Artist: Two Men In Skirts
Album: The Music Of Scotland
Year produced: 2009

This is a very different album! I felt like I was at a musical about the Scots since the voice of Baritone Gaitley Stevenson-Mathews has such an operatic quality. In fact, there is an opera background there when you look at his history, so really it should come as no surprise. Even so, not too many artists in this genre hail from such a formal training ground when it comes to singing.

The vocals are backed by Pianist Jim Stevenson-Mathews, and the combination is a good one. Simple, yet quite entertaining. It just goes to show you that you don’t need a million instruments and compex arrangements to have a good CD. Sometimes less is more, and this is a perfect example.

The CD is a mixture of traditional tunes and other favorites. Anyone who loves to go and see live musical shows and who is into Scottish music and culture will no doubt find this one of their favorite albums of all time. Tracks such as “My Love is Like a Red Red Rose” and “Loch Lomond” show off how well the duo can infuse emotion into the songs, but there is a lively streak as well, with songs such as “Wee Deoch ‘an Doris” adding a bit of punch to the mix.

Catherine L. Tully specializes in writing about the arts, lifestyle and travel. She is the Owner of 4dancers, a blog for those who love dance, and Editor for Freelance-Zone, an award-winning site for freelance writers. Catherine also reviews music for Celtic MP3s Music Magazine.