Bohola

AMG Review of Bohola

Zac Johnson
All Music Guide

Chicago-based raditional Irish supergroup Bohola rips through an hour of driving jigs, reels, and marches on their self-titled debut. Fiddler Sean Cleland (founder of the Drovers), dordan player and occasional vocalist Pat Broaders (who studied under Bothy Band legend Donnal Lunny), and award-winning accordionist Jimmy Keane perform terrific medleys of traditional songs, arranging and interpreting them in innovative but faithful ways. While Broaders' voice is quite pleasing, the real burners are the instrumental passages which often accelerate to a blistering pace, with each musician pushing the others to see who will crack first. Amazingly, none of them ever do.