After five years fronting Cherish the Ladies, Aoife Clancy has left the popular all-female Irish band behind to resume her solo career. But Silvery Moon is not the dramatic return to her roots that some people might expect; instead, Aoife explores a broader range of folk stylings from both sides of the Atlantic.

Aoife, daughter and niece to the famed Clancy Brothers, lets her voice shine on this album. The 11 tracks featured here are for the most part soft and slow, with understated arrangements to support without overwhelming her soothing alto.

"The Nightbird," which opens the album, is a lovely, passionate song -- it's definitely from the singer-songwriter tradition, not the pubs of Ireland, but it certainly shares the Gaelic love of poetry and vivid imagery from nature. "Are You Sleepin', Maggie" is a Scottish favorite, and cousin Donal Clancy's rhythmic guitar work provides a strong base for Aoife while Lisa Schneckenburger and Larry Nugent trade riffs on fiddle and flute. It quickly became one of my favorite tracks on the CD.

"There is Hope," given to Aoife by cousin Robbie O'Connell on Sept. 12, 2001, is a wistful song offering solace in bad times. "Like crystal crashing on a stone floor / All the plans lie shattered now / But the glass shards tempered in a healing fire / Can take another shape somehow."

"Giving" is a grand love song, while the traditional song "Silvery Moon" tells a mournful tale of love lost. Rushad Eggleston's cello adds extras shades of sound to the traditional ballad "Banks of Sweet Primroses." "The Sliprails and the Spur," taken from the poem by Henry Lawson, matches Aoife's voice with Jacqueline Schwab's understated piano.

Ron Kavana's "Reconciliation," which Aoife performed with Cherish the Ladies but never recorded, is a hopeful love song and gets excellent service here. "The Earl of March's Daughter" is a classic tragic story-song. Then it's off to the Appalachians for an a cappella song, the old-time traditional "Across the Blue Mountains," with Aoife O'Donovan and Julee Glaub lending a hand on vocals.

The album ends on a high note, my favorite track -- Aoife sings a duet with her father, Bobby Clancy, on "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine," and it's a delight to hear them together. Personally, I wish they'd do a whole album together! Aoife adds guitar to the song.

Aoife gets plenty of support on this album, even though the band stays well in the background throughout. Musicians are James Blennerhassett (bass, upright bass), Donal Clancy (guitar), Seth Connelly (guitar, piano, dobro, mandolin, bass), Rushad Eggleston (cello), Lisa Schneckenburger and Al Gould (fiddle), Larry Nugent (flute), Ted Ponsonby (guitar, dobro), Jacqueline Schwab and Eddie Lynch (piano), Mark Simos (guitar), Liam Bradley and Myron Bretholtz (percussion), and Aoife O'Donovan and Julee Glaub (vocals, harmony vocals).

Silvery Moon isn't an album to appeal to the pub crowd, and even some Cherish the Ladies fans might go away wanting without that band's lively antics between slow songs. But anyone fond of a clear, sweet Irish voice stretched beyond the confines of her tradition will find plenty to like here. Aoife has a voice to treasure.

[ by Tom Knapp ]
Rambles: 14 September 2002