All My CDs, pt 25: Forerunner

Forerunner - The Cottars

I bought this album after the song Byker Hill showed up on my Pandora station, full of strong, enthusiastic vocals and percussive string accompaniment. Turned out The Cottars were a group of talented and well-trained teenagers from the very Celtic community of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. I’ve always been fond of Celtic music in general, but to this day, Forerunner has been the only Celtic music I have liked well enough to buy.

Most of us have some idea of what Celtic music sounds like, and many of the tracks - especially the instrumental ones - are along those expected lines, so I won’t describe them too exhaustively except to say that they’re fun to dance to (or at least, to pretend to dance to, since I have little skill at dancing). The Honeysuckle Medley is my favorite of those instrumentals, and was my phone’s ringtone for a while in 2010. I’m not sure what it is about that track that brings me such pleasure, but certainly part of the appeal is that it sounds like it was very fun to play.

Byker Hill, Pat Works On The Railway, and Home by Bearna are traditional folk songs equally fun to listen to, and like many folk songs their words tell interesting (if sometimes quaint) stories. In these songs I find it difficult not to get caught up in these young singers’ enthusiastic delivery. Other songs on the album are of a more contemporary style, not quite folk and not quite pop, such as Hold On and Atlantic Blue. In contrast to the traditional songs, these are mostly sad, solemn songs with depressing subject matter. If you’re prone to fits of crying at tragic stories, be sure to brace yourself before listening to Georgia Lee.

One thing that makes me sad is that none of the songs on this album are originals; they are all either traditional tunes or covers. Maybe that’s one of the drawbacks of being a young and prodigiously talented artist: your skill and exuberance are the envy of the elders, but you lack the experience and wisdom to innovate effectively. When everything is new to you, it is difficult to figure out what new things the world wants. But what do I know? I’m 26 and still figuring out how to write music reviews.

Next: The Juliet Letters.