FullSet’s latest album is “Notes Between the Lines.”
By Daniel Neely
It is the week after St. Patrick’s Day. I hope everyone reading out there had a salubrious and rewarding day of it and that in the meantime you’ve found yourself a moment or two to decompress!
First off, congratulations to We Banjo Three, who last week played for a room full of Irish and American political heavies (including Barack Obama, Enda Kenny, Arlene Foster, Martin McGuinness and many, many others) at the Friends of Ireland Luncheon in the Capitol Building in Washington DC. The group entertained the quality with a few tunes and afterward was presented with a U.S. flag that had been flown over the Capitol in the group’s honor. It’s huge to be invited to play at something like this, so congrats WB3! Incidentally, WB3 just finished a US tour, but they will be back over April 22-May 5 and will visit MA, NYC (their first time here), PA, DC, DE, NC, WI. Go on over to their website www.webanjo3.com to see when they’ll be coming your way!
Congrats also to Brendan Fay, Kathleen Walsh D’Arcy, and the Lavender and Green Alliance / Muintir Aerach na hEireann! Not only have they been so important to the life and success of the St. Pat’s For All parade in Sunnyside, but this year they finally represented the LGBT community in the parade on 5th Avenue. The Alliance is a great supporter of traditional music in the city and the city’s traditional musicians always seem to be going out of their way to reciprocate by playing in support of their events. Congrats Lavender and Green on your spot in the parade – it’s a well-earned achievement that’s been too long in the coming – the parade is a far, far better thing with you in it.
In other news, I’ve had a listen this week to the band FullSet’s great new album “Notes Between the Lines.” It’s a fresh, tight work with wicked pop, and I think it’ll attract those who love their Irish music with a youthful sound and a cool flow.
FullSet is Janine Redmond (button accordion), Michael Harrison (fiddle, cello, backing vocals), Marianne Knight (vocals, flute), Eamonn Moloney (bodhrán), Martino Vacca (uilleann pipes, whistles), and Andrew Meaney (Guitar). This is strong assortment of accomplished, recognized players, each of whom has walked individual paths with great distinction.
Together, however, they’ve had unusual professional success. Their first two albums, “Notes After Dark” (2013) and “Notes At Liberty” (2011), elicited positive critical attention, but their success has extended far beyond. They’ve performed all over Irish television programs like “The Late Late Show”, “Céilí House,” and “Geantraí,” and they are a darling of the festival circuit, having wowed audiences not only throughout Europe, but in North America as well, including the Milwaukee Irish Fest, the Dublin Irish Festival, the Kansas City Irish Fest, and the North Texas Irish Festival.
The album includes instrumental and vocal tracks, all of which impart a sense of excitement. The tunes in the “straight” reel and jig tracks, including “Miss Ramsay’s / …,” “The Brocca / …,” and “Hughie Travers,” all seem carefully selected and are delivered with great strength. On other track, like “Thadelo’s / …,” “Matthew’s Waltz,” and especially “Molly’s Hop / …,” the group builds their arrangements by dovetailing tunes of different rhythms, which not only helps generate great excitement, but shows off the group’s chemistry quite well.
The songs, on the other hand, take listeners through different emotional territory. “The Bright Side of the Moon,” for example, is a chilling cautionary tale about man’s relationship with the planet, and is a nice showcase for Knight’s vocal talents. “The Welcome” and “Safe Home” are similarly strong, but have lyrics that play at themes like pride and nostalgia. The interesting thing about most of the album’s vocal features is that they have anthemic quality and a bright, stylistic openness that I think would play well with crossover audiences, especially those interested in modern country music.
“Notes Between the Lines” is a very strong album that I think will have broad appeal. There’s is an energy here that without doubt transfers well to live performance – it’s something that speaks directly to their past festival success and gives a strong indication of what lies in store for the future. This is an album – and a band – with great curb appeal (to borrow a phrase from real estate) and one folks should check out. For more information about FullSet, visit www.fullsetmusic.com
