OK, it took me a minute. They call themselves "2duos" because there are four of them, and they also perform as couples (when they're not busy with other band projects).

Get it?

The band in 2009 was Gudrun Walther (lead vocals, fiddle, diatonic accordion), Claire Mann (flute, whistles, fiddle, vocals), Juergen Treyz (guitar, dobro, vocals) and Aaron Jones (lead vocals, bouzouki, guitar). Curious about their status more than a decade later, I visited the 2duos website and found it still active ... although they apparently call themselves Litha now. It also looks like they stopped touring in 2017 after Mann and Jones had twins. (Walther and Treyz appear to be performing currently as a duo).

The musicians are pretty active in other circles. Their website notes that Walther "is one of Germany's most sought-after and well-respected trad musicians" and tours with the band Cara. Mann toured with Tabache, Craobh Rua and Christy O'Leary. Treyz is also a founding member of Cara, among other projects. And Jones has the Old Blind Dogs among his credits.

For the record, two of them (Walther and Treyz) are German, Mann is Scottish, and Jones is an Englishman who identifies as Scottish. All are talented instrumentalists, and they have good voices to boot. The track list draws on both the Celtic and German traditions.

This album, Until the Cows Come Home, is simply quite good. There's nothing flashy about it, just quality music well played.

[ visit the 2duos website ]