Hot PressSessions from the HearthEnterprising that he is, Benny O'Carroll has gathered a motley but talented creww of singers and musicians to contribute to this 14-track album recorded live in Siamsa Tire, Tralee. From the first chords of guitar this album pulses with life. There is a physical and emotional interface which charges the atmosphere, proving that there is no finer thing than a bunch of like minded musos going at it hell for leather. Many of the tunes are standard session fare, but are no less potent for that. It has to be said though that Éamonn De Barra's flute playing on Amhran Na Leabhar is absolutely first class, and if Deirdre Scanlon's vocals on The Legend are a little raw around the edges, it is live.Any album too that dedicates -- OK, Unknowingly - a track to my brother Paul in A Scholarship to Monaghan is alright by me. Trouble is, the same frigging scholarship has had him in analysis ever since. Sessions from the Hearth will be one of the summers best sellers. Like the Calvita ad used to say, "Its slim, thick and brimful of energy." As home cooking goes, it has a few peers.
Review by Oliver P. Sweeney |