Delta Gold Music Showcase

Website: Fiddle and Guitar

Home Base: Brooklyn, NY

Genre: Irish, Roots, World, Electronica, Folk, Celtic

Compared To: Martin Hayes, Eileen Ivers, Alasdair Fraser

Influenced By: John Carty, Martin Hayes, Youssou N’Dour, Jeff Beck, Paco de Lucia

Bio: Cady Finlayson is a spirited Irish fiddler, with a global twist. And while she’s best known for her Irish music expertise, Finlayson’s latest release, Electric Green, her collaboration with French guitarist Vita Tanga, is sure to expand her audience well beyond traditional Celtic boundaries. Finlayson and Tanga met during a tour honoring the music of John Denver. The downtime between touring dates led to musical experimentation and an electric guitar and fiddle performance in Finlayson’s New York City home. “It was at this total dive bar, and I wasn’t sure how the traditional Irish music would go over with that crowd,” Finlayson recalls. “So, just for fun, we decided to add some electric guitar sounds to the mix — crybaby pedal and all. We recorded it and listened to it later, and it sounded really cool!”

Sometimes it only takes a few unexpected ingredients to attract people to an initially unfamiliar style of music.

“With Electric Green, I wanted to bring Irish music to a bigger audience,” Finlayson explains. “Riverdance,” and shows like that, offer a great introduction. Yet these samples are but a small taste, and people haven’t yet heard the broad spectrum of what Celtic music has to offer.”

Finlayson didn’t need Tanga’s help when it came to creating an eclectic musical mix, however. She may play Irish tunes, but she’s originally from Seattle and grew up listening to folk music — artists like Joan Baez — and also loves a lot of African music. And these varying, but complementary influences and inspirations, naturally flowed both ways during her creative sessions with Tanga.

In the years leading up to this latest artistic partnership, Finlayson was a classically trained violinist who fell in love with Irish music the moment she heard it.

“The first time I heard Irish music, I just knew it was something I wanted to play,” she explains. “I didn’t hear it until I was in my twenties. I had come to New York to go to music school, and I was doing the whole classical music thing — I was in a string quartet. Yet, after a while, I was looking for something more. One day I went into an Irish bar and there was a fiddle player. The music really spoke to me right away.”

Make no mistake about it; Finlayson still loves classical music. But Irish music now gives her far more opportunities for self expression. “I felt like I wanted to have more individual input into my music,” she summarizes. With three discs under her own name, in addition to this recent partnering with Tanga, Finlayson is clearly taking every possible opportunity to express her music.

In addition to performing Irish music, Finlayson teaches young musicians at the United Nations International School. “I work with students from all over the world”, she explains.

Therefore, it’s not too much of a stretch to refer to Finlayson as an ambassador of music because she’s just as in touch with the world, as she is with world music. Music lovers can look forward to green pastures aplenty from Cady Finlayson, this special fiddler with the global twist, whether her performances are acoustic, electric, or surprisingly unexpected.

– Dan MacIntosh (Edt. Note: I don’t know if Dan wrote this whole Bio. Or not.)

My Review: Being of Irish descent myself, at least on my father’s side, I felt compelled to write this review. Seriously, though, if you enjoy Celtic music, you couldn’t ask for much better than this.

Both Cady and Vita do an outstanding job of playing.
The music ranges from light and spirited like “Pumpkin’s Fancy” and “Itchy Fingers” to a stirring march in “All Set For St. Pat’s” complete with drums and bagpipes, to the sad and soulful “Foggy Dew”, the kind of music that the Irish are noted for.

Vita’s electric guitar adds some interesting effects at times and Cady plays flawlessly. Two tracks from the album that I don’t have for review are “Bass Rock” and “Heavy Metal”, both of these sound interesting. There really isn’t much more to be said. Electric Green is a Celtic masterpiece!

If you like Celtic music you should add Electric Green to your collection.
I rate Electric Green 10 stars and a “thumbs up”!

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Electric Green by Cady Finlayson & Vita Tanga, 2009, 7.8 out of 10 based on 5 ratings