manx celtic music and dance

Ruth Keggin - Sheear - a thing of beauty

01 Feb 2014


'Ruth Keggin is the pure and passionate Gaelic voice of the Manx musical renaissance. Sheear is a thing of beauty which makes the circle of British folk music tradition whole.' (Mary Ann Kennedy, BBC Radio 3)

Ruth Keggin’s debut album Sheear (‘Westward’) is a live studio recording featuring an eclectic mix of traditional and contemporary Manx Gaelic songs, arranged in a fresh and imaginative way. It features Ruth (vocals, piano and flute) along with guitarist David Pearce and double-bassist Vanessa McWilliam. Irish flautist and sean nos singer Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin and Manx fiddle player Tomas Callister also feature on several songs.

The twelve-track album comprises a plethora of different textures, from unaccompanied pieces like ‘Arrane y skeddan’ (Song of the herring) through to a more unusual soundscape of bowed guitar, prepared piano, shimmering fiddle and eerie double-bass harmonics used in ‘Tree eeasteyryn boghtey’ (Three poor fishermen).

Ruth studies Manx with Jamys O’Meara and sings with Caarjyn Cooidjagh and Nish As Rish. She has studied Scottish Gaelic song with Margaret Bennett and holds a first class honours degree in music from the University of York.

The official release date of the album is 15th February 2014, but you can pre-order it directly from Ruth today via her online shop: www.ruthkeggin.com
 

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