I saw this CD the other day in my local Borders. It looks like something I should own but I don’t know anything about it.
Can anyone give me some information? Is it good bad or indifferent?
I also bought Chieftains 8 which I like very much.
Ron
It’s got a few awesome tracks, a few more solid tracks, and a few tracks that are pleasant nothings. Possibly worth owning just to have a copy of track 5.
I think it’s very competently played but lacking in spark. I’m not sorry I purchased it because I got a clear picture of what low whistle could do listening to it, but it will never be a favourite for listening.
Hi Ron,
If you go to Barnes and Noble online you can listen to clips of all the tracks. Amazon has clips, too, but they often have less available.
Joe McKenna:
http://music.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?userid=9c4RXNi9NP&ean=16351784322
Hope this helps.
Peace,
Fran
Thanks for the comments and the clip source. Now all I have to do is decide whether I want to buy it. I think I will buy Feadoga Stain 1 and 2 first.
Ron
Feadoga Stain 1 & 2 - Excellent choice. I love them both.
Happy listening and whistling!
Peace,
Fran
Btw Ron, I grew up in Maryland - Pasadena/Glen Burnie area.
And oh how I miss the seafood… And I am in permenant withdrawal for steamed crabs here in CT. 
Peace,
Fran
Fran I lived in Newport RI for about 7 years. The only thing they had there was lobsters. Within 2 years we got so we wouldn’t eat them unless somebody gave some to us. We haven’t had one since we moved back in 1987. Crabs are running about $100 a bushel this year. My wife makes the best crab cakes when I can get her to do it. I also like our good old Chincoteague oysters, raw or fried.
Ron
I was searching a couple of months back and saw this thread about the Joe McKenna album. I don’t have it and probably held off because I read a couple of so- so or not too favorable reviews of it. What prompted me to reply more than that though was that I see now that amazon seems to be including snips of every track on albums now instead of just 3 or 4 as they had been doing. mike —Who knows with reviews; one guy gives it thumbs up, the other thumbs down. I don’t mean to critisize the album because I haven’t heard it. 
Hi all,
Sorry, I don’t have it either, but have listened to clips of the tunes, and it’s not on my wish list. But, to each his own.
My main reason for responding to the post is to recommend Towerrecords.com for giving clips of every of tune on a cd also. Sometimes one retailer won’t have a cd, and another will. Always good to have more than one or two references available in case you run into that problem of finding the cd to listen to.
Be sure to doublecheck cdbaby.com. Everything in CDBaby also lists in Tower Records, but it’s more expensive there (CDBaby’s price + Tower’s cut).
g
None of the tunes go anywhere. Drives me nuts. But I did learn Contentment is Wealth/Mooncoin off it, on my Overton A. 
Absolutely! I have the Joe McKenna CD and both Mary Bergin CD’s. McKenna’s is OK but Mary’s are must haves. BTW isn’t Joe McKenna Mary Bergin’s brother-in-law?
Mike
Yes, he’s married to Antoinette, who is Mary’s sister. Mary and Antoinette appear on his Low Whistle CD.
Personally, I prefer Joe’s piping to his whistle playing. You can sure tell which one is Mary and which one is Joe on the duets. But, then again, I am probably biased, as I am a big fan of Mary.
Obviously I’m only guessing, but this CD has all the hallmarks of niche marketing. It seems to me as though someone noticed that low whistles were growing in popularity and thought: a CD with that phrase in the title will sell heaps. (That’s why I bought it; I was playing low whistle and wanted to hear a CD with a lot of low whistling on it.)
They seem to me to be just going through the motions. I don’t get any sense that the musicians had an artistic vision driving this project.
Given that low whistle doesn’t really figure in pure drop recordings, I’d recommend that people who want to hear sustained bursts of low whistle in a more interesting setting get the first two Solas Albums.