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Artist: Darragh McGann
Album: A New Beginning
Darragh McGann, who’s made a name for himself as The Singing Taxi Driver, offers a collection of crossover classics on his first solo album, A New Beginning. The album occupies a point on the Celtic music spectrum near that of, say, Celtic Woman (minus Máiréad Nesbitt’s frenetic fiddle work) or The Irish Tenors—with an emphasis on strong vocals and dense musical accompaniment, though McGann does best when singing with spare adornment, as on “Sally Gardens.”
Possessing a rich baritone voice that can call to mind Roger Whittaker, McGann has chosen a wide range of material, from John Denver’s plaintive “For You” to Jimmy McCarthy’s wistful “The Contender”. His version of “Blowing in the Wind” owes as much to The Eagles’ “Peaceful Easy Feeling” as it does to Bob Dylan. Though covers dominate the album, McGann contributes two original songs, which he wrote. One of them—”Make a Wish”—was released as a single to benefit the charity GOAL.
Two songs that weren’t included on the album but which can be heard on his Web site ably showcase McGann’s talents: a powerful rendition of “Bring Him Home” from Les Miserables and the obligatory “Danny Boy.” Songs such as those clearly hit his sweet spot. And while the tracks on A New Beginning occasionally take him outside his comfort zone, he consistently delivers easy listening pleasure.
Walt Campbell is an avid listener of Celtic music and an occasional performer. A former journalist and technical writer, he now writes mostly for fun and is much happier that way. Walt also writes reviews for Marc Gunn’s Celtic MP3s Music Magazine.
