July 2004 Archives

Bringin it Thegither

Ulster-Scots Folk Orchestra.  Fowkgates label. 18 tracks

 
One of the success stories of the Ulster-Scots cultural revival is the Ballymena-based Ulster-Scots Folk Orchestra.  Following the success of the acclaimed Endangered Species, the USFO has issued their best musical album yet.  It covers the whole gamut of the Scotch-Irish story in Ulster, Scotland itself and North America in a variety of styles.

 
The opening track is a medley of reels played with the orchestra’s inimitable enthusiasm, but there’s no time for a rest.  The second track is a polka played on bagpipes, accompanied by the full orchestra.  After this strong opening duo, there’s a change of pace with John Scott Trotter’s fine unaccompanied rendition of Fare ye well Enniskillen, a well known traditional song in which a young lady declares her love for an Enniskillen dragoon. 

 
The CD would be great just on the strength of these three opening tracks, but there’s much, much more.  Just listen to the up-tempo version of that old British army marching standard, Killaloe, the accompanied piping on Blue Bonnets over the Border and Bob Spiers’ solo of Willie Gillilan, his own song about a persecuted Covenanter in the ‘Killing Times’ of the Seventeenth Century when it was dangerous to be a Presbyterian.

 
But, that’s not all!  There’s a great version of Stephen Foster’s  Hard Times, a guest track from the bluegrass gospel quartet, the Low Country Boys and a chanted version of Robert Burns’ A Man’s a Man for Aa That.  This chanting may seem unusual these days, but it fits in time with Lambeg drums and fife music and is nothing new having been a feature of poetic performances at various times throughout these islands.  As the comprehensive sleeve notes, put it, ‘Who invented rap anyway?’  There is one wee error in the sleeve notes, though – the listings for tracks 15 and 16 have been switched.  Nothing to complain about though given the terrific package they accompany.  This album is not to be missed!