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Album – “The Sunny Banks”

The Sunny Banks is a new CD featuring Edel Fox on concertina and fiddle and Neill Byrne on fiddle. On the recording they are joined by 2012 TG4 Young Musician of the Year Caoimhín Ó Fearghail on guitar and bouzouki from Ring, Co. Waterford and Richie Lyons on bodhrán from Co. Cavan. The CD features 16 tracks of old and new compositions from musicians such as Paddy O’Brien, John Dwyer, Tommy Peoples, Charlie Lennon, Finbarr Dwyer, Frank McCollum, Lorna Davey and Edel herself. It has featured in the ‘top ten’ sales of several traditional music shops around the country since its release in July. Many have referred to it as a modern-day classic album of traditional music.

 

Click the Buy Now to buy The Sunny Banks CD now for €16 including Postage & Packaging to anywhere in the world.

 

Click here to buy a digital copy: CD Baby
 

Praise for “The Sunny Banks”

“It’s impossible not to like The Sunny Banks, and it will probably be in my Top Ten for 2013”

The Irish Music Magazine, September 2013

  “With its faultless, lively playing and range of beautiful tunes, The Sunny Banks is destined to become one of the classic albums of traditional Irish music”

The Living Tradition, August 2013

 

“The Sunny Banks has within its grooves all the necessary ingredients to lift it into “classic” territory.  It is a supremely confident recording and time will I believe bestow on it the recognition that it commands…. It is without doubt the must-have traditional album of the year”

Tradconnect, August 2013

“Thoroughly steeped in the tradition, Fox and Byrne have that ability found in world-class musicians to go beyond technique and mechanics – and they have quite a lot going for them there – and home in on the grace and beauty of the music they play”

Boston Irish Reporter, September 2013

“This album is nothing short of brilliant, not only due to the duo’s superior musicianship, but also to the chemistry the two share. Each player’s music nests very well with the other’s to create a very warm, very spacious sound”

Dan Neely, Irish Echo

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Irish Music Magazine, October issue 2013

Irish Music Magazine, October issue 2013. Review by Alex Monaghan

Clare concertina charmer Edel Fox already has a couple of albums under her belt, a solo stunner and a duet with Galway fiddler Ronan O’Flaherty. Now she’s crossed the country to find a fiddler from Waterford: Neill Byrne. Neill has made a name for himself nationally and internationally, and his music has been influenced by many fiddlers including local composer John Dwyer. Together, Edel and Neill play traditional Irish music as it should be played, with warmth and understanding, and with a great deal of skill. The Sunny Banks is a true collaboration, every track bar two is a duet and it would take a better man than me to tease the instruments apart. Edel even switches to the fiddle for one set of slip jigs, which makes separation all the harder. If it weren’t for the harmonies, inventive and playful, you’d be forgiven for doubting that there was more than one musician at work here. Listen to Kitty O’Neill’s Barndance, an intricate little melody, and marvel at the flawless triplets and perfect synchronisation.

There’s so much to admire here. The bold step into Poirt Cuil Aodha, the Scottish pipe march Lochanside with its unusual rhythms, the pumping drive on big reels such as Sean sa Cheo and The Pigeon on the Gate, the beautiful slow waltz Seothín Seothó, and the storming final track which gives this CD its title, taken from a great modal reel I first heard played by The Chieftains in the seventies. Edel’s solo starts with Nana Jo’s, a reel she composed which has an American flavour to my ear, and she follows that with the classic Murphy’s and Jackson’s. There’s hardly any need for the deft accompaniment on guitar, bouzouki and bodhrán, but here as elsewhere it adds a delicate touch. Neill also favours reels for his solo, and chooses two traditional favourites followed by Brendan McGlinchey’s Farewell to London which covers all four strings of the fiddle. Compositions by several other fiddlers feature on this recording – Charlie Lennon, Joe Liddy, Sean Ryan, and of course John Dwyer. The final piece of fiddle homage is paid by Elizabeth Kelly’s Favourite and The First Slip, twin fiddling from Neill and Edel on two fine slip jigs. It’s impossible not to like The Sunny Banks, and it will probably be in my Top Ten for 2013.