| Barras at the Bandshell |
| Lucy and the band captivated everyone in the audience with the Barras rendition of David Francey's Thousand Miles. The overlaying harmonies on this are fantastic! Sheumas's bass voice contributes well to the arrangement. The song is on their All at Once album as well as the latest CD, the 20th Anniversaty Collection. It got me to check out David Francey's music when he appeared at the Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival. Well worth the evening of listening. The man has superb songwriting talents! Check him out after you buy the Barras's 20th Anniversary CD - the best of the best songs and tunes in the band's amazing 20 year career. |
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| Another favorite of mine, Rattling Roaring Willie, came next. The audience sang along with the "How De Doo's." I love the extended instrumental part as well as the Robbie Burns' lyrics. You can hear it on the above mentioned album, on their Racket in the Attic album or on the compilation CD that the Chieftains did with a bunch of East Coast Canadian musicians called Fire in the Kitchen. That was the first time I heard the Barras and it made me check out more of their music. I was instantly hooked and have worn out several copies of my first Barras albums, Until Now and The Traditional Album. In fact, my first copies were cassettes! |
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| Ryan, Stewart & Sheumas Rattlin' Roarin' Willie "Well the piper he did play" |
| Stewart, Lucy, Boyd & Jamie Rattlin' Roarin' Willie |
| Haven't Got a Care came next with the piper on the bodhran. This is the quintessential Summer song that had the audience kickin' back and enjoying the ride along with the Barras in Boularderie. The mood was broken when a young mentally-challenged man stood in front of us and "directed" the band. It was very distracting, but he was very good. He's been to many a concert I'd guess and has learned the conductor's movements well. While Andi was craning her neck, trying to see around him, a man came up behind Andi, trying to explain that the young man came to every show and did the same thing. He only ended up scaring the bejeebers out of Andi. |
| Misty Moisty Morning, a song from Racket in the Attic, was originally recorded with GBS on a couple of verses. Alan's voice is unmistakable on the CD version and it's always weird to hear Lucy sing that verse in a live show, but there she was and it was good! |
| Boyd is the youngest of the troupe and, like all the others in the band, is a multi-instrumentalist. Here he plays fiddle to Misty Moisty Morning. He also plays guitar, drums, bodhran.... |
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| Ryan's pipes were well-played and he also has written several songs (tunes) the band plays in the sets. Would it surpirise you to know that the Uilleann Pipes are not the only instrument in his repertoire? I didn't think so. He also plays whistle, bodhran and piano on stage. |
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| Our "conductor" |