Irish Pirate Ballads and Other Songs of the Sea CD

Pirates, shanghaiers, slavers, and smugglers are just some of the central characters in this album of lusty, authentic maritime songs; others are ardent patriots, hard-pressed immigrants, and weathered sailors sheltering in the taverns of the seven seas. All are midway between some dicey spot in life and an uncertain future. Their compelling stories of bold adventure are excitingly re-told here by an all-star crew of Irish singers and musicians led by vocalist/author Dan Milner. Featuring an impressive array of guest musicians and singers, including Joanie Madden of Cherish the Ladies, John Doyle of Solas, Tim Collins of the renowned Kilfenora Ceili Band, All-Ireland champion fiddler Brian Conway, Robbie O'Connell and Susan McKeown, Irish Pirate Ballads captures centuries of tradition and the revelry, mischief, tales of love and caution that characterize nautical life. Milner "really gets inside a song and brings it alive," writes New York University professor Mick Moloney, who also appears on the album. "It's impossible not to be drawn in by the imagery of these songs and the absorbing stories they tell of memorable rakes, adventurers and scoundrels." 40 page booklet, 13 tracks, 58 Minutes. Tracks 1 Ten Thousand Miles Away 2 The Ballad of � Bruadair / Out on the Ocean 3 Saucy Ward 4 Captain Coulston 5 Granuaile 6 Get Up Jack, John, Sit Down / Miss Thornton�s 7 The Flying Cloud 8 Larry Maher�s Big Five-Gallon Jar 9 Bold McCarthy (The City of Baltimore) 10 All for Me Grog / Parnell�s March 11 Castle Gardens (Sixty Years Ago) 12 The Lowlands Low 13 The River Lea