An Trí Is A Rian

Hailing from Galway, Tyrone and Clare respectively, these three musicians have been playing together in sessions in and around Ennis for a fair few years now. Their music has an easygoing unpretentiousness that’s highly attractive, and they’ve done a nice job of selecting lesser-known material by the likes of Ed Reavy, Paddy Fahey, Bobby Casey and Paddy Kelly – not to mention Keville herself – as well as more widely played tunes. Unfortunately, the mixing isn’t as good as it might have been, and I found myself straining to hear Ní Dhonaile’s harp under the more strident tones of Keville’s concertina and Weir’s fiddle; it’s only with her solo turn on the slow air ‘An Buachaill Caol Dubh’ and an unnamed jig that she really gets a chance to shine. Pianist Geraldine Cotter guests on several tracks.