3) Cherish the Ladies – Woman of the House: From the boyband beats, we come to feature the talented Celtic ladies. This all-female group is probably one of the best to have come out the old country and this album is like their gift to the music world. These ladies had a unique style in them and they portray such in a variety of songs with some wonderful guests to help them along. Some of their songs are upbeat and rollicking while their most powerful songs are their trademark ballads of crushing emotions. Heidi Talbot shares her incredible voice in several songs such as the old-school “Green Fields of Canada” and “Bogie’s Bonnie Bell”. Her voice is both haunting and deliriously special and no other singer can sing the same songs the way she does it. Her uniqueness makes Cherish impossible to duplicate even though a lot of their songs may be sung by other bands and other performers as well.

4) Solas – The Hour Before Dawn – Quite simply, Irish-American folk music do not get better than Solas. The Chieftains have long held the torch for Irish music but they are of an older generation. While The Chieftains’ music is universal and crosses through borders and age brackets as well, there is still something to be said of a group that started post Chieftains but is not overshadowed by the gargantuan monolith. Solas has been proving its mettle again and again and for a new and younger generation, Solas is it.

The best aspect of Solas music is the way they play their instruments and how seamless they blend with each other. A huge chunk of Solas music is instrumental and this is primarily because it is their strength. Band leader Seamus Eagan epitomizes this strength in instruments as he has won many awards and competitions over the years even as a young man. Eagan understands that instrumentation is highly important and it is no more important than in this magnificent fourth album, The Hour Before Dawn. The groups vocalist, Karan Casey left the band before the album was recorded leaving a palpable void in the group. Casey’s unique voice has always been a big part of Solas’ brand of music and it will surely be missed.  

While indeed it was missed in this album, the effect has still been tempered by the arrival of Dierdre Scanlan. The task of filling in Casey’s shoes is a tough one and Ms. Scanlan responded by giving her own specific personality to the group. The result is magical. Scanlan is a bit more folk than Ms. Casey so in some ways, she fits in better than Casey. Add to the mix the excellent work of the two Johns, Dyle and Williams, as well as Winifred Horan and you have an album for the ages.

The Hour Before Dawn is an accomplishment if only for the fact that the group has tried and mostly succeeded in branching out there music to include other types of music. The evolution of their music is palpable and never forced and while some parts do not work as well as some did, the songs still showcased that Solas could stretch their music.