May 26, 2006
The Barra MacNeils: All At Once CD REVIEW
By Joanne and Art Ketchen, Celtic Beat

The Barra MacNeils are famous for their dynamic approach to tradition. Here they bring tradition into the present with a selection and style that can be truly called Con -temporary Canadian Cape Breton Celtic. The song "A Thousand Miles Away" stands out here as an example as does the first cut "Haven't Got A Care." The tunes here are upbeat, even the sad one, which is the beautiful "One Wild Rose."This is sheer poetry.

Instrumentals such as "Keeping It Reel" also have a "living in the present" feel to them. As dotraditional songs such as the "Tirree Love Song,"and those from Gaelic tradition such as the waulking song"Gearan Na Maighdinn." Throughout listening to this CD you think not of ancient warriors from the Braveheart era, or the hardscrabble lives of one hundred years ago, but of people you know from downeast living in the present, to the ceilidh around the corner. That is a great and unusual achievement.

Throughout musically this CD is superbly crafted. The Barra MacNeils are indeed "Keeping It Reel."

-AK

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