Net Rhythms Review

Mary Kathleen Burke - A Song In Her Heart (Greentrax)

Co. Derry-born but now residing in Scotland, Mary has been singing from an early age, and yet amazingly, this (a self-produced EP aside) is her debut recording. Although she plays guitar and keyboards outside of this album, the objective of said CD is to showcase Mary's vocal talent, which is considerable. Forthright, passionate and confident in tone, Mary is always sure of where she's taking a song, and she never leaves you in any doubt about her commitment to the songs and how much they mean to her.

As a collection of such songs, it's a convincing mix of recent (and mostly acknowledged classic) compositions and adaptations of traditional material, and she sings them all well and with an attractive sense of affectionate nostalgia. Especially successful, I thought, were Mary's versions of the two Frankie Hepburn songs (James and Trust), a heartfelt The Home I Left Behind, the Kate Rusby-originated (I Wonder What Is Keeping) My True Love, and her nicely-observed cover of A Woman's Heart (a hard act to follow indeed). Mary's is much the accessible contemporary-popular-folk approach: the radio-playlist-friendly mode of which is certainly very appealing, eminently tasteful rather than cutting-edge - and nothing wrong with that.

As far as I'm concerned, the musical settings here almost deserve equal billing, for they shine and surround Mary's voice with (for the most part) a restrained and yet powerful blend of acoustic instrumentation, principally based around a guitar part which is gently augmented by a further guitar line, with keyboard, flute, whistle, cello and fiddle embellishments that are perfectly judged for both the song and the singer.

The supporting cast is of uniformly high calibre, and includes fiddlers Chuck Fleming and Alastair McCulloch, accordionist Gordon McCulloch, and producer David McNee (guitars, bouzouki, piano etc.). Perhaps on some tracks Mary's professed desire to keep things simple is contradicted by the abundant richness of the settings, but if you warm to Mary's style (as I quickly did) then you'll find this less of a drawback, for her accomplishment is a real virtue. The recording - although originating at different sessions in London and Glasgow - enjoys a fine uniformity of sound, glossy but not overly so and with a keen eye for crispness of internal detailing that puts it in the classier bracket straightaway.

www.greentrax.com

David Kidman March 2008

Another excellent review on netrythms.co.uk

http://www.netrhythms.co.uk/reviews.htmlmaryk

Singer-songwriter-Guitarist-recording artist & Radio Presenter

Website Designed and maintained By Mary Kathleen Burke

Buy The Debut Album now ! " A song in her heart" online at www.greentrax.com and in all good music shops online and offline worldwide. Get yours today and support Mary's Music