The Duhks (pronounced "ducks") are a five piece Canadian acoustic group who mix the tradition with the contemporary and have produced an excellent album full of life, stunning musicianship and strong vocal performances.
The young band encompass a wide range of traditional influences over the 14 songs on this album; Celtic, Appalachian, gospel, Latin and more are all present and identifiable – it’s difficult to pigeon hole their style but they certainly bring vibrancy and creativity to various established folk genres.
The first thing that hits you is the energy and skill the band have, all five musicians are superb and at various times throughout the album their individual talent shines, with each one given chance to be showy; the percussion is superb, the fiddle work dexterous and detailed, and this quality continues right through the main singer Jessica Harvey who has a powerful and versatile voice that really adapts to the stylistic variety.
As you’d expect the material on the disc comes from sources far and wide, ranging from traditional and spiritual right through to covers from contemporary artists such a Leonard Cohen and Paul Brady.
Highlights include a great reading of the traditional ‘The Wagoner’s Lad’ (beautifully sung by fiddle player Tania Elizabeth), Paul Brady’s ‘You and I’, and Dan Frechette’s ‘Mists of Down Below’ which is a song with a great atmosphere and feeling.
‘The Duhks’ is a strong collection that’s full of wonderful songs and superb musicianship; they’re obviously a fantastic live act and this energy has been captured on many songs on this album. A truly individual and striking disc.

£13.49