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FIONA CUTHILL AND STEVIE LAWRENCE - A Cruel Kindness

FIONA CUTHILL AND STEVIE LAWRENCE - A Cruel Kindness
Fellside  FECD244

This CD brings together two of the country’s most ubiquitous performers, who are currently playing in the group Rallion, and who have pedigrees as long as a Border Ballad, being in huge demand as session musicians everywhere you listen.

Fiona plays fiddle and here Stevie, as well as singing, plays guitar, bouzouki, bass, percussion and hurdy gurdy. To add to this mixture, the guests are Brendan McCreanor, uillean pipes, whistle; Fraser Spiers, harmonica; Rachel Hair, harp; Wendy Weatherby, cello; Celine Donoghue, banjo; and Greg Friel, backing vocals.  Festival organisers the country over (and further) would drool at the prospect of putting on such a line-up!

The majority of the tracks are tunes written by Fiona, all of which go to demonstrate her innate feel for the traditional idiom, a feeling which is justly matched by the duo’s ability to get to the heart of the material and present it with a complete understanding, not only of the style, but also of the arrangements and interplay of the instrumentation.

If there’s one thing about the playing which can be picked out from all that’s going on here, it’s the clarity – every note of every instrument is as fresh and precise as you could ask for, thanks to the spot-on production (also by Fiona and Stevie).  This means that it’s not just the overall sound that impresses, but the component parts as well, which can’t always be said of some recordings.

Those who know Fiona and Stevie will want to buy this anyway, but to everyone else – make a point of joining them, as this must be one of the finest releases of the year.

Gordon Potter

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This album was reviewed in Issue 90 of The Living Tradition magazine.