PUBLICITY - SANASACHD
Review of MacGregor, Brechin & Ó hEadhra live at Celtic Connections 2010
by Oak and Thorn Celtic Music on KZYX&Z
KZYX&Z listeners have already heard some of Bruce MacGregor’s incredible fiddle work. “The Highlander’s Revenge” is one of Tim’s favorites, and he’s played it many times to infect all of you with that musical earworm. Tonight, we got the hysterical story behind the writing of the tune. Tune into the show on the 14th and you might just get to hear the tale. While you’ve mostly heard MacGregor’s solo work, he’s also a part of Blazin’ Fiddles and Cliar, and tonight he teamed up with two other talents in their self-named trio MacGregor, Brechin & Ó hEadhra to provide a set that was equal parts laughter and music.
Stuck in the middle, Brian Ó hEadhra had the possibly unenviable task of playing straight man to MacGregor and accordionist Sandy Brechin. It seemed that whenever the others started to get into too much trouble with their jokes and hysterical shaggy dog tales, Ó hEadhra’s job was to start singing. His warm voice brought the show back to music…for at least the length of the song. A highlight of the evening was a Gaelic song he wrote for his wife, “My Girl from the Island,” which he tried to get the crowd to sing the chorus. The Gaelic was too much for us, so he settled for “La-la”s.
Sandy Brechin is another talent KZYX&Z listeners have heard as a member of Burach. If he wasn’t a full-time musician, he ought to be a comedian. But his accordion playing was surprisingly delicate, as he and MacGregor wove in and out of the melodies, each giving space for the other. This was three top-notch musicians enjoying what they do, and putting on a great show while doing it. A memorable night.