Liz Carroll and John Doyle – The Washington Square United Methodist Church – Friday January 9th, 2004 By Alice Farrell in New York email afarrell@jigtime.com

On one of the coldest evenings yet this winter, the new home of the Blarney Star Concert series welcomed the fiery fiddle and guitar virtuosity of Liz Carroll and John Doyle. Despite the chilly temperature and biting wind, the church was packed with music lovers coming out to hear an inspiring evening of music.

The chill in the air did wreak havoc with Liz' fingers and John's strings, but they soldiered on and gave a wonderful show full of roaring reels and plaintive airs. Their styles are wonderfully suited to each other with jazzy undertones and quirky syncopation that infuses many of Liz' original tunes with an air of fun and whimsy.

Highlights of the show included John performing the song “A Miner's Life” which he popularized while a member of trad supergroup Solas and Liz' moving interpretation of John's southern flavored waltz. And probably the funniest moment of the evening, in their final set of the first half, when they launched from Liz' tune “Up All Night” into “Pigeon at the Gate”, John broke his second string of the evening and Liz slowed her playing down to allow him enough time to restring and jump back in, hardly missing a beat.

In memory of her friend and colleague Johnny Cunningham Liz played her lyrical strathspey “The Didda” followed by “The Flying Dodger” (both from her Lost in the Loop CD), a beautiful tribute to the influence that his playing has had on her own.

Interspersed throughout the show were wonderful snippets of Liz' life, which always make me feel as though I've come to a concert in her living room rather than a concert hall

John took a moment or two in the second half to showcase his amazing finger picking on the tunes “The Old Bush" and “Expect the Unexpected” which was certainly that, with Liz joining in on what became a lovely web of twists and turns of rhythm and harmonics.

Joining them at the end of the show was surprise guest, Donegal fiddler Dermot Mclaughlin, who borrowed a fiddle from NY fiddler Dana Lynn, for a rousing rendition of "The Blackbird". To finish off Dana Lynn joined them and Liz jumped down off the stage to bring up Rosie Newton (daughter of the renowned Scots cellist Abbey Newton) for a foot stomping version of “The Sligo Maid” rounding out a great evening.

John and Liz continue on tour around the U.S. and their show is definitely one to add to your calendar when they hit a city near you!