Album Notes

This 2-CD set of Contemporary Celtic music has been called 'passionate' and 'luminous'. The CDs include 10 songs, both traditional and original, as well as a CD of the INDIE award winning Public Radio International Broadcast: Castles of Gold, Songs and Stories of Irish Immigration.

Pan Morigan, who produced (and sang) the album with critically acclaimed Guitarist Ben Butler, is known for her passionate, wide-ranging voice - 4 heart-stopping octaves, stylistic versatility and charismatic stage presence. Morigan, who grew up with Irish music, Jazz, Greek music, and American/World folk and Rock, creates songs that bend genres and defy boundaries. She interprets traditional music in stunningly original ways, pushing the envelope for Irish singing. She composes music for the cutting edge theatre company 'Chrysalis Theatre' and has toured with Bobby McFerrin and his all-improvisational vocal group 'Voicestra'.

'Pan Morigan's voice is primal and refined, digs into A deep hollow place, then climbs out and soars' writes Tzivia Gover of Time Out.

This two CD set was originally created for Public Radio International, and received an INDIE award from the Association for Independent Music. It was aired on Public radio across the United States and New Zealand for three years in a row. The arrangements include great playing by luminaries such as guitarist Larry Campbell from the Bob Dylan Band, award winning Irish Fiddler, Liz Carroll and Joannie Madden from Cherish the ladies, and Guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Ben Butler, who recently completed a tour with Dar Williams.

The CD of the Public radio broadcast includes original stories by Katerie Morin, narrated by Pulitzer Prize winning author of Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt, and award winning television actress, Roma Downey.

An editorial review from Amazon:
Storytelling and music have been intertwined branches of Irish culture since the days of the bards, which is probably why the mix of story and song on Castles of Gold fits together so smoothly. Musician, composer and arranger Pan Morigan and playwright Katerie Morin convey the tale of the Irish immigration to America through a well-chosen collection of traditional songs, sensitively written originals, and spoken word recitations based on Morin's family's memories about their emigration from Ireland. The stories are read by Roma Downey, star of Touched by an Angel, and Frank McCourt, author of Angela's Ashes and 'Tis. Morigan herself sings the songs backed by an all-star band of Irish musicians, including fiddler Liz Carroll, accordionist John Whelan, and uilleann piper Jerry O'Sullivan. The sound is decidedly contemporary Celtic, with percussively strummed acoustic guitars and exotic percussion, but it effectively evokes the mix of excitement and sorrow the original emigrants must have felt as they set off to America for a new life, perhaps never to see their families again. -- Michael Simmons