From Austria,
Roadie Rowdy Piper Band is a group who specializes in traditional music from Scotland and Ireland. Helping to authenticate their music is Irishman Brian O'Shea, who plays banjo, mandolin, and bouzouki, and sings as well. However, the remaining bandmembers are also well-schooled in traditional Celtic music. Stephan Steiner (
Hotel Palindrone) plays fiddle and hurdy-gurdy, and although his fiddle style exhibits slight traces of indigenous influences, it also adds to the zest of their music. Vocalist and acoustic guitarist Mario Prinz is quite convincing, as is multi-instrumentalist Xandi Tichy, who contributes accordion, whistles, and Highland pipes. A few original pieces are included on this album, but as refreshing as those new songs are, the traditional tunes here are not the predictable trad numbers that litter the disc space of most traditional Celtic albums.
Roadie Rowdy Piper Band did an admirable job of seeking out uncelebrated yet entirely complementary material for this recording.