13/05/04
"This is a studio album only in the sense that it was recorded in a studio. I attitude, it is a relaxed session, a few tunes and the odd song in the front room. You can hear the musicians tap their feet, you can hear them breath and the clicks and squeaks of their instruments. And the music is all the better for it. Killarney's Tim O'Shea plays guitar and sings. On this outing , he's joined at various stages by Paddy Jones on fiddle, Barry Magee on concertina, Ger Culhane on accordion and Matt Bashford on uilleann pipes, whistle and clarinet. The opening slides, The Cat jumped in to the mousesí hole/Going to the well for water, with Paddy taking the lead, have the necessary rough edge. Lake of Learning, written by Tim, takes its title from a slightly crooked translation of Loch Léin, the largest of the Killarney lakes. Describing the song as a mixture of 'myth and legend' O'Shea builds a novel fantasy ranging from early Christian times to the Cromwellian Wars. Reconciliation by Ron Kavanagh, Freedom is Like Gold by Andy M. Stewart are full of good intentions but tend towards over-earnestness. Feartha Famine a self penned slow air taken on solo guitar, is a wonderfully atmospheric commemoration of the Great Hunger. The album closes with a fine version of the song Willie Taylor, segueing into a slow reel, Rolling in the Barrel. Real music played by real people".
