Paul McClelland-Valley of Silence (Celtic sessions from 1995,)

These sessions represent my 1st interests in Celtic music, and in 1995, I began the research and recording of dozens of Scottish and Irish traditional melodies. This was before the internet was widely used, so if I wanted clarification on lyrics or melodies, the public library was a primary resource. Looking through the recorded archives deciding what tunes to clean up and re-master, I found over 2 hours of recorded Celtic melodies, much more than would fit in a single collection, so these sessions are spread out over 2 volumes. They are mainly Scottish tunes, but many Irish tunes make an appearance, as well. In 1995, my 'home studio' consisted of a small Yamaha synthesizer, a Gibson acoustic guitar, a microphone, a Peavey mixer and a 4 track cassette multi-track recorder. My M.O. in those days was to learn the song, record it and its parts as quickly as possible, and move on to the next song, unfortunately, a few mistakes were left in to haunt me many years down the road, but on the plus side, there is an informal feel to these collections, and I hope you enjoy listening as I re-discover this  music from 1995. This is "Valley of Silence"

1. Bonny Portmore (scottish)

2. Carrickfergus (irish)

3. Geordie MacLeish (scottish)

4. I'll Tell Me Ma (irish)

5. Courtyard Lullaby (irish)

6. My Lagan Love (irish)

7. Larry O Gaff (irish)

8. Mairi's Wedding (scottish)

9. If I Was a Blackbird (scottish)

10. My Match It Was Made (irish)

11. Raglan Road (irish)

12. Valley of Silence (scottish)

13. She Moved Through the Fair (irish)

14. The Silkie of Sule Skerry (scottish)

15. Wild Mountain Thyme (scottish)