Irish Times, Dublin, Ireland
June 9, 2006
DAN POSSUMATO
Land of Sunshine Claddagh Records ***
Philly-born Dan Possumato plays the accordion and melodeon with a cap doffed to the old time, in no rush to go anywhere except where the tune lures him. This is an unforced gathering of tunes, split democratically between Possumato's two instruments, and includes a genteel pair of self-composed waltzes, favouring the stripped-down minimalism of a good tune over the bustling effort of an attention-seeker. Quentin Cooper's banjo errs occasionally on the side of over-enthusiasm, and vocalist Laura Mulcahy metes out of wizened reading of The Lakes of Pontchartrain, but Alan Wallace's guitar lines are beautifully sympathetic to Possumato's relaxed style. The three-dimensional live atmosphere of these Clare and Galway tunes is as close to a bare-knuckle session as you'll encounter on a CD. www.claddaghrecords.com Siobhán Long