irish, Scottish, and English folk music, including flutes, whistles, mandolin, accordion, bouzouki, and Uillean pipes. The result, as generated through the fine musicianship of the quartet (joined here by three guest musicians), evokes visions of snow-covered hills, icy gales, fires in the hearth, rosy-cheeked lasses, drams of ale, and circle dances.

The Shetland tunes "Da Day Dawn" and "The Greenland Man's Tune" are powered by Aly Bain's soulful fiddle playing, while Christy O'Leary lends vocals to the minor-key carol "That Night In Bethlehem." Cathal McConnell shares vocals as well, while providing lilting flute lines. At their best, The Boys can conjure both fiery, danceable energy ("Forfit O' Da Ship") and wistful melancholy, as on "A Midwinter's Waltz," a tune that signals the end of a seasonal party and a return to the loneliness of winter. MIDWINTER NIGHT'S DREAM, with its thorough grounding in musical and historical tradition, stands out amid more commercial "seasonal" recordings.

Recorded at Palladium Studio, Edinburgh, Scotland.

Boys Of The Lough: Cathal McConnell (vocals, flute, whistle); Christy O'Leary (vocals, whistle, Uillean pipes); Dave Richardson (cittern, mandolin, accordion); Aly Bain (fiddle).

Additional personnel: Tim O'Leary (guitar, Bouzouki, viola); Chris Newman (guitar); Henning Sommerro (piano).