by Catherine L. Tully

Artist: Cady Finlayson
Album: "Irish Coffee"
Year produced: 2007

Always a pleasure to listen to, expert fiddle-player Cady Finlayson is at her best on her latest CD, "Irish Coffee." Packed full with 19 tracks, there is a tasty plateful of music for the ears here to devour. Finlayson offers a variety of tunes, ranging from the sprightly--to the longing sounds that can only be called forth from the strings.

Although squarely within the Irish music genre, there is always a bit of blending going on with this talented musician. Like a good cook, she adds flavor--from American folk influences to worldbeat rhythms, simmering through traditional sounds like good spices. Finlayson never overdoes it, but manages to seamlessly marry the sounds with a natural flair. It is in this way that she continues to, with the help of her very skilled band, create for the listener her particular tradition of sound and mood.

It's too hard to pick favorites out of this mixture of songs, each has something to offer and all are expertly played. Finlayson wrote some of these tunes herself, based on her time at jury duty, her brother's cooking and the neighborhood she lives in, so you can explore life with her a bit through the songs written from her experiences. "Irish Coffee" shows that even a musician who is already adept can learn and grow, and you see that here in this display of her latest ideas and her polished skill on the fiddle.

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Catherine L. Tully is a freelance writer and photographer who specializes in the arts. She has written for American Style and Classical Singer, among others and reviews music for Marc Gunn's Celtic MP3s Music Magazine. You can reach her through her photography website at www.moonbeamdigital.com.

Labels: cd_review_2007

Posted by Marc Gunn, Monday, May 21, 2007.
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