John Doyle, John McCusker & Mike McGoldrick - The Wishing Tree (2018)

THREE of the folk and traditional music scene’s busiest and most visible musicians, guitarist-singer John Doyle and multi-instrumentalists John McCusker and Mike McGoldrick tour and make music together for fun away from their often hectic work schedules, and that’s largely the thinking behind this, their first studio album as a trio.

A collection of ten tracks equally divided into songs and instrumental sets, The Wishing Tree doesn’t go out of its way to draw attention to itself, although it takes a lifetime of playing to sound as effortless as these guys. The arrangements of jigs, reels and airs are thoughtfully simple, showcasing McGoldrick’s flute here, his tight partnership with McCusker’s fiddle there and profiting from the effectiveness of Doyle’s guitar playing in providing both melodic momentum and rhythmical grain.

Doyle’s quiet singing of the lamenting Bonny Light Horseman contrasts with the rousing shanty-style, chorusing of Billy O’Shea and his storytelling skills really come to the fore as he details the exploits of body snatchers Burke & Hare, an original song on which he conveys the dankness and darkness of Edinburgh’s old town closes and lands with a strong sense of realism.

Tracklist:
01. John Doyle, John McCusker & Mike McGoldrick - The Wishing Tree
02. John Doyle, John McCusker & Mike McGoldrick - The Bonny Light Horseman
03. John Doyle, John McCusker & Mike McGoldrick - Highland
04. John Doyle, John McCusker & Mike McGoldrick - Billy O'Shea
05. John Doyle, John McCusker & Mike McGoldrick - Planxty Dermot Grogan
06. John Doyle, John McCusker & Mike McGoldrick - Burke & Hare
07. John Doyle, John McCusker & Mike McGoldrick - Goodman's
08. John Doyle, John McCusker & Mike McGoldrick - The Wicked Belfast Man
09. John Doyle, John McCusker & Mike McGoldrick - Keane O'Hara
10. John Doyle, John McCusker & Mike McGoldrick - Banks of the Bann