Rua – The Ladies in Red to bite the Big Apple

At last Rua are on their way to America. The ladies arrive for a very short visit to America but one they hope will show a new American audience just what they are made of. The show is on Tuesday November 23rd at Satalla, a favorite venue for JigTime reviewers and readers alike. So check out the website (http://www.satalla.com) for ticket details and other great bands and performers coming your way over the holiday season.
If you one of those who have no idea who Rua are then have a read of this review of mine from way back when I first got hold of their DreamTeller CD.

Rua - Dreamteller - by John Cutliffe
You might be forgiven for thinking that some reviewers could be swayed by a couple of beautiful Irish redheads playing a few tunes. Not me. If the music wasn't good I resolved to hide the album away despite the fact that the artwork was wonderful, the photography was professional and the band were extremely glamorous. There had to be a catch. I had already checked out the website before the CD arrived in the mail and saw that there were great design standards at work and that at least in presentation this duo from Ireland knew what they were doing.

But that's just it. Rua are more than a duo. The band are Liz Madden and Gloria Mulhall in the musical sense but they also have Eileen France on board to create the beautiful imagery and style that is such a big part of Rua. Of course all this presentation is nothing if the musical talent is not there to back it up, unless of course you are a contestant on American Idol or its UK counterpart Pop Idol.

So on a sunny Sunday afternoon I had a first listen to their album Dream-Teller. I was not disappointed. The album is a collection of songs and tunes, some original some now classics in Irish folk music. The first track is Jimmy McCarthy's Ride On, often recorded and often ruined. Here it is played beautifully and I felt that Jimmy would like this version of the tune with this arrangement. Another popular standard covered on the CD is Black is the Colour, again often over played but Rua manage to make it sound fresh. The whole affair is a very gentle meander through lush arrangements with the piano and violin leading the way in most and Liz's vocals carrying the songs easily throughout.

People have described them as sounding like Moya meets Sarah Brightman or even Enya meets Puccini but there is more here than that. In one tune you are being swept through the vivid imagination of Jimmy McCarthy and then suddenly you are dancing like a fiddler on the roof to Klezmer.

Then after all this they manage to get me to feel a great pang of homesickness when Gabriel Byrne narrates a poem by W.B Yeats to Rua's sweeping and beautiful arrangement. I don't get that longing often and I was glad I was alone to enjoy it.

Rua may be a little sweet for some tastes or a little polished for others but I know for most of you out there Rua's Dream-Teller is a perfect gift for someone special or just to have playing during a quiet dinner party or while reading a romantic novel.

Check out their gorgeous website too

It's at

http://www.ruaworld.com

Now where did my wife hide the CD cover?