Review of "Close To Home"
By :: Kerry Dexter
Publication :: Folkwax

Donal Clancy has long been known as the go-to guitarist for recording and road work. He has contributed to albums and tours with The Chieftains, Cherish the Ladies, Aoife Clancy, Robbie O'Connell, Eileen Ivers, and Cathie Ryan, among others. He has been part of two top Celtic music bands, Solas and Danu. He helped found the latter group and after some years away returned to hold down the guitar spot with them at present.

Though a good bit of his band and backup work is on the high-energy side of Irish music, his first solo project reveals a quieter side, though there's aplenty of varied tempo and form with jigs, reels, bar dances, and slow airs. This is mostly just the man and his guitar, captured in the silence of the studio. It is all traditional music, tunes Clancy first heard on other instruments and brought over to guitar. The slow air "An Buachaill Caol Dubh" is a notable cut, as is Tommy Coen's "Memories" and "Callaghan's Reels," with which Clancy opens the set. Really, though, it's the line of thought, melody, and meditation running through this fine group of tunes which gives the album a stronger presence than the songs do as individual sets.

Those who enjoyed Pat Metheny's One Quiet Night and Alison Brown's Look Left, as well as listeners of traditional Celtic music, will find much to like on Donal Clancy's first solo project.