Bohola at Sattala – Friday, April 30, 2004
by Alice Farrell afarrell@jigtime.com

I was eagerly awaiting this evening, as for many years I was a fan of a celtic rock band from Chicago, The Drovers, which was driven largely by the fiery fiddle of native Chicagoan Sean Cleland . So, I was overjoyed when I learned that Sean was now one fourth of the Chicago trad band Bohola which blew into town promoting their new album Bohola 4 (Shanachie Records). Of course he's shed the earring and blue hair of his Drover's days, but not the rich harmonics and intricate rhythms that helped create the unique sound that was a great hit around here in the early 1990s. I had spent the past few days getting acquainted with their sound, and I'm happy to say that many of the stylistic elements that excited me about the Drovers are evident in the vibrant music that Bohola provided this evening, not to mention all out wonderful trad, played with incredible spirit and beauty.

Starting off with 3 jigs all collected in Chicago, The Ship in Full Sail, the Bohola Jig and a tune collected by Frances O'Neill,The Irishman's Heart to the Ladies, they started off slowly and then gradually began to wind things up to a fever pitch with the fleet fingerwork of both Sean on the fiddle and Jimmy Keane on the piano accordion.

They followed with the introduction of their newest member, singer Kat Eggleston on the stirring Ewan MacColl song Go, Move, Shift this began a long set, that included a spoken word piece, with a rocked up feel for the song. The vocals then shifted to guitarist Pat Broaders , who added a nice piece of lilting on the before launching into two full on reels, The Peacock's Feather and McFaddens Hamsome Daughter.

Now it was the audience's turn to join in singing, on a song learned from their friend Mick Moloney, who just happened to be in attendance, Green Grows the Laurel and then launched into a set from the album which featured Kat again on the song London So Fair, sandwiched nicely between the set dance Queen of the Fairies and Porthole of the Kelp . A beguiling set which mirrors the rolling of a boat on the sea with the waves of rhythm floating under the lithesome tones of Kat's beautiful voice.

They finished off the evening with another long set, starting off with the song Jolly Ploughboy from the album, with Pat on vocals, a song in march time learned from the singing of the great Dublin song collector Frank Harte , and very apropos given the situation that the U.S. currently finds itself in, paying tribute to the men going off to war, and the women left behind to keep the fort.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening, which would have been even better had the sound in the venue been a bit better, but they didn't seem to mind, nor did the audience, and it gave an excellent taste of the fare available on the album, which I highly recommend as an essential addition to any collection, especially for those interested in spirited marches, great songs and flashy fiddle and accordion work. For more information check out their website at www.bohola.com

For those of you in the New York area, make sure not to miss Niamh Parsons at Satalla on Tuesday May 11 th at 7:30pm ( www.satalla.com ) and look for that review next week. Until then Happy Mother's Day, and buy your mom a copy of Bohola 4 or catch them at a venue near you!