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THE IRISH WORLD

Killarney born Niamh was born into a rich musical landscape, weaned on the sounds of Sliabh Luachra musicians. The featured fiddler - and sometime concertina player - on the Riverdance tour for a whole 8 years, Niamh has finally come back to settle in her homeland. I was never a great fan of Riverdance, so until now was unaware of the talents of this little lady.
That she moved on I am truly happy about, because it's given Niamh the time to put together a first album and us the chance to witness her deft fiddle and concertina playing a little closer to home. On Da Thaobh is an eclectic ensemble that reflects Niamh's wide musical vocabulary, reeling in tunes from Ireland but also alegretto's from Italy (Regondi gets the concertina treatment, after "some minor liberties to get it to work on the key that I play!"), hornpipes from American and a wonderfully exotic set of 'csardas' courtesy of Hungary. Each track has been chosen with tender loving care, and from a perky reel to the slow, sorrowful grace of a song like "An raibh tu ag an gCarraig", it all gels together to create a delectable whole.
"From Both Sides" is a wonderful musical experiment, and the results are more explosive than you could imagine. Just watch this blonde bombshell go...
For more info visit www.niamhnicharra.com.

Shelley Marsden, The Irish World, 04/05/2007