THE POET'S DREAM is a document of the past, a recording of hits of their time; hits that never made the charts but brought so much joy, and sometimes controversy, to the people of the day.
Over the years, and in recent times, the shape of sounds and vocals have been influenced by MJ O'Reilly, Paddy & Phil Berry, Paddy Tunney, Geordie Hanna, Rita Gallagher, Nicolas Toibin, Paul Brady, Christy Moore, Andy Irvine, Liam Og, Donal Lunny, Jimmy MacCarthy, Mick Hanly, Iarla O Lionaird, Lorcan MacMathuna, Liz Carroll & John Doyle, The Voice Squad, Joe Heaney, Len Graham, Luka Bloom, Martin Hayes & Denis Cahill, Chris Wood, Karen Casey, Jimmy Crowley, John Faulkner, Bess Cronin, Mary & Seamus Brogan and Cathal McConnell to name just a few ...
Sounds Like
"The Poet's Dream is a brave and inspiring project, remembering some of the best and most prominent Wexford songs composed during the 19th and 20th centuries." - Scallta Media ... Many styles incorporated ranging from unaccompanied traditional singing, to full-bodied acoustic-folk; which is representative in many ways of the body of folk music in Wexford today and in the past.
Paul's new album, with guest lead vocalist Helen Kirwan, THE POET'S DREAM, is out now ...
"This is a Jewel, a record of our local history, lovingly performed with the sensitivity of those who understand naturally how this music should be treated. The singing is wonderful and the accompaniment tasteful and restrained as is Paul's production, allowing the songs to tell their story and transport us to situations both moving, joyful, humorous, and stark." - Brendan Wade (of Elandir, and formerly The Wild Swans and Cry Before Dawn)
"Original and unusual ... a fine production. The arrangements give the album a sense of continuity; when you listen to song number one right up to song number twenty six, you can see the link, the thread, through them, and this is important when the collection is mostly from one or two sources." - Dan Walsh, Historian, Journalist and Broadcaster
"A very, very fine collection of songs from different parts of the county." - Áine Hensey, RTÉ Radio One
"This collection is produced to the very highest of standards ... The way in which a tradition of balladeering that extends over five generations has been presented as a coherent whole on the album is very impressive ... While The Poet's Dream is mainly about the human voice, putting previously unreleased songs on record, it also serves to underline the versatility of Paul O'Reilly as an instrumentalist." - Enniscorthy Guardian
A double-album of 26 tracks, including previously unreleased songs composed by MJ O’Reilly, the Cooper family of Monageer, and Paul O’Reilly, together with new arrangements of songs from the Paddy Berry collections, it covers many topics ranging from steam threshings, fleadhs, lamentations, risings, hunger strikes, local scuffles, the Queen’s bed, hunts, Jack Barry, the Strawberry Fair, the village of Monageer, the railway tunnel and many more ...
With lead vocals by Paul and Helen Kirwan, and performances by Paddy Berry, Padraig Sinnott and Tom Murphy, this double-album is a document of the past, a recording of hits of their time; hits that never made the charts but brought so much joy, and sometimes controversy, to the people of the day.
As well as vocals, lilting and whistling, Paul also plays guitar, bouzouki, bodhrán, mandolin and whistle on the album. It was recorded and mixed by Paul in his studio, and mastered by Aidan Foley at Masterlabs. The cover image is a painting by Paul's good friend, and Wexford artist, John Cullen. The booklet contains 28-pages, containing all lyrics and a background-note by Paul on each track. The total running time is approx. 130 minutes.
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