On April 13, 2020, about four weeks into the initial Covid lockdown, when the news cycles still seemed entirely surreal and vaccines against the virus were still distant dreams, Lucy MacNeil, best known as a member of the iconic Cape Breton band The Barra MacNeils, posted a video of herself singing the David Mallett song “Hope for One and All,” accompanied by her husband Robert Durando on mandolin. It was the perfect song, and the perfect voice for that moment in time, and it received a heart-full response on Facebook. MacNeil went on to record the song as a single, and it is also the first track of her debut solo record Angels Whisper (2024).
I had the opportunity to hear MacNeil sing and play many of the songs from the album on Wednesday evening at The Carleton in Halifax as part of the Halifax Urban Folk Festival (HUFF), a festival that I never seem to have time to immerse myself in the way I would like to, but which continues in venues all over the city until October 6th. MacNeil is continuing with her tour as well: on October 5th she is at the Marigold Cultural Centre in Truro, Nova Scotia, and on October 6th she plays at the Old Orchard Inn in Wolfville, Nova Scotia.
The Barra MacNeils hail from Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia and Lucy MacNeil has been performing with at least three of her five brothers since she was a teenager. The band was formed in 1980, and since then they have released seventeen albums, toured across the country and beyond extensively, and have won both Juno and East Coast Music Awards. To step out as a solo artist now after having such an iconic career with her family members is no small feat. She continues to have some familial support, both in the making of Angels Whisper, which is produced by her brother Stewart, and in her show at the Carleton. Both Stewart and brother Boyd MacNeil play on the album, and a tune written by brother Ryan MacNeil is featured. Lucy’s husband Rob Durando also plays on the album, and Lucy’s daughters, Kenna and Amelia MacDougall provide backup vocals. On Wednesday evening Lucy was joined by Rob, Boyd, and Lisa MacArthur. But, still, in many ways, to borrow from Rita MacNeil Lucy now is “flying on her own.”
Lucy MacNeil is an impressive multi-instrumentalist. We were treated not just to her singing, but also to her fiddle, harp, and bodhrán playing. The first song she sang was a traditional one made famous by Tríona Ni Dhomhnaill from The Bothy Band when it was included on their debut album back in 1975. The lyrics sound at times remarkably contemporary, such as when the long-married narrator sings “Before I got married I wore a black shawl/ but since I got married I wear bugger all.” It seems to be a meditation on how long-lasting love can become ordinary, like apples and pears, but you can hear in the richness of MacNeil’s voice how deep the love and devotion is still there.
MacNeil’s next song “Radio Sweethearts,” (John McCusker and John Miller) a lush waltz with beautiful fiddle playing, is thematically similar, conjuring imagery of an older couple in a more contemporary time, still dancing to the waltzes on the radio like they did when they were kids together. MacNeil’s voice complements the fullness of the fiddle so seamlessly, you just want to fall into both like they’re a thick velvet cushion.
The haunting title track “Angels Whisper” comes from a sweet poem written by Samuel Lover published in 1835 with a melody by Sean Tyrell, with arrangement by Lucy and Stewart MacNeil. It is a mixture of a lullaby and a shanty about a fisherman potentially lost at sea, both genres that Lucy’s voice is a natural fit for bringing to heartfelt life.
She brought out her harp to sing the traditional folk song “Fair and Tender Ladies” and William Butler Yeats’ famous “Sally Gardens”, both also on her album. The harp inherently brings a sense of transcendence to both songs, as though we are summing our ancestors from a far-away land and time. There are also three instrumentals on Angels Whisper: “The Amber Mandolin Set”, “Starlings on the Roof set”, and “Moments We Remember”, which all feature lovely original fiddle tunes by Lucy.
Her set at the Carleton also included a number of other songs and tunes that aren’t on the album, including a song she wrote for her dog called “Luka Dubh” (or Black Luka), which is an ideal sing along song celebrating the wonders and the shenanigans inherent to dog ownership. The chorus begins, “I know when the mailman comes and when a stranger calls,” which most people with a dog can ardently relate to. I also really loved hearing her rendition of Rita MacNeil’s “Part of the Mystery” and the traditional Scottish folk song “Lizzie Lindsay,” which suits her voice so perfectly.
We have come a long way from April, 2020, but we still live in a world that feels precarious and at times even ominous and so there is still such a need to have music that allows us to feel comfort, to find solace in the small things, and as MacNeil sings with such gorgeous clarity, “If the winter grass turns April-green when the rain begins to fall/if there’s water flowing from the stream/there’s hope for one and all.”
You can find Angels Whisper on Spotify and Apple Music, or wherever else you get your music. You can find more information about Lucy’s upcoming shows on her website, and you can find more information about the Halifax Urban Folk Festival on their website. As always, check out what’s coming up at The Carleton here.
Support live music, and local musicians whenever you can: they make this province literally sing.
