by Catherine L. Tully

Artist: Celtic Cross
Album: "Shores Of America"
Year produced: 2007

Irish pop has to have a good vibe to grab me, and this CD qualifies. Lead vocalist, Kathleen Fee, has a tremendous, clear voice that rings out as if she has been singing since birth. Beautiful. There is an almost country-western feel to her vocals. She also wrote some of the songs on the album, and shows definite promise as a writer as the lyrics hit well.

Let there be no mistake though; if Fee is the heart of the band, it can't do without the other parts...the band that backs her is tight and ready to go, go, go. There are some championship-rated players here and it shows. Most tracks have a good, punchy rhythm to them.

One thing I enjoyed about this CD is that the songs are about something. Without getting too heady or deep, the lyrics on many of the tracks smack of real life and real truths that we can all relate to. I absolutely love it when this works well on an album--it doesn't try too hard, but it does affect you. The rock/pop feel is not too overly done either; the Celtic comes through and the songs are immensely listenable. Oh--and great fiddle work and energy on track 6, "Chapel Bells".

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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 other magazines, and reviews music for Marc Gunn's Celtic MP3s Music Magazine. You can reach her through her website at CatherineLTully.com.

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Labels: cd_review_2008

Posted by Catherine L. Tully, Monday, August 25, 2008.
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