This is an excerpt from the print edition of Dirty Linen Magazine #97 (December 2001/January 2002). The magazine is available on newsstands and by subscription.

The Reel World
by Tom Nelligan

It seems to be sadly rare these days to find new bands in the Celtic pop-rock crossover genre that include a gifted songwriter. For every Great Big Sea or Paperboys, whose original songs stand up to repeated listening, there are probably a dozen groups out there whose self-penned tracks are immediately forgettable, but who nonetheless feel the need to inflict them on the world.

So it was nice to encounter the Florida quintet Celtic Soul, who definitely fall into the former category. Its CD Wee Blue Man [self-produced CS 0002 (2001)] has catchy, uptempo original songs that ride on fiddle and whistle breaks, strong arrangements of traditional songs like a rocking "Rocks of Bawn," a percussive take on "She Moves Through the Fair," and hot fiddle-based instrumentals, all with keyboard, guitar, drum, and bass backing. The originals are primarily the work of lead singer Jana Light, who sounds like a breathier Joan Osborne, and fiddler Sandy Herrault blazes through the instrumentals with taste and skill. And it's all tightly performed and crisply mixed.

There are eight more artists discussed in this column from Dirty Linen #97 (Dec. '01/Jan. '02). Read the full text in the magazine, available via subscription or on newsstands and in bookstores.