now playing: Nuala Kennedy

Nuala Kennedy
The New Shoes

County Louth in Ireland bills itself as the Land of Legends, referring to the geographic sites of NewGrange, Monasterboice, the Cooley Peninsula, and other landscapes from myth. It also sometimes appropriates that idea to include the fact that it’s the birth place of The Corrs, international pop music superstars who grew up in Dundalk. Nuala Kennedy is from Dundalk, too, and though her path has been in traditional music rather than pop, she’s just about on her way toward claiming a spot among those legends . An inventive and creative composer, an excellent flute player and a fine singer, Kennedy, who's now based in Scotland, has the chops, and she’s also got the imagination to take trad in new and lively directions while staying true to its essence. Highlands and Islands, A Bhean Ud Thos, and a set of Hop Jigs are good places to start listening here. Look out for the hidden track, a live bit of high flying fun.

Learn more about The New Shoes at Nuala Kennedy's Bandcamp page.