Digging through my boxes of unreviewed CDs is an endless task, but I'm often quite amazed at the music that, while overlooked when it was still new, yet manages to inspire an enthusiastic review.

This one is some 15 years old -- so old, in fact, that the website listed on the back of the disc is a MySpace account. (Yes, I checked, and yes, it's still a live page, although apparently untended. You can check it out at myspace.com/irishexperience if you want to visit bygone days, or see if MySpace Tom is around to chat....)

Oh, I was able to find them on Facebook, too -- facebook.com/irishexperience if you'd like to say "hi" -- but the band seems to have foundered during the dark days of COVID-19. Let's hope they make it back to the light!

They cut a few albums back in the day; at the time of this recording, the Irish Experience was Tom May on electric guitar, Tom Hotchkin on upright bass and Joe Bowbeer on electric fiddle -- and if that's not a great name for an Irish fiddler, I don't know what is! Bowbeer leads most of the tunes, but it's definitely an ensemble recording. The trio is also joined by five guest musicians, who add layers including synthesizer, harmonica, congas, bongos, djembe and clogging.

The music on Green Energy is definitely a 21st-century take on traditional music (with a few original instrumentals in the mix). Any seasoned seisiun player will recognize some of the tunes, but the Irish Experience has stamped its own brand on the melodies. Some tracks lean more toward rock, some rely heavily on electronics, some sound more Appalachian than Irish, but it's a nice, energetic sound that is probably a whole lot of fun live.