Inland Sailor

Downpatrick-born singer Brigid O’Neill is a former member of traditional band Deanta, but while there might be a slight trad influence in her singing style, this is very much a contemporary album in the vein of other interpretative artists – notably Mary Black, who sprang to mind the moment I heard the opening bars of the title track (written by American singer/songwriter Brooks Williams). Not that O’Neill’s voice is anything like Black’s; it’s much warmer, with a definite twang when she sings her down-homey versions of Karen Staley’s ‘Wicked Ways’ and Iris Dement’s ‘Take My Sorrows Straight’. Other tracks, such as the old classic ‘Invitation To The Blues’, fall more into the jazz category, and there’s also an interesting song by Juliet Turner.