Another album launch that took place this week at the Willie Clancy Summer School was that of fiddler Mick Conneely and accordion player David Munnelly.

Echoing the title of another recent male duo release, this one is called ‘Tis What It Is, and the words of Ben Lennon, who launched the CD in Milltown, provide an explanation in the publicity material: ‘The title for this album is indeed very well chosen and self-explanatory. Let me say that there are no airs and graces here. The music springs out of the deep recesses of the pure and natural tradition, bouncing along over rocks and boulders like a mountain stream in full spate, a reminder of the open-hearth fires, flagged-floored kitchens, half-doors and thatched roofs of the Ireland of my youth, where the music found its home and where it flourished in its natural surroundings.’

Conneely, who also plays bouzouki and whistle, has toured with many artists, including De Danann, Mary Bergin, Frankie Gavin, and Máirtín O’Connor, and the David Munnelly Band was set up in 1999 and has recorded four albums.

The tracks on this album are as follows:

1. The High Caul Cap/ 
Napoleon Crossing The Alps
2. Maho Snapps
/ Tay In The Bog/ 
The Maid In The Meadow
3. P. Flanagan’s
/ Hughie Travers’/ 
Spoil The Dance
4. O’Donnell’s
/ The First Of May
5. The Pride Of Rockchapel/ 
Mrs Cooty’s
/ Statia Donnelly
6. For Michael
7. The Jolly Tinker/ 
The Yellow Tinker/ 
The Longford Tinker
8. The Kiss Behind The Door
/ Paddy Shannon’s
9. Shoe The Donkey
/ The Emmigrant’s Letter/ 
Liza Lynn
10. The Carna
Temple Hill
/ Sporting Paddy
11. The Humours Of Glenflesk/ 
Denis Murphy’s Slide #2
/ The Star Above The Garter
12. McGovern’s Favourite
/ Colonel Fraser
13. The Rakes Of Kildare
/ Haley’s Favourite/ 
Flanagan’s
14. The New Mown Meadow / 
Big John MacNeill/ 
The Silver Spire

mickconneely.com.

davidmunnelly.com.