Donal Clancy: Close to Home

Donal follows in the family tradition (the son of Liam) of performing marvelous acoustic Irish folk music. This Clancy plays acoustic guitar, an instrument not heralded much in the Celtic tradition like fiddles, tin whistles, and accordions are, with meticulous beauty. He presents slow airs, jigs, hornpipes and the like with flair, grace and style. He interprets the tunes as if they were written for the guitar through soulful fingering and inspired arrangements. Donal chose an interesting selection of traditional songs that includes classics like “Old Hag You Have Killed Me” and similarly rooted material. Each of the 12 tracks reveals the guitarist’s considerable talents and his skillful, sinuous style of hitting the strings. Clancy goes completely solo throughout the album with one notable exception. About halfway into the disc, in the middle of a song, David Power joins in on drones. This breaks up the flow on an otherwise remarkably fluid record.