Dual (album)

Dual (album)

Dual is an album by four acclaimed Irish and Scottish musicians: Éamonn Doorley, Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh (both prominently of Danú), Julie Fowlis and Ross Martin.

The artists released the album in October 2008 on their official websites. The album was planned to project the similarities and differences between the Irish and Scottish Gaelic song traditions. The album features Scottish waulking songs such as Alasdair Mhic Cholla Ghasda, and oddly an Irish Gaelic equivalent to the Gaidhlig Puirt a Beul. The songs are set in a traditional/folk accompaniment, much different to the recorded versions of a few of the songs by the likes of Capercaillie and Clannad.

The four musicians have been playing music together since a sing-song at the Tønder Festival in 2003. The four-piece has toured together twice a year both in Ireland and Scotland. Julie and Muireann have had very similar upbringings and found their music and languages shared many common threads. Hence the name, Dual, which means "to braid, to twine, inheritance or native" in both Irish Gaelic and Scottish Gaelic. The album features songs in Irish and Scots-Gaelic, and tunes from both cultures.