McCALMANS – The Greentrax Years (Greentrax Recordings CDTRAX350)

My first encounter with The Macs was around thirty years ago at the Cambridge Folk Festival. I remember being mightily impressed by their vocal wall of sound and still am to this day. These were strident vocals employing a passion overlooked by so many artists these days (even though I still have a bit of difficulty understanding some of the more heavy Scottish dialect) and were/are the band’s trademark to this day. Never sounding happier than when it came to presenting bawdy drinking songs such as Andy M Stewart’s wonderful “Ramblin’ Rover” they certainly know how to engage and most importantly entertain their audience. Whether it be roaring out shanties (”Highland Laddie/Roll The Woodpile Down/A hundred Years Ago”), dipping into established favourites including “Both Sides The Tweed” and “Yankee Boots” or on a more reflective note utilising the band’s own finely crafted songs such as Ian McCalman’s “From Greenland” and you have a well rounded package. As a snapshot (46 songs on a double disk) this is a veritable smorgasbord of the band’s involvement with Greentrax Recordings and I hope will be a collaboration that continues for while longer. Stop Press: I’ve just discovered that the band will finally retire at the end of 2010 so, all the more reason for purchasing a real slice of ‘folk’ history!

PETE FYFE


We all give our spare time to run folking.com. Our aim has always been to keep folking a free service for our visitors, artists, PR agencies and tour promoters. If you wish help out and donate something (running costs currently funded by Paul Miles), please click the PayPal link below to send us a small one off payment or a monthly contribution.