The music was hot, sweaty and distinctly fast. Not surprisingly. Button accordion player Alan MacLeod led the sets at break-neck speed where even the most experienced Irish dancer would have difficulty in keeping pace.

Seán Cleary is an outstanding young traditional musician - with several instruments to his name. In the past two years he has mastered the tin whistle to an enviable standard that compares well with the likes of Mary Bergin and Paddy Maloney, but his talent as tune writer - demonstrated by The Singing Lift - should be watched as he matures, for its potential is great.

In presenting the band, Erin Brown overcame all sorts of difficulties. Blonde jokes aside, she used humour with great alacrity to translate technical glitches into moments of wit and wisdom. Her sensitive vocal rendition of The wind that shakes the barley was second to none. Adam Brown's guitar playing accompanied all tunes in all keys. If capos didn't exist, how would he change keys deftly? This youth's art lies in the beat. He's an All Ireland Champion Bodhrán player, two years in a row, and he's only 16. He finished off the evening with a bodhrán solo to die for - you could hear a pin drop. Well he did start playing on a cardboard box at the age of 3!
This is local talent ready to take on a bigger world. They emerged from the Irish scene at Rathmore Club, on Cherry Hinton Road. Josie Nugent, fiddle player, their coach and mentor, should take a bow. Is this a young Bothy Band in the making?

2006 Copyright © Moving Tone Ltd.

Writer: Anne L. Ryan