The Eagle's Whistle

Airla are based in Switzerland, but the music they play is most definitely the purest trad. Unlike many Irish bands from other countries, they’ve chosen the road less travelled when it comes to repertoire, eschewing pub standards in favour of less well-known songs and tunes – notably ‘Lovely Jane’, a sweetly sentimental number from Louth, ‘Grania’s Welcome Home’, an unusual John Doherty composition with one part played as a march, one as a jig and one as a reel, and ‘An Chearc Is An Coileach’, learned from the singing of Lilis Ó Laoire. Piper Joe McHugh, a Derry native and former All-Ireland champion, is probably the group’s strongest asset, which isn’t to say that fiddler Mick De Hoog, Christian Fotsch on bouzouki and bass, and guitarist/bodhrán player Alan Burke aren’t perfectly competent musicians. An impressive debut album.