MusicReview

Jimmy Crowley and Eve Telford: Hello! Child Ballads Learned From Irish Travellers – A collection loyal to song circle tradition

Each track a short story with Chekovian levels of insight into essence of the human condition

Hello! Child Ballads Learned From Irish Travellers
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Artist: Jimmy Crowley and Eve Telford
Genre: Folk
Label: Freestate Records

A fittingly loose-limbed approach to this collection places it firmly at the heart of the very definition of a folk tradition: music of, by and for, well, folks.

Jimmy Crowley is a Cork institution whose distinctive voice and warm wit have been calling cards throughout his long career as a folk singer. Eve Telford is an Australian-born singer and songwriter who brings an olde worlde sensibility to her vocal treatment of this rich Child ballad collection, gathered by Jimmy five decades ago, from Irish Travellers in London.

The pair add minimalist arrangements to the songs, allowing each one to find its own feet. Each and every track is a short story with Chekovian levels of insight into the essence of the human condition. Crowley’s idiosyncratic reading of Lord Beckham underscores both the delicacy of his inheritance and of his own role as a carrier of this rich tradition. Telford’s vocals can at times veer towards the mannered, and her high lonesome vocals hint at the potential for her to find a second home in the bluegrass tradition, should she ever feel the urge to sally westwards.

Above all, this collection is loyal to the song circle tradition from whence it came, and doubtless that’s where they will shine brightest: in sessions and snugs, where every miniature nook in their fabric can be fully savoured.

Siobhán Long

Siobhán Long

Siobhán Long, a contributor to The Irish Times, writes about traditional music and the wider arts