CHERISH THE LADIES

Composed entirely of women, the group has seen a pleiad of female musicians from Liz Carroll to Eileen Ivers, Winifred Horan to Liz Knowles. Thirty-four years later, since their first concert dates back to January 1985, the ladies have released their eighteenth album Heart of The Home. Their leader, flutist Joanie Madden, divides her time and heart between the Bronx in New York and Miltown Malbay in Co. Clare. Irish-American with origins in eastern Galway County, she has been leading her group brilliantly for all these years.

Another album where there are many guests, so many musicians - N. Casey, T. Hutchinson, D. Gough, P. McKinney, as singers - K. Purcell, N. Carter, M. O'Riordan, D. Stiffe or the Ennis Sisters. The album begins with a composition by Joanie a tribute to her father, The Portumna Workhouse, a town from which he came. The Workhouses of sinister memory were large prison-type buildings where the poorest came as a family, from the years of the Great Famine until the early 1920s. The title song of the album was written by the Scot Andy M. Stewart (Silly Wizard) and is beautifully performed by Liverpool singer Nathan Carter. A total of fourteen songs, traditional or composed by the band members, alternate: reels, jigs, marches or hornpipes and five songs. More than one hour of cheerful and lively music. These women are equal to men. But who would still doubt that?

Big Mammy Records 009 - www.cherishtheladies.com