October 12, 2005
The Barra MacNeils "All At Once" (Shoreline Records)
Eric Lewis Music Reviews, Moncton Times & Transcript

A beautiful record from Canada's premiere Celtic ambassadors. The recent addition of two more MacNeils brings the Cape Breton group's numbers to six for this new album.

Starting off with Haven't Got A Care and A Thousand Miles, these are wonderful, carefree folk songs with a strong Celtic influence. Their famed harmonies are as beautiful as ever on A Thousand Miles and their musicianship is just phenomenal throughout the album. On The Keeping It Reel, the band shows off with some fiddle, acoustic guitar and acoustic bass solos. The song has a real jazzy feel, showing that this group doesn't only come from one school of music. Their base is obviously Celtic and folk, but they blend bits of pop, World, jazz and traditional in to keep things fresh.

I was shocked to hear Craobh Nan Ubhal (The Apple Tree), an atmospheric, harmony laden World music song. Not being too familiar with the MacNeils and expecting a completely Celtic listen, this was a pleasant surprise.

If you're a Celtic music fan, you're already way ahead of me on this. If you're not and tend to cringe at that stuff, give this an honest try. Their sound is never overbearing or cringe-inducing and they tend to mix enough styles so it never gets old. The musicianship is worth the listen alone.

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