The Whole Music Experience

Sara Banleigh The Folk EP Self-Release Not many journalists are going to struggle about whether or not to include a review of a CD on a blog because of dark subject matter. But my blog features the healing power of music and leans towards softer material (even though Sara Banleigh introduces the song All My Trials with Bach’s Prelude #1 in C major ). So I’m reviewing Banleigh’s recording The Folk EP as a culture preservation project and not as a healing music CD. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to review a CD featuring Irish songs from 500 years ago, especially arranged for piano and voice. Banleigh mentions in the press notes that she preferred to give a grittier interpretation of these old murder and love ballads. She’s not the first to accomplish this task since Irish song interpreter Susan McKeown covered similar territory on her 2006 World Village recording Black Thorn: Irish Love Songs. Similar to McKeown, Banleigh provides gutsy vocals instead of the misty-e...