Tarras - Rising - 011661702929 - CD

Tarras is a quintet from the border country between England and Scotland who play a contemporary version of that area's rich history of folk music. In the case of this talented young band (average age at time of recording: 21), "contemporary" does not mean "purist" nor does it mean "commercialized" or watered-down. Tarras refuses to play music in a vacuum, so a charming, folk-pop tune with a jazz-tinged fiddle solo like "Whisky Town" can comfortably stand beside the very traditional Celtic Tommy Armstrong miner's protest song "Oakey Strike Evictions." "So Tired" recalls the American folk- and blues-oriented sides of classic older British folk-rock bands the Pentangle and Fairport Convention. If you like Celtic music but are put off by the stodgy purist approach, or wish the Pogues would sing better, or enjoy folk-based pop/rock like 10,000 Maniacs, Tarras is well-worth your time and RISING is a superb debut album.