DAOIRÍ FARRELL - True Born Irishman
Private Label DAOIRICD001
I first heard Daoirí Farrell singing a couple of years back at a recording of the Blas Ceoil TV programme in Galway. Amongst all the glitz and glamour of a slick TV production, his voice stood out as something really real, and very special, and I’ve made it my business to seek out his music ever since.
His 2009 CD recording, The First Turn, was his first outing into the world of recorded music, made fairly soon after he discovered the traditional scene, and while he was studying in Ballyfermot College in Dublin, with mentors such as the great Niamh Parsons. Since then, he has immersed himself further in the music, studying in Dundalk and Limerick, and all the while he has been a regular at Dublin’s renowned Góilin Singers Club, absorbing more and more of the influences and songs found there.
This immersion shows in True Born Irishman, his latest collection of 10 songs. Daoirí’s voice is stronger, more developed, and the songs thoughtfully chosen. A highlight is the traditional Van Diemen’s Land, learned from Jerry O’Reilly, which starts simply, and builds through the addition of different layers of instruments – a great, anthemic track. He tackles two of Liam Weldon’s – My Love Is A Well and The Blue Tar Road – both unaccompanied apart from a pipe drone and showcasing perfectly his emotive powerful delivery and his pleasing, accurate ornamentation. Other songs, such as Fergus Russell’s Pat Rainey, Valley Of Knockanure and The Unquiet Grave are accompanied by Daoirí’s trusty bouzouki, Tony Byrne on guitar and Robbie Walsh’s bodhrán, with more musicians adding bits here and there. Though always impeccably sung, at times I feel the songs might be slightly straight-jacketed by the strict rhythm the accompaniment imposes, such as on Bogie’s Bonnie Belle, but I really am picking holes here; this is a superb album from a first-rate singer, and it is unlikely to be too far from my CD player for quite some time.
www.daoiri.com
Fiona Heywood
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this CD online from The Listening Post The Listening Post is the CD mailorder service of The Living Tradition magazine. This album was reviewed in Issue 117 of The Living Tradition magazine. |