Paul Meehan already has an impressive CV: North Cregg, Karan Casey Band, Na Dorsa and Lúnasa are among his achievements. The Lower Road is his first solo album.
These ten instrumental tracks are mostly up-tempo and predominantly traditional. There’s a lot of overdubbing as Paul plays guitar, banjo, mandolin and bass but Paul has support in the shape of producer Martin Leahy and button accordionist Sheila Smith. For an idea of what a Paul Meehan band might sound like there’s the stately ‘Valse’ in which the trio are joined by the flute of Martin Meehan (“Our Marty”) and everyone plays just one instrument.
That Paul is a special talent is immediately apparent. Frequently he pairs flat-picked banjo with a rich, warm guitar sound but on ‘St. Vincente’ he encompasses a variety of guitar styles and for ‘Ancient Rite’ he switches to finger-picked nylon strung guitars. For the final track, ‘Sheila On The Segway’, he plays a swing guitar style underpinned by banjo while Leahy backs him up with bass, harmonium and drums.
On first hearing, particularly of the traditional sets, I wondered who the fiddle player was – there isn’t a fiddle! I suppose it’s the combination of Sheila’s accordion with Paul’s strings that sounds that way. The Lower Road is a really nice album that will lift the spirits during the grey days of summer.
Dai Jeffries
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