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The commentary is done by Mark and Bill Jordan, who’s love for Celtic music exceeds their actual heritage. We’d love to hear your comments as well! We review these CD’s independently so any similar comments are pure luck.
Mark Says…
“Reflections”
from “From The Well”
A Collection of Live Performances
Musicians:
Erin Flynn – Dulcimer, violin, low whistle, Bodhran, vocals
Bill Stine – Dulcimer, whistles, vocals
Sarah Stine – cello, high whistle, vocals
Craig Zumbrun- guitars, vocals
We received this CD for review in the mail from our new friend Bill Stine. As usual I was anxious to review it. Any opportunity for new music is welcome. This is a live CD taken from 3 small indoor shows. It was recorded with 9 microphones. It is a decent sounding recording technically, at least in headphones. It didn’t sound quite as good on open computer speakers, but what CD does?
This is not a large boisterous band obviously, so expect a gentler sounding performance and not one like “Enter the Haggis” may put on for instance. This is a Celtic folk band or perhaps a folk band with a lot of Celtic repertoire. They would be excellent for a quiet setting and not a heavy drinking bar.
I admit that when I first heard the initial couple of songs I was not so impressed. But things got better as the CD went on and also after I listened a few times more. We don’t review these things after listening to them just once for that very reason.
The weak part of the band seemed to be the singing, and in particular the male singing. Second to that was the high pipe playing. Both seemed to need more work or maybe just more aggressiveness in spots and smoothness in others. One of the female voices was not bad and would probably sound very good in a studio session. She perhaps was slightly off tune in parts of some songs, but this was live. One male vocal was better than the other. I am not sure who was singing what song, as the jacket did not say. It is not easy to sing live and sound really good. The crowd did not seem to be overly enthused with this band but perhaps they were not well attended performances.
Several of the songs seemed to go better than others on this live recording with all the nuances of such. We recommend you pick up this CD if you want to increase your Celtic collection and want to help local music. Then come back here and leave some comments. The more people join in the more we all learn.
1. Queen Of Argyll
A renaissance fair type song. This is a simple common tune with simple lyrics similar to what you would think a bard might sing wondering the countryside. A lively number with multiple harmonic voices. The main vocal was male though all the band members contributed. I am not sure who was singing the main part as the song list did not say. It was only an average male voice that seemed to get out of breath on occasion and was a little too shy.
2. The Osprey / Frailach
Slow, gentle, instrumental. A pleasant contemplative number. Very nice violin playing from Erin, I assume. She is a good fiddler throughout this album. The dulcimer playing was good as well.
3. Mary Of The South Seas.
A guitar and fiddle number with vocals. A folk song. Slow traditional tune telling an interesting story. Harmonizing vocals, again with a male lead. The singer on this one has a pleasant male voice and maintains the tune well. Overall I didn’t really like the song, but From The Well does a decent job presenting it.
4. Cooley’s Reel
Instrumental. What can I say, it’s a reel, which means it is lively and toe tapping. Not necessarily the best whistle playing, but this is live. Interesting use of the dulcimer with the whistle which you do not often hear. Loved the laugh at the end.
5. Valley of Strathmore
A very pleasing and soft vocal folk tune. A romantic piece. The male lead does a good job on this one, along with back up harmonizing from the rest of the band.
6. Webb’s Hornpipe / St. Anne’s Reel
Instrumental. A cool rendition of a hornpipe on a dulcimer and cello. Nicely done! The reel was lively and well done as well with dulcimer, fiddle, cello and guitar. I enjoyed this one a lot. This group has plays their instruments well.
7. Ready For The Storm
Not a badly done rendition of this song. I would have liked more hard driving vocals. The song was trying to be driven like a storm, and it was played well on the instruments, but some of the vocal parts sounded too gentle as if singing a love song. This could be a really aggressive song.
8. Our Kate
Instrumental. Begins hauntingly on whistle. The fiddle then comes in to mirror the whistle. They then proceed together. The cello joins along with guitar and dulcimer. All the instruments merge nicely and are played well. Definitely a definitive Irish tune.
9. Black Muddy River
An easy listening folk song sung with nicely-controlled harmonies from all the band members. Well done for this type of song. Perhaps not a song everyone will love but a good choice for this CD.
10. Star Of The County Down
Another piece with dulcimer, cello. I’m beginning to like the combination as it is not common. Begins slowly and then breaks into a lively vocal with a male lead, guitar and whistle.
11. Caledonia
A somewhat heart-warming song with a good, but perhaps sad, story. All the band members join in on harmonizing once again, with a female lead. Some of the harmonies are a bit rough, but a harmonic effect helps broaden this tune into a larger more interesting sound. A pleasant song to listen to and a good ending to the CD.
Bill Says…
Looking into “Reflections” by “From The Well”
“Reflections” is a collection of live performances by the quartet “From The Well.” Recording live obviously does not afford a band the advantages of the studio environment or equipment, so that has to be taken into account when listening to any such recording. However, what live recordings do afford are the opportunities to both enjoy the music and experience the energy of being part of the audience. And if you’ve seen the group perform, you’ll experience a much broader range of emotions than you could by simply listening to a studio track. This broader experience was the goal of “Reflections,” and though it was a noble effort, I don’t think it quite got there.
The first tune, “Queen of Argyll,” is a peppy, catchy one that you could easily find yourself humming at a moments notice – perhaps even becoming one of those pesky tunes you simply can’t get out of your head. The harmonies are very nice, but the lead male vocal seems a bit out of tune and often slides from note to note rather than making crisp transitions. The bodhran, while a nice touch, seems to come through only sporadically, which, for me, was a little bit of an annoyance. I’ll chalk that up to the aforementioned disadvantage of not being in the studio. But also highlighted in this recording is one of the complaints I found myself citing while listening to several numbers in this collection – the high whistle seems just a bit too harsh for my liking. The notes are all there, but there is little attention being paid to control and dynamics. I was reminded of a gentleman who used to play clarinet in a community band I was once in. He played every note, and you could hear every single one and not much else. I think that perhaps a lower-pitched whistle would have blended better with the rest of the instrumentation as well.
“The Osprey/Frailach” is a beautiful tune, and I really enjoyed the blend of cello, fiddle, and dulcimer. The guitar seemed a bit off beat at times and probably wasn’t really necessary, but this piece emphasized what I believe to be the band’s strength, instrumentals. Again, I think the tin whistle would have blended better at a lower pitch, but it was played competently enough.
“Mary of the South Seas” features what I believe to be the superior of the lead singers that are featured throughout the collection. The gentleman singing has a very pleasant voice that I wish had been featured more. The harmonies are once again quite pleasant, and the fiddle arrangement is beautiful.
“Cooley’s Reel” gets the toes tapping, and the group was probably having a great time playing it. And the “Valley of Stathmore” featured more pleasant harmonies, a hummable tune, and very pretty violin background (but I’m still not real fond of that whistle).
“Webb’s Hornpipe/St. Anne’s Reel” is perhaps my favorite selection. I really liked the dulcimer/cello synchronization, and it’s the sort of tune one could do a silly little dance to around the room while laughing and annoying the kids. In other words, you could have a lot of fun with it. The tempo change was very smooth, and the instrumental skill of the players is at the forefront.
“Our Kate” has perhaps the most Irish sound in the collection. The instrumentation overall is quite meditative. In fact, by the reaction of the audience afterward, I’d guess many of them had drifted off to an Irish meadow beside a babbling brook while a flock of sheep grazed on the hillside above. Yes, I’m sure I saw some of them there.
“Black Muddy River” features a female vocal in the lead. While the voice has a pleasant tone, it sounds rather untrained, and the singer struggles to hold the key throughout most of the song. Finally a lower pitched whistle is used, and it blends much better than the higher one featured in most of the tunes. I wish the high one had been the exception throughout.
On “Star of the County Down,” I enjoyed the medieval flavor on a traditional tune. Again, the male lead vocal wasn’t particularly strong, but it’s a fun song.
The collection concludes with another piece featuring a female lead. I can’t tell for sure if this is the same vocalist featured previously, but if it is, this tune seems to suit her much better, as I found the vocalization to be much cleaner and on pitch. In fact, when you consider both the lead and harmonies, this is the strongest vocal piece in the entire collection, and a nice way to end things.
Overall, this is a pleasant-enough collection of songs, but it’s not what one would call traditionally Celtic, nor does it necessarily have a strong Celtic flavor. Perhaps one might classify it more in the American Folk genre, with a bit of Celtic instrumentation thrown in (though much American music has it roots in Celtic music anyway). The groups strengths are in its instrumentals, though some vocalizations are quite promising. The band would be better served by allowing the strongest singers to be featured and reserving the others for harmonies, but that wouldn’t be as much fun for them.
The energy one expects from live recordings isn’t really present here. In fact, it often sounds like the audience is giving polite rather than enthusiastic applause, even on the more upbeat numbers. I think this group would be most appreciated at an event where they weren’t the focus, but where people would stop to listen every so often, then move on to another activity (I’ve been in a number of such groups, and always got a kick out of it regardless). “Reflections” is a pleasant-enough offering, but not one I felt compelled to add to my collection. But if “From The Well” is having fun doing what they’re doing, and their fans enjoy them, then there’s no reason to change. No musical group is going to please everyone.
A personal view of “Reflections,” by “From the Well.”
If you are lucky enough to buy this CD at a live” From The Well concert,” you will be taking home with you exactly what you heard that night, not what the band or the producer would like you to think you heard. Similarly, if you buy and love “Reflections” before seeing “From The Well” live, you will not be disappointed when you do manage to get to a concert: this is an honest recording. It is as if you have been privileged enough to be able to invite four multi-talented musicians into your living room and to spend the evening listening to them play…not to you, or for you, but for their own pleasure and the love of the music. This is what comes across so clearly: these people love what they do. They are friends with each other and they are friends with their audience. They are happy to be where they are, doing what they do, and it shows.
The music they play is alive, and evolving all the time, in the true spirit of folk music. This is not just a live recording but a living one, drawing the audience into the songs and the music, making feet tap, faces smile or tears glisten on cheeks. It transports the listener effortlessly to mountains and bogs and mists, intimate ceilidhs in crofting villages with the scent of peat in the nostrils and curlews calling over the moors. The music is truly Celtic folk music, drawing not just from the usual Irish sources but from Scotland and from the USA itself, where so much Celtic music is played, sung and made uniquely their own.
The CD is well-balanced in its selection of songs and tunes. It is given variety and an element of surprise because it appears that everyone can do everything: one never knows who will be singing lead and who on backup vocals, or which instruments will be used in a particular piece. There are four vocalists, who are also the four instrumentalists, but the selection of instruments includes 2 hammer dulcimers, a violin, a cello, 6 and 12 string guitars, high and low whistles and a bodhran. It is not easy to sort out who is doing what, but it all blends beautifully into a harmonious whole.
This is music to listen to, to sit quietly and dream to, to hum along to and to take home in your head to keep you awake at night. It is not music to be played in a noisy bar, hardly heard over the background hubbub. Take your family, kids to grandparents; share the pleasure that this band finds in making music. Go to a concert, if you can, but if you cannot, the “Reflections” CD will give you a true taste of music “From the Well.”
There’s little more to add in agreement to Ms. Dawe’s comments regarding the CD, “Reflections,” which is offered by the band, “From The Well”, because she speaks so accurately concerning the music, the musicianship, and that which one takes away with them at the end of a performance. I am one of the privileged: I have been in the audience for many of the band’s concerts. Not a mere music concert though; rather, a visit with the family, where cares are laid aside as music transports the audience away, off to some better place; music from the well of human emotions, drawing deeply from life experiences, both of the band and audience, each their own. The music is genuine, untouched, unenhanced through technology. It is as honest as our ancestors’ music, who coming out of the field from plowing in the evening, would gather to sing together as a family, singing with joy, singing unconcerned with perfection, breathlessly exuberant with the love of their music. The music invites all to participate.
Place the CD into the player, close your eyes, and visit with the family. Remember the anecdotes offered between the songs and tunes, smile as you think of the “Argyll’ and “Bodhran” jokes retold, akin to family stories which are shared when extended family gathers, which every frequent audience member anxiously await in each performance (unfortunately excluded from the CD). See in your mind’s eye how skillfully, in each song, a fiddle can be set down and dulcimer mallets appear, or, how swiftly dulcimer mallets are silenced and whistles appear from one’s back pocket of trousers. See how musicians craft their music, taking cues from each other through smiles, a wink or a laugh or two. See, as father encourages daughter, and friends together, play and sing with all their heart. Remember your experience, through this live and living CD.
This is family music. As you listen, see the spontaneity of children in the audiences who clap and jig and play imaginary whistles. See the seasoned, yet young at heart, as they close their eyes to reflect on the music they hear. Hear the quiet sigh, see the glisten in the eye; this is music very well received, with refinement and out of respect to the venue. Don’t expect boisterous, thunderous, whooping applause on the CD. The gentle people who skillfully perform here attract audiences of a different character and consciousness – the hard working, reflective sort, uninterested in barrooms and dance halls. This is a band who seeks (and audiences who choose) to pass on a musical legacy to their young and generations to come. American. Celtic. Folk. Innovative and captivating music, drawn From The Well.
I wouldn’t call myself a musician. I love music, but five years each of piano lessons and choral singing, a lot of radio listening, and attending the occasional concert or festival doesn’t really provide much to hang one’s guitar on.
But I thoroughly enjoyed From The Well Band’s “Reflections” at least as much as I enjoyed two of their concerts. The band’s playing is sincere, easy to listen to, and all its members obviously enjoy trying to charm artistic performances out of their instruments and voices as they bring their music to us. At this they succeed admirably. Some of the tracks affect me more than others; some of them sound somehow different from the way I remember hearing them in person.
I do know how difficult it is to synchronize the time, consciousness, energy, and talent of just one person, let alone several, to strive for perfection in anything. (A friend in another field likened this to a team compressing a spring.) Perfection requires a great deal of dedication and, with or without the wonders of electronics, the lavish expenditure of time, one of the universe’s rarest and most costly elements. Everybody already knows this, more or less. But as somebody who has always walked with one foot on the road and one in the creek, I’d like to emphasize something that tends to be easily forgotten.
Music is comfort food for the soul. Introducing a new kind of music, gently, will expand the listener’s consciousness and ability to assimilate the music and begin to feel parallels and connections between life, experience, and the music. Yes, there is an element of teaching involved. Most people have heard Auld Lang Syne, or Danny Boy, but if that is the extent of their knowledge of Celtic or British Isles folk music, Steeleye Span or the Strawbs may not be the best next step. You’d want to walk them past a meadow, a couple of ancient stone walls, and some sheep well before arriving at the alehouse.
This is a role into which From the Well Band plays admirably. From the Well Band is led by Bill Stine, a music teacher of long experience and a perfectionist. The band is improving constantly, and expanding its repertoire. People, including many “new” people, come to the concerts and leave happy after the last chord. The promoters book them again, far into the future. To paraphrase Rachael Ray, “How great is that?”
It’s so easy these days to be jaded by the unrelenting assault of various digital forms of vapid, commercial music. Then an independent recording appears and rescues our sensibilities. This is the case with recording Reflections by the ensemble From The Well.
This recording is particularly excellent because it is a risk-taker. Nothing is more difficult to manage from a performer’s or an engineer’s perspective than presenting and capturing a live performance that will become a recording for distribution to the public. The refreshing, risk-taking point about Reflections is that the listener is not subjected to engineer trickery intended to disguise the truth of the music. This band took risks. They should be applauded for their integrity and courage. The audio quality is stunning. The musicianship is a faithful capture of a live experience with From The Well. This recording is marked by its honesty, ingenuity, and belief in the music. These musicians know their trade and present their music convincingly.
One of the joys of listening to recordings of traditional music is hearing how artists interpret well-know songs and tunes. Tracks such as Star of the County Down, Cooley’s Reel and St. Anne’s Reel on Reflections give the listener the opportunity to hear melodies freshly packaged with original orchestration and arrangements. The mix of whistle, hammer dulcimer, guitar, cello and violin deliver a marvelous listening experience. This is not to short change the vocal work. Caledonia is especially wonderful track.
If you seek something other than the predictable, over-compressed, insipid hum-drum delivered by large music corporations, you can do no better than settling down to a thoughtful and pleasant listening session with Reflections by From The Well.