When I first heard a selection of Shannon Lambert-Ryan (and Runa’s) excellent songs online, I thought: Well, this is an absolutely GREAT combination! There’s a bit of the folksy innocence of seventies’ Clannad, a touch of the frenzied energy of Wolfstone (but only in the right places), and the sturdy professionalism of Runrig keeping it all together. But most importantly, the songs had a voice – Shannon’s - which seemed to have been weaved together by the best of Moya Brennan’s and Loreena McKennit’s – but without going too much to either side. It also had a definite ‘down-to-earthishness’ quality that made Shannon seem closer to you, as a listener, than either of the two aforementioned ladies (whom I hold in very, very high esteem); like she was singing for you, not to you. And I wasn’t so far off the mark, it seems, when I some weeks later read who had collaborated with Shannon on her first, brilliant album, Across the Pond. How about: Fionán de Barra, of Moya Brennan and Fiddler’s Bid; Kevin Henderson, of Boys of the Lough, Fiddler’s Bid, and Session A9; Stuart Eaglesham of the Scottish folk-rock group, Wolfstone and percussionist, Cheryl Prashker of The Strangelings. But it’s not the namedropping that makes Shannon’s debut so impressive; because in truth it was the music that first caught me. It is the sheer delight of Shannon’s singing the still catches me, every time; so deep-felt, so alive and so present that it almost made me turn my head to make sure, that she hadn’t suddenly beamed into my living room. And in fact I believe that all of the real power of this album comes from Shannon’s ‘realness’. Yes, she has a very moving, very beautiful, very ‘I’m-here-with-you-not-on-a-stage-somewhere’ voice, but she also immerses herself completely in what she’s singing, straining to get all the pent-up feeling, dreams, joys, sorrows and life out of songs which have been sung through generations. That’s something you notice, because it brings you closer to the song, much closer: Whether it’s swinging me around on the barn-floor with an up-beat, refreshingly modern interpretation of ‘The Wind Across the Barley’, or taking me with her to a lonely dim-grey sea with all the longing that’s embodied in a fusion of	‘The Last of the Great Whales / Farewell to Tarwathie’. Shannon’s all true, and all there – and her fellow musicians are with her, bringing out the heart and soul of these old songs and at the same time making them feel new and relevant, as if they had been thought up yesterday to capture all the stuff of life that never goes away – all the happiness, sadness, the time for dance and rejoice, or the time for being still with just your own yearning. And no, Shannon did not pay me to write all of this – although I’ve got her firm promise that she’ll bring herself and her band to perform in Denmark someday. (Can’t wait.) She really IS that good - and so is her band. I heartily recommend Across the Pond (and Runa’s album, Jealousy) for everyone who wants to be moved by music again. 

Chris

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Christopher Marcus is a freelance-journalist, writer and initiator of various random web-projects, including an absolutely non-folk, non-Celtic fan site for Stieg Larsson’s Millennium books: sallysfriends.net.
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Enjoyed hearing you and your trio play last nite.
You guys are great. Bought your cd for my daughter
in law but we love it so much we are going to keep it. Very lovely vocals and acoustic sounds.
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