by Catherine L. Tully

Artist: Barleyjuice
Album: One Shilling
Year produced: 2001

Pour yourself a beer and get ready to give your best effort at singing along and keeping up with track 4, Marymack. It'll have you tongue-twisting, toe tappin' and enjoying Barley Juice before you can say she sells sea shells! The band has a very mainstream appeal, and if you didn't hear the traditional instruments, you would probably not be able to tell them apart from bands you hear every day on the radio. You might call them polished; they have that type of sound.

Ahh, but the traditional instruments and sound of the vocals are exactly what make this CD, for those who love Celtic music are looking for just that! Where your average popular mainstream music may get a bit dull, the instrumentation here saves it from that fate.

Don't miss the last track, Donnie Scot. It starts with just one instrument and voice, along with some tender and well-written lyrics that are delivered just perfectly. And then, as the voice quiets, the music blossoms into a full sound that would fill a church and touch the hearts of all that were listening. Beautiful. Doing both the fun, and the moving songs are the mark of a band that isn't afraid to embrace a little variety.

Barley Juice isn't lacking in a sharp sense of humor either. Not only is that present in their lyrics, but in the bios on their site. Rarely do I point out something like that, but if you need a good chuckle, look them up at www.barleyjuice.com and go to: meet the band. It's worth a peek.

---

Catherine L. Tully is a freelance writer and photographer specializing in the arts. She has written for Dance Teacher Magazine, Classical Singer and Dance Spirit among others, and reviews music for Celtic MP3s Music Magazine. You can reach her at www.freelance-zone.com.

Labels: cd_review_2006

Posted by Marc Gunn, Monday, March 13, 2006.
New to Celtic MP3s Music Magazine? Subscribe to this blog's feed. Or sign up to get email updates. Find free Celtic music downloads from Marc Gunn!