| Local Ground | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1 March 2005 | |||
| Recorded | Summer 2004 | |||
| Studio | Westland Studios in Dublin, Ireland | |||
| Genre | Celtic | |||
| Length | 46:42 | |||
| Label | Narada (VERTCD069) | |||
| Producer | Altan | |||
| Altan chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] [lower-alpha 1] |
| musicscotland.com | very favourable [2] |
| Amazon.com | very favourable [3] |
| Tom Hull | B [4] |
Local Ground is the ninth studio album by Irish folk music group Altan, released in March 2005 on the Narada label.
For the recording of Local Ground, Altan invited a few of their friends in music to play on the album. Former Bothy Band founder Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill plays piano on guitarist Dáithí Sproule's composition "The Roseville", a kind of a slip-reel. Steve Cooney guests on bass and Dónal Lunny adds guitar. Altan have asked Galician piper Carlos Núñez to contribute some gaita (Galician bagpipes) to two tracks. Bodhrán maestro Jim Higgins provides the rhythmic pulse on many of the tracks while Graham Henderson adds some touches of keyboard colour to a set of reels. [2]
The cover art is a reproduction of a painting by Kilkenny-based artist Bernadette Kiely. The album title "Local Ground" comes from the painting title. [5]
Local Ground received a very positive review from the musicscotland.com website, describing it as «an album of beauty, energy, grace and finesse, retaining the enthusiasm that originally shaped [Altan's] music.» [2]
The album also received a warm review from Amazon.com website's critic Christina Roden, stating: «For [Local Ground], the veteran Irish ensemble has gathered 13 traditional and newly composed tunes. [...] The set list includes several of the jaunty dance tunes that are the soul of Irish music. [...] Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh's fragile, girlish soprano creates many of the album's most memorable moments [such as] "Adieu My Lovely Nancy" and [the] lullaby "Dun Do Shuil". [...] The entire album has home-town warmth to it, a sense of achieved heritage that is at once soothing and invigorating.» [3]
All songs, medleys and tunes are traditional, except as indicated.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Type | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Éirigh's Cuir Ort Do Chuid Éadaigh" | Song #1 | 3:18 | |
| 2. | "Tommy Peoples/The Road to Cashel/The Repeal of the Union/Richie's Reel" | Charlie Lennon ("The Road To Cashel") / Ciaran Tourish ("Richie's Reel") | Medley #1 (4 reels) | 3:46 |
| 3. | "Is the Big Man Within?/Tilly Finn's Reel" | Medley #2 (2 reels) | 3:48 | |
| 4. | "Adieu, My Lovely Nancy" | Song #2 | 3:15 | |
| 5. | "Bó Mhín Na Toitean/Con McGinley's Highland/Seanamhach Tube Station" | John Carthy ("Seanamhach Tube Station") | Medley #3 (1 march, 1 highland, 1 jig) | 4:01 |
| 6. | "Amhrán Pheadair Bhreathnaigh" | Song #3 | 3:54 | |
| 7. | "The Roseville" | Dáithí Sproule | Tune #1 (slip-reel) | 2:21 |
| 8. | "As I Roved Out" | Song #4 | 4:20 | |
| 9. | "Spórt" | Peadar Ó Riada | Tune #2 (1 jig) | 3:02 |
| 10. | "The Humours of Castlefin/Nia's Dance/An Dúidín" | Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh ("Nia's Dance") | Medley #4 (3 reels) | 3:26 |
| 11. | "The Wind and Rain" | Song #5 (song & jig) | 4:03 | |
| 12. | "The Silver Slipper" | Tune #3 (1 jig) | 3:32 | |
| 13. | "Dún Do Shúil" | Song #6 | 3:56 | |
| 14. | "Andy Dixon's/Ril Chois Claiding/The Swilly Reel (Bonus Track only available on the Japanese release before the 12 March 2021 re-issue) [8] " | Reels | 3:29 |
Originally released in the US in March 2005 by Narada Records, Local Ground had been unavailable for several years. Compass Records (Altan's label partner since the 2012 release of Gleann Nimhe – The Poison Glen and home to most of the band's catalog) re-issued Local Ground on 12 March 2021. The 14-track Deluxe re-issue includes a bonus track "Andy Dixon's/Ríl Chois Claidigh/The Swilly Reel," which was previously only available on the Japanese release (also long out of print). [8]
Adapted from the AllMusic credits. [9]
Altan played live in concert the following tracks:
Altan are an Irish folk music band formed in County Donegal in 1987 by lead vocalist Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh and her husband Frankie Kennedy. The group were primarily influenced by traditional Irish language songs from Donegal and have sold over a million records.
Carlos Núñez Muñoz is a Spanish musician and multi-instrumentalist who plays the gaita, the traditional Galician bagpipe, Galician flute, ocarina, Irish flute, whistle and low whistle.
Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh is an Irish fiddler and the lead vocalist for the Irish folk music band Altan, which she co-founded with her late husband Frankie Kennedy in 1987. Today, Mairéad is recognised as a leading exponent in the Donegal fiddle style, and she is often considered one of the foremost singers in the Irish language, her native tongue. She was part of the Irish supergroup T with the Maggies who performed in January 2009 at Temple Bar TradFest in Dublin their first ever two concerts under that name and who released in October 2010 their debut album. After nearly 22 years with Altan, Mairéad released in February 2009 her debut solo album Imeall. After 29 years with Altan, Mairéad released in October 2016 her alternate band Na Mooneys' debut album Na Mooneys.
Another Sky is the seventh studio album by Irish traditional band Altan. It was released in February 2000 on the Narada Productions label.
The Blue Idol is the eighth studio album by Irish traditional band Altan, released in February 2002 on the Narada label.
Mícheál Ó Domhnaill was an Irish singer, guitarist, composer, and producer who was a major influence on Irish traditional music in the second half of the twentieth century. He is remembered for his innovative work with Skara Brae, the first group to record vocal harmonization in Irish language songs, and The Bothy Band, one of the most influential groups in Irish traditional music. His reputation was enhanced by a successful collaboration with master fiddler Kevin Burke, and his work with the Celtic groups Relativity and Nightnoise, which achieved significant commercial and critical acclaim.
Blackwater is the fifth studio album by Altan, released in April 1996 on the Virgin Records label. Three of the songs are sung in Irish. "Ar Bhruach Na Carraige Baine" is sung partly in English and in Irish. "Blackwaterside" is sung in English. It was the first album released by the band since the death of founding member Frankie Kennedy two years earlier. The final track on the album is a tribute to Kennedy and was written by Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh herself.
Harvest Storm is the third studio album by Altan, released in April 1992 on the Green Linnet label.
Island Angel is the fourth studio album by Altan, released in 1993 on the Green Linnet label. In 1995, Q included Island Angel in its publication "In Our Lifetime: Q's 100 Best Albums 1986–94", a list compiled to celebrate its 100th issue. It was also the final album to feature founding member Frankie Kennedy who died a year after its release.
Runaway Sunday is the sixth studio album by Altan, released in July 1997 on the Virgin Records label.
Gael Linn is a non-profit and non-governmental organisation focused on the promotion of the Irish language and the arts. The organisation's funding includes government and lottery sources.
Skara Brae were an Irish traditional music group from Kells, County Meath with origins in Ranafast, County Donegal. The group consisted of three siblings, Mícheál Ó Domhnaill, Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill, and Maighread Ní Dhomhnaill, with Dáithí Sproule from Derry. Their debut and only album Skara Brae is considered a seminal album in the Irish music tradition.
Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill is an Irish traditional singer, keyboard player, and composer, considered one of the most influential female vocalists in the history of Irish music. She is famed for her work with traditional Irish groups such as Skara Brae, The Bothy Band, Relativity, Touchstone, and Nightnoise.
Altan is the second (studio) album by Frankie Kennedy and Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, originally released in 1987 by Green Linnet Records. The musicians appearing on this album are substantially those that became the early incarnation of the band Altan. The band later (retroactively) called Altan their debut album.
Imeall is Irish musician Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh's debut solo album, self-produced on her own label "Moon" and released physically as a (numbered) limited edition in late 2008 / early 2009 and digitally available through her official website.
Maighréad Ní Dhomhnaill is an Irish traditional singer from Kells, County Meath. She is known for her work with the short-lived, but very highly regarded Skara Brae and her collaborations with her sister Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill, as well as other traditional musicians. She has recorded and performed with the West Ocean String Quartet (WOSQ).
Ceol Cheann Dubhrann is an album supporting Scoil Naisiúnta Rann na Feirste, a National school and Áislann Rann na Feirste, a community centre in Ranafast in the Gaeltacht of County Donegal, Ireland. The album was recorded, mixed, produced and engineered by Mánus Lunny and mastered by Paul McGeechan at Park Lane in Glasgow and features notable singers such as Máire Ní Bhraonáin and Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh.
T with the Maggies are an Irish traditional supergroup from County Donegal, Ireland. The group first performed together in 2007 at a tribute concert to folk singer and guitarist Mícheál Ó Domhnaill, older brother of Triona and Maighread, and released their debut album in October 2010.
T with the Maggies is the debut album from Irish Celtic-folk supergroup T with the Maggies. It was released on 29 October 2010 in Ireland and on 22 February 2011 in the United States.
The Gap of Dreams is the thirteenth studio album by Irish folk music group Altan and their twelfth studio album of original material, released in March 2018 on the Compass Records label to critical acclaim.
Notes
