Firewire

FireWire was voted Best Celtic Instrumental Album in the 2009 Just Plain Folks Music Awards held in Nashville, Tennessee. Over 42,000 albums and 560,000 songs in 93 genres from 163 countries around the world were screened for these indie awards - the largest music awards of any kind anywhere. The aptly-named 'FireWire' is an addictive and stylish cocktail of powerhouse Irish dance-music, gorgeous airs, old songs with a contemporary twist and striking new compositions - with a shot of bluegrass thrown in! From the very first notes of the opening track, the sizzling guitar improvisations and harp pyrotechnics come thick and fast... A perfect showcase for their unique sound. REVIEWS OF FIREWIRE... The Daily Telegraph (UK) 3 February 2007 quot;Dazzling virtuosity... The speed and complexity of Newman's guitar-playing is to be marvelled at... exquisitely delivered songs... delightfulquot; The Guardian (UK) 26 January 2007 'When it comes to virtuoso work on this ancient and delicate instrument, Maire Ni Chathasaigh is in a class of her own' The Times (UK) 27 January 2007 quot;An eclecticism and spirit of adventure that is quite thrilling... Virtuoso playing... bewitching string fantasies and a wonderfully clear and expressive voice' The Irish Times (Ireland) 14 April 2007 **** quot;Takes one of the most effete instruments in traditional music by the scruff of the neck and breathes a fire into it's belly... Straddles traditions with grace and just a tincture of dangerquot; fROOTS (UK) March 2007 '50 minutes of sparkling, seemingly effortless music which is of course the product of decades of hard work... Sheer class throughout' Songlines (UK) March/April 2007 **** quot;Brilliant, innovative harping and guitar-playing of astonishing virtuosity and versatilityquot; Rock 'n Reel (UK) March 2007 **** quot;Exhilarating versatility and inventiveness... Harping with a flair and gusto that give everything Máire does an impressively contemporary feel... sublime guitar work... An album epic in scope: real magic' Dirty Linen (USA) August / September 2007 'Ní Chathasaigh is a flawless harpist with a fine rich tone... Newman is a real treasure of a string player, adding tasteful fills and gorgeous coloring with guitars, mandolins and fretless bass... A fine album by two top-notch players (that) has much to discover and treasure.' The Fly quot;Stunning... The solo harp number, 'An Buachallin Ban', is heart-wrenching, and the way in which Ni Chathasaigh hangs on the notes lends them fantastic poignancy and emotional depth... Newman's guitar on 'Bright Falls the Air' is sublimequot; ABOUT THE ARTISTS... Chris and Máire made their début as a duo at the 1987 Cambridge Folk Festival and since then have played in twenty-one countries - from Shetland to New Zealand and from San Francisco to Kyoto - and have given TV and radio performances on five continents. Within the past two years they've toured in the USA, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Italy, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, Ireland and the UK. FireWire is their sixth album together and has already garnered some wonderful reviews (see below). Máire is 'one of the world's greatest harpists' (Edinburgh Evening News) and one of Ireland's most important and influential traditional musicians. As a teenager in the 1970s she invented a whole new style of harping that quickly became the norm amongst both her contemporaries and the younger generation of Irish players. In 2001 she received Irish music's most prestigious award, that o