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THE BLACKWATER CÉILÍ BAND - Music In The Valley  

THE BLACKWATER CÉILÍ BAND - Music In The Valley  
Private Label BCB001  

Surprisingly funky for a competition céilí band, this ten-piece combo comes from the Clogher Valley in County Tyrone, combining musicians from Monaghan, Down and Leitrim as well as Tyrone itself. Winners of the All Ireland senior competition 2018, despite their youthful looks and relatively recent formation in 2015, the Blackwater band is packed with premier musicians. Four fiddles, two flutes, two accordions (one of each), piano and drums make for a classic sound, and the material is no surprise either, but the life they put into it and the lovely little twists turn Music In The Valley into an exceptional album.

Reels, jigs, and a tasty march by leader Ryan Hackett bring us to the first of two tracks featuring guest singers. Emmet Mulholland's heart-rending version of the Ewan MacColl miseryfest, England's Motorway, would have you throwing yourself under a bus - if there were any buses in Tyrone. The well-named Miss Monaghan's Reel, a brace of bouncy hornpipes, another fine march and the tempting Tinker's Daughter precede another song from Cathal O'Neill, a blunt-speaking Ulster classic whose tortuous rhymes give us my favourite lines: “The time is nigh, When I'll enjoy, My lovely Ballyronan maid.” A pair of classy old jigs and a couple of contemporary Connemara barndances lead to a last rake of reels: The Piper's Despair, The Boys Of Tulla and the wonderfully titled, I Wish I Never Saw Her, which is worth learning for its name alone! Perfectly timed, impeccably played, and great fun for dancing or listening - if you only buy one 2018 All Ireland Céilí Band Champions CD, make it Music In The Valley.

www.blackwaterceiliband.com 

Alex Monaghan

 

This review appeared in Issue 130 of The Living Tradition magazine