The Columbia
Gypsy 
SHEPARD'S FOLLY
epon.
Self-Produced (2001)
Phil Shepard: shepard@acd.net
He laid her on a pillow near the window sill where she could see the sky and the distant hills...
Shepard's Folly is a home-grown traditional Celtic band from Lansing, Michigan and this is their debut album. It is a mix of old Irish and Scottish dance tunes and airs and a few songs, done in solid, clear fashion without many fashionable tricks...in much the same way you would hear when smiling friends get together or at local dance, a cod, cabbage, and potatoes sort of thing, but a bit of a lighter mix. The band includes guitar, bass, bodhran, fiddles, flute, and whistles.
Some of these tunes are fairly common: "The Gravel Walk,""The Sligo Maid" and "McMahon's," for example. The album includes the familiar "Carrickfergus," sung sweetly by guitarist Patti Anne Lea, with a little help from the guys; "Red Is the Rose Song" is another pretty and familar song, this time from Scotland. Some tunes are lighter than others; for one "Christy Barry's Set Jigs" is a whistle and guitar duet. Some are peppy and have good dance sweeps, like "The Gravel Walk." Scottish tracks...this is why SF is not an "Irish album"...include the popular slow and in this case suprisingly pleasant "Neil Gow's Lament On the Death Of His Second Wife" (how can this be traditional if it is written by Gow?), and the perky "Shetland Fiddler's Society #1 Strathspey" There is also one original tune, light and airy, called "Sparrow," about a wounded sparrow. The words are pretty, but a little hard to understand.
For the most part the band does a good job. Sometimes the stride and interaction are not quite what what I am used to with cod and potatoes, so there will be a few surprises for experienced Celtoids. Sometimes I am not comfortable with everything I hear the band play, and sometimes I think Pamela Meisel's bodhran is mixed a little high. Balancing this out is a sense of authenticity, that SF is recording the way they are playing music, not playing music to be recorded, that this is how they are carrying the tradition to America's heartland.
The Columbia
Gypsy