Handmade Tales

Based in Denmark but with roots in traditional Irish music, Manchester-born John Pilkington (guitar, bouzouki and vocals), with Danes Louise Ring Vangsgaard (violin, viola and vocals) and Brian Woetmann (bodhrán, percussion and vocals) celebrate ten years as a trio (they'd all previously been involved with Danish roots group Moving Cloud) with only their third release.

Confident and enjoyable, if less than thrilling, Handmade Tales finds them also embracing music from Greenland with their version of ‘Nuilersup Qilaap Seequinersuata’, which has become a feature of their concert repertoire. They also based the tune ‘Teasing Kelvin’ on the step-dancing of Gunilla Odsbøll, a winner of the European Irish Stepdance Championship whose percussive dancing has added a bracing new element to the live Tradish sound in the three years since their Roots and Shoots collection. The 15 songs and instrumental tracks here combine traditional material such as oft-recorded closer ‘the Parting Glass’ and the self-explanatory ‘the South Sligo Set’ nearly equally with originals penned by Pilkington or Woetmann.