Gerry “Banjo” O’Connor’s follow up to his landmark No Place Like Home (2004) is an adventurous collection that dips into the Irish, English

and American folk canon more tentatively than is necessary, given O’Connor’s peerless musicianship. Earl Scruggs’s Foggy Mountain Breakdown is an apt companion piece to the opening reel set, The Gravel Walk, where O’Connor’s virtuoso banjo playing takes rightful centre stage. O’Connor’s own tunes, Beautiful Friend and Outlaw, shimmer in the heat. His decision to include vocals from Kevin Doherty, (from 4 Men and a Dog) and Fran King may lure a more mainstream listenership. But amid some rich arrangements that feature O’Connor on banjo, fiddle, mandolin, viola and tenor guitar, there’s a meandering, mild-mannered quality that might have been tempered by a bolder hand on production from O’Connor and co-producer Brendan O’Regan. www.gerryoconnor.com

Download tracks: Beautiful Friend, Foggy Mountain Breakdown