The Yew & The Orchard

The long tradition of music flowing between the east and west of Ireland’s northern counties is nimbly caught in The Yew & The Orchard with Cillian Vallely’s uilleann pipes and David Doocey’s fiddle finding a shared voice on common ground. Where ‘The Yew’ references Doocey’s native County Mayo, ‘The Orchard’ alludes to Vallely’s native County Armagh. Between and betwixt the two lies fertile musical soil, one nimbly turned here in tunes old and new. Evident from the off is both men’s mastery, lightly worn, almost casually displayed, of their instruments. There’s fierce technique at play here, Doocey and Vallely singing from the same hymn sheet with a delicacy and dexterity that delights and occasionally dazzles. It’s especially felt in the seamless meshing together of traditional and original material, the segues from one to the other and back again lifted by virtuoso playing. It all breathes new life and fresh, ear-opening combinations into the familiar fiddle-and-pipes pairing that is as ancient as the instruments themselves. Reels are dispatched with flowing, animated fervour, airs with becoming emotion. Seán Óg Graham’s guitar, Valley’s piano and Doocey’s guitar add discrete but telling support.