Lakefield [Audio CD] Leahy - Very Good

Very Good - DELETE

Amazon.ca Lakefield, Leahy's second release, is named for the Ontario, Canada, town where the band members grew up. The nine sisters and brothers deliver another potent shot of energetic Celtic music on this album. As on their first release, Leahy, the band mixes superior traditional fiddling with contemporary pop rhythms and modern country harmonies. The singing of Denise Leahy and her sisters on songs like "Borrowed Time" and "A Love Never Known" is pleasant enough in a mainstream, Nashville sort of way, but it's the band's instrumental abilities that really set them apart. On tracks like "Seamus," "Mission," and "Leviathan," the band uses driving fiddles and propulsive tempos to create a new form of Celtic music that perhaps can best be described as "stadium ceilidh." Leahy's sound may not appeal to the traditionalist, but their high spirits, danceable tunes, and instrumental skill will have even the stodgiest purists secretly tapping their toes. --Michael Simmons

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