Album Notes

July 22, 2010 review of A Soft Day
Press-Citizen
Jim Musser

This sublime quartet has been delivering quality traditional and original (yet in-the-tradition) Celtic music to the region for the better part of a decade.

Previous discs "I Shall" (2005) and "Newry Town" (2007) were solid, straight-ahead entries of the form, and the brand-new "A Soft Day" continues the band's steady upward arc in musicianship, varied, easy-rolling tracking and overall dynamic range.

Boosted by grants from the Iowa Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts, "A Soft Day" is easily the group's best-sounding disc yet, offering crisp separation, a big, spacious feel and immaculate presentation of the three diverse vocalists.

Guitarist Keith Reins has a pleasantly weathered, reedy voice; Brad Pouleson (mandolin, whistles, uillean pipes) offers a clear tenor; and fiddler Tara Dutcher applies her lovely, bell-toned voice to a pair of beauties; Joe Dutcher (bodhran) supplies steady rhythmic propulsion.

The ensemble playing is organic, buoyant and graceful; this melodic gem is recommended to all fans of the genre.