Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

Every American I have ever met seems to want to claim to have some kind of descent from the good people of Ireland. So I can imagine yanks lapping this album up. Me? I am not so sure! Recorded in Nashville by the usual collection of anonymous session players and designed to evoke strong Christmassy feelings about the Emerald Isle, here are 13 instrumental Christmas pieces combining the Christmas melodies of carols with a few Irish folk tunes. The blurb says "featuring authentic Celtic instruments" so you know what that means! It's penny whistles, uilleann pipes and bodhrans ahoy! It's all nicely recorded and everything but it's the musical equivalent of visiting an Irish theme park in Florida rather than visiting Ireland itself.  

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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