Irish Pirate Ballads and Other Songs of the Sea

Dan Milner & Guest Artists SFW40553

Pirates, shanghaiers, slavers, and smugglers are just some of the central characters in this album of lusty, authentic maritime songs; others are ardent patriots, hard-pressed immigrants, and weathered sailors sheltering in the taverns of the seven seas. All are midway between some dicey spot in life and an uncertain future. Their compelling stories of bold adventure are excitingly re-told here by an all-star crew of Irish singers and musicians led by vocalist/author Dan Milner.

Featuring an impressive array of guest musicians and singers, including Joanie Madden of Cherish the Ladies, John Doyle of Solas, Tim Collins of the renowned Kilfenora Ceili Band, All-Ireland champion fiddler Brian Conway, Robbie O'Connell and Susan McKeown, Irish Pirate Ballads captures centuries of tradition and the revelry, mischief, tales of love and caution that characterize nautical life.

Milner "really gets inside a song and brings it alive," writes New York University professor Mick Moloney, who also appears on the album. "It's impossible not to be drawn in by the imagery of these songs and the absorbing stories they tell of memorable rakes, adventurers and scoundrels."

40 page booklet, 13 tracks, 58 Minutes.
Year of Recording 2009
Record Label Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
Source Archive Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
Credits Produced by Dan Milner ; Mixed by Dan Milner ; Recorded by Gabriel Donohue ; Mastered by Gabriel Donohue ; Liner Notes by Dan Milner ; Liner Notes by Mick Moloney