Paddy Joe’s new album

Paddy Joe’s new album has very broad appeal

Country Roads
Michael Commins

WHEN West Mayo singer Paddy Joe released an album three years ago, he made national news when it outsold all the big pop names in many parts of the west of Ireland. Now, the chart-topper is back again with a brand new 17-track collection which already looks set to put his previous release in the shade.
‘Paddy’s Green Shamrock Shore’ is the title of his latest foray in the recording stakes. And the man with his finger on the pulse of the rural heartbeat has managed to combine a fine selection of traditional ballads and country standards, thus ensuring a wide appeal for the new album.
Old favourites from the traditional scene featured here include ‘The Boys From The County Mayo’, ‘Flower of Sweet Strabane’, ‘The Old House’, ‘Go Lassie Go’, and ‘Shamrock Shore’. Realising that an album which includes a good spread of country songs is always more likely to get extensive airplays on many radio shows around the country, Paddy Joe has gone for some of the best-loved songs from that genre over the years. They include ‘This World Is Not My Home’, ‘Gentle Mother’, ‘The Wild Side of Life’, ‘Little Cabin Home On The Hill’, and ‘Frauline’.
Songs of more recent composition included here are ‘Come Back Again to Ireland’, ‘The Lights of Rosslare Harbour’ and ‘Connemara Rose’. Two numbers have a strong Donegal background. The ‘Evelyn Marie’ relates the sad story of the trawler that went down off Rathlin O’Beirne island around 25 years ago with the loss of all crew members. The other is a number dedicated to Julia O’Donnell from Kincasslagh and is sung to the air of the ‘Red River Valley’. There’s also a song in the Irish language entitled ‘Tar Liom a Chailín Óg’.
One thing is for certain, Paddy Joe appears to be on a winning streak with ‘Paddy’s Green Shamrock Shore’.

Traditional sounds for Achill’s James Kilbane

IT is very much a case of home sweet home for Mayo’s James Kilbane who returns to the more traditional songs of our land for his new album. ‘Songs of Ireland’ is an eleven-track collection from the Achill island man and is a somewhat new departure for James.
Though involved on a local level with the music scene for several years, it was through the ‘You’re A Star’ television series that James got his big break. He reached the final of the competition at a time when the programme had huge viewing figures.
Since then, James has performed all over this country and has made several trips to America where he has featured at the big festivals in Chicago and Milwaukee.
On the home front, he has specialised in country gospel music, performing in Knock Basilica and at many churches up and down the country. His albums have reflected that style of music with songs sourced from places as far apart as the bluegrass states of the Southern USA and south-eastern Europe.
This time, James has settled for the more traditional sounds and songs of our land. The numbers included are ‘Moonlight In Mayo’, ‘Will You Go Lassie Go’, ‘Danny Boy’, ‘The Homes of Donegal’, ‘When You Were Sweet Sixteen’, ‘Grace’, ‘Bunch of Thyme’, ‘The Wild Colonial Boy’, ‘Maggie’, ‘Lovely Achill Shore’, and ‘The Rose of Tralee’.
The album introduces another side to James Kilbane and it certainly will secure a lot of extra airplay for the man from Achill’s fair shore.