Search - Margaret Barry, Alan Lomax :: I Sang Through the Fairs

Alan Lomax on recording traditional singers such as Margaret Barry: "There arises an intimacy close to love." And so too might we describe listening to this collection, the definitive portrait of the nomadic Irish balladeer and banjo player whose life was song and song alone. Barry's vocal style--deep lamentation transfused with tremendous vigor--was honed in the streets and pubs of Dublin and the whole of Ireland, where she drifted, much as her family of travelers did, regaling and busking for anyone who'd listen. She can sing with a deep, muscular slur, and then shift to a tingling softness--her command of vocal registers is awesome. Barry's repertoire combines familiar material such as "She Moved Through the Fair" (Barry helped make such songs standards during the British folk revival) with more obscure lyrics, songs that might be forgotten were it not for her. Don't turn to this collection for easy Celtic pleasantries: the raw, poetic soul will stun you. --Roy Kasten