Cara Dillon back with stunning new album
It shows you how long ago this happened - it was a cassette that a bloke gave me, so even though I can't remember the date, it was in those long lost days of the C90 on which you could, more or less, get an album a side. He was a complete stranger, a Scot, heading north on the M6 and, like me, filling up at Knutsford services.
'Check this band out,' he said 'they're great' and then he was gone off into the murk of that December night.
The tape was a copy of an album by , a four piece band: Murrough O'Kane, Ruadhrai O'Kane, Paul McLaughlan and Cara Dillon; all four were young teenagers (ÍѾ±²µ±ð means 'youth' in Irish) and they made a brilliant sound. The band are still going with a new vocalist and are still making brilliant music.
Cara Dillon, of course, went on to do other things, culminating in a solo career
that has taken her half way across the world and back. Over the years she has
produced some wonderful albums, but none (I feel) as good as her latest Hill of
Thieves. It is simply stunning, a great collection of mostly traditional songs
sung with great soul and accompanied by a band to die for. The album isn't out
until January but I did manage to get hold of a copy and there's a track from
it on my programme for each of the next two weeks. News of the CD can be found at . I've listened to it three or four times already and, in my humble opinion, it is one of the finest albums of the last ten years.
Comment number 1.
At 26th Nov 2008, Gary wrote:Wow, I'm glad to hear someone else is enjoying the album to the extent that I am. I agree wholeheartedly re: the band and 'stunning' is just the word! 'The Parting Glass' blows my mind. I think it's such a defining take on a classic song.
Other songs which should go down well (to those of you who haven't heard it) are her take on 'Spencer The Rover', which was part of her early live sets circa 2001 and features Seth Lakeman, and 'Jimmy Mo Mhile Stor', which receives a gush of fresh air with its uplifted tempo and uilleans pipes fills.
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