I’m going to try and kill two birds with the proverbal one stone here by squishing the reviews of both Barley Juice CDs into one review. First up is 2001’s self titled ‘Barleyjuice’ a collection of traditional drinking, fighting, courtin and sailing songs which is more Dubliners then The Pogues and much more Clancy Brothers then anyone else, both in song choice and performance.  2005’s ‘Another Round’, follows on in the tradition of the debut but adds in a few originals which stand up well to tradition staple of covers. ‘Scottish Samba’ is a classic. If you haven’t made up your mind were your going to be next Paddys Day then where ever these guys are playing would be a very fine choice.

August 2005