OLD MAN FLANAGAN'S GHOST
Simple Little Boat
Philippe Cousin
The Irish and Scottish diaspora has had a strong presence in Canada since the 19th century. And of course they've brought their music with them. Another Celtic band from the New World, Old Man Flanagan's Ghost, hail from Toronto.
Since 2012, their music has been largely inspired by famous bands such as The Dubliners and The Pogues. Their music offers a Celtic musical experience that draws deeply on the most energetic folk-rock.
Imagine the smell of the sea, a few pints of stout, stories of love and death, all driven by instrumentation that originated on this side of the Atlantic. You get the very essence of the band formed around Stephen Lamb, guitarist and lead singer, who wrote the twelve tracks on Simple Little Boat, their fourth album since 2015.
Originally a four-piece band, they have enlisted the services of many friends over the years as they have released new albums and performed live. There are no less than a dozen musicians here, covering a wide range of instruments (fiddles, accordion, banjo, mandolin, bodhrán, pipes, whistles and so on), not forgetting several singers on the dozen tracks on the album.
The album features a succession of drinking songs, sea shanties, historical tales and love ballads, all set to a lively, invigorating musical round-up.
Simple Little Boat could be labelled a banal album, so common are the themes tackled by this kind of band. But the instrumentation makes all the difference. Seriousness, energy and talent are just some of the words that best describe this sunny album.
Celtic Ghost CGP-04 - www.oldmanflanagansghost.com