Let the Circle Be Wide

Tommy Sands | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 27, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Appleseed Records
• ASIN: B001KNUT0M
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #259,291 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Philadelphia Daily News, February 3, 2009

"If you treasure the Irish school of country/folk music, veteran singer Tommy Sands' new, generation-gapping collaboration with fresh voices Moya & Fionan, Let The Circle Be Wide" (A-), is highly recommended."

Product Description

Born in the North of Ireland, an area bitterly divided by opposing religious and political issues, singer-songwriter-activist Tommy Sands has spent his life using music to spread hope, healing and inspiration, as well as entertainment. Since the '60s with his brothers and sisters in The Sands Family, as a solo performer, and most recently with his daughter and son, Tommy has been bringing traditional Irish songs and original, socially relevant material to audiences all around the world.

On the new Let the Circle be Wide, his seventh solo album, Sands continues to write and perform wise, moving, sometimes rollicking songs infused with his deep but clear-eyed love of his imperfect homeland. The CD reflects some of the changes resulting from the historic 1998 power-sharing Belfast Agreement.

Sands has been described as an "enlightened bard," who "says and writes words that are more likely to bring people of diverse backgrounds together than to keep them apart." The 15 songs on Let the Circle be Wide ring with Tommy's warm brogue, the poignant Irish lilt of uillean pipes, fiddles, and whistles, but also carry the influence of different cultures, such as the unearthly vocal buzzes and drones of Mongolian throat-singing on "Rovers of Wonder."

Sands, who plays guitar, whistle, banjo, and dotara, a stringed Indian instrument, as well as singing, shares his music's power to heal (the high-spirited "Send for Maguire" and ethereal "A Stór Mo Chroí"), to rally ("Make Those Dreams Come True," "Time for Asking Why"), to pay tribute to the departed ("The Song Sings On: Ballad of Tommy Makem," "You Will Never Grow Old," a gentle farewell to Sands' late brother Dino), to fight prejudice ("Keep On Singing"), to unite people (the title song), and to celebrate Ireland's natural beauty amid ongoing social change ("Fields of Daisies," "Carlingford Bay"). The CD's misty, welcoming opener, "Young Man's Dream," is Tommy's "translation/part transcreation" of an ancient Gaelic song which would much later become Ireland's most famous ballad, "Danny Boy." This dream song, so apt for today, dates back more than 500 years, drawing us to "an island dreaming where the heart is free," where "the dream of love, it belongs to all."

Sands' musical inclusiveness extends to enlisting his daughter Moya (fiddle, bodhran, whistle, vocals), son Fionán (banjo, mandolin, backing vocals), his Sands Family siblings and additional musicians including guitarist Arty McGlynn (Van Morrison, Patrick Street, Christy Moore), guitarist/bassist Steve Cooney (Sinead O'Connor, The Chieftains), and co-producer/multi-instrumentalist Tom Newman (Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells), among others, to perform on Let the Circle be Wide.

See all Editorial Reviews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent album from an Irish folk old-timer, February 19, 2009

By 

DJ Joe Sixpack (...in Middle America) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Let The Circle Be Wide (MP3 Download)

Tommy Sands, one of Ireland's most highly regarded songwriters, is back with a lovely set of songs inspired by the end of the Irish "Troubles" as well as the politics of the post-September 11th world, and his own reflections on a long life full of both sorrow and joy. Shades of subtle and not-so-subtle meaning filter through these songs, as he reflects on violence, peace and hope. The Ireland-specific lyrics may be confounding to outsiders (hard to evaluate Sands' politics, as he simultaneously celebrates the end to the island's civil war and reflects upon its history (history and Ireland? watch out!) Likewise, his views on America's approach to the post-9/11 world may be hard for some to hear: the song "Time For Asking Why" is a call for social justice between the rich and poor, posing the question of whether America's actions were in part to blame for the rageful jihad aimed at its people. The leftie critiques are balanced by joyful, nostalgic glimpses into the world Sands grew up in -- fiddling parties, the rise to fame of his friend Tommy Makem, and the new Ireland, a hopeful world where the Troubles seem gone. The musicianship is top-notch with rich Irish melodies and sweet family harmonies from Sands and his kin. It's a strong album, troubling in some regards but life-affirming and beautiful in others. Definitely worth checking out! (Joe Sixpack, Slipcue Guide To World Music)

5.0 out of 5 stars The latest from the great Tommy Sands, April 4, 2009

By 

David Fisher "Dave Fisher - The Highwaymen" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Let the Circle Be Wide (Audio CD)

Let the Circle be Wide is the latest and most enjoyable release by Tommy Sands. the Great Bard of the North of Ireland. Tommy is really the Pete Seeger of the Emerald Isle and he and his family have been performing and creating wonderful music for years.

One of Tommy's greatest songs in entitled "Daughters and Sons," so it is appropriate that he is accompanied on this CD by his daughter Moya and his son Fionan, Moya has a lovely voice and plays just about everthig and Fionan is a brilliant instrumentalist, playing, among other things a banolino, a cross between an banjo and a mandolin.

The songs are all melodic, meaningful, and timeless as all Tommy Sands songs are. My favorite is a song call "The Song Sings On" which was written as a tribute to the late, great Tommy Makem on the o-casion of his passing a few years ago. Far from being maudlin, it is a fun-filled story of Tommy Makem's life and what he meant to all of Ireland.

I reccommend this CD to everyone who is in need of good music, good writing, great performing, and the significant events of today; in other words - everyone.

Dave Fisher
The Highwaymen