On the old Country classic

On the old Country classic “The Black Hills of Dakota” her father-in-law, Michael Farrell, from Australia joins her on the backing vocals. “My in laws are a very musical family, (especially when it comes to harmonies) and they are from a little, very Irish town called Boorowa in New South Wales, Australia,” says Andrea. Her husband Rhys is from this town in Australia which has a huge number of Irish names among its population and Rhys has been trying to find his Farrell roots in Tipperary. While his Dad was here for Christmas 2007 he put down the backing vocals on this song, which is a bit like bringing it all back home, as no doubt his ancestors sailed away centuries ago on a ship similar to the one Andrea sings about in “The Fields of Athenry”. “Michael is a gifted musician and he played the bass and sang for years with a band called The Shades,” says Andrea. Andrea spent over a year in her husband’s homeland and while in Australia she and her young brother Alan sang and played at singsongs in the land down under. Apart from singing Andrea is a talented musician and she played the violin while Alan, who is a multi-instrumentalist, was in demand for his mandolin playing while in Australia. Indeed one can hear the Bluegrass influences of their Dad Sean Walsh on the track “I Saw the Light”. Sean is on harmony vocals on ‘Goodnight Irene’ which was once covered by the Chieftains and Ricky Scaggs. Andrea also has a nice rendition of the old Dolly Parton hit ‘If Teardrops were Pennies’ on this album. “Keep on the Sunnyside” boasts a nice lively toe-tappin’ arrangement and shades of the singing style of some of her favourite singers such as Mary Black and Alison Krauss come through on this and some of the other tracks. While travelling around Australia she became a fan of Troy Casser-Daly. (He is a big new young Country star in the land down under singing songs about being on the road such as “Down that Road Before” and “Sing about this Country”). Watch him emulate the success of another Aussie, Keith Urban, who is also a favourite of Andrea Walsh. Andrea’s album is a confluence for all those influences so put “Say it Again”’ by this Galway girl on your CD player and play it again and again…and again!
By, Tom Gilmore. (‘Tuam Herald’ and Galway Bay FM)