The Iron Horse, The Iron Horse (Lochshore, 1992)
The self-titled The Iron Horse debut album from 1992 is simply superb. If one was to compile a list of the ten best Celtic releases of the last decade, this album would be among them. Described by critics as one of the "new wave" of Scottish folk groups, Scotland's The Iron Horse is Annie Grace (whistles and vocals), Ross Kennedy (guitars and vocals), Gavin Marwick (fiddle), Lynn Morrison (keyboard and vocals), and Rod Paul (whistles, mandolin, banjo, guitar). They have made a number of albums since this one, but this is their finest to date. The Iron Horse is one of those full-force bands that have to be heard to be believed -- imagine the Old Blind Dogs with even more energy.
The KRL Web site says of Marwick, the driving force behind the music with his
uptempo fiddling: "...[a] one time finalist in the Young Tradition Awards,
Gavin picked up many honours in his formative years and was 'instrumental' during
the ceilidh dance revival of the nineteen eighties. No stranger to radio and
television broadcasts, Gavin has appeared on numerous soundtrack 
recordings
and as a guest musician on albums by Wolfstone, Talitha McKenzie and The Humff
Family." Uptempo is the best description for The Iron Horse and they are
most decidedly on the traditional side of the Celtic turf. They sound like a
very good ceilidh band which is fitting as this Glasgow-based band had their
beginning in informal pub sessions -- a gathering of musicians playing, drinking,
and just hanging out. Rumor has it that they were so inspired by the the music
they created in these sessions, the members decided to form a band and take
the act on the road, hoping to recreate that feeling in their shows. The name
of the band, The Iron Horse, takes its name from an old Scottish song in which
a man first encounters the harsh reality of modern technology in the form of
a train.
The album starts with a powerful instrumental set, "Aonach Mor Gondola/Annie's Wean/Glasgow Express," three great tunes anchored by the wonderful fiddling of Gavin Marwick and the spritely whistling of Annie Grace. The entire album is great, and I will only single out one other cut: their cover of Ewan McColl's "The Travelling People" is the best I've ever heard. All I'll say is anyone interested in Scottish music should buy this album! Great tune, amazing songs -- What more do you want? How 'bout music so good that you'll want to buy all of their albums? If so, this is the The Iron Horse CD for you to listen to!
