“Loosely Celtic” by Hank Cramer

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A title like Loosely Celtic caught me off guard. “Just loosely?” I thought. Even after a listen I wasn’t convinced, this was all Celtic! But it was an offering from Hank Cramer, a fantastic folk singer who calls the Northwest his home.

Hank Cramer’s smooth bass voice has rich tones that bring old singers such as Howard Keel to mind. One can imagine his voice bellowing through the cool Washington state landscape. He plays a vintage flat-top guitar, and is often accompanied by Orville Johnson on banjo, David Lange on Keyboards, Matt Rotchford on bass, Davey Hakala on fiddle, and Marker Iler/Brian Maskew on vocals. For this album, Loosely Celtic, guest performers include Leah Larson on vocals, Audra Poor on uileann pipes and flute, Julia Bennett on bodhran, and Michelle Cameron on cello.

This album, a collection of Cramer’s favorite Irish songs, is all a delight to hear. There are a couple songs without any musical accompaniment, such as “You Hilo Man!”, “Rolling Down the River” and the first half of “Heave Her & Break Her – Frank’s Reel”, where a fine range of his voice can be heard. One familiar song, “No Man’s Land”, is particularly haunting. Songs of note include the fantastic harmonies on “The Fields of Athenry”, the opening tune “Farewell Carlingford”, and the catchy “Bound Down Australia”. The final song, “The Rolling Wave” also makes a well-placed end-cap to a great album.

Cramer’s rich voice on Loosely Celtic makes for a great afternoon listen with a great cup of tea.

Artist: Hank Cramer
Buy Album: Loosely Celtic

Hometown: Winthrop, Washington USA
Similar Artists: The Cutters, Tiller's Folly, Tom Lewis, Stan Hugill, Tommy Makem, Liam Clancy, Harry Lauder, The Corries, Cyril Tawney

Romana Guillotte is a Film School Graduate and terribly average cellist that currently lives in Las Vegas, NV. In addition to writing reviews for Marc Gunn’s Celtic Music Magazine, she moonlights as a barista when not volunteering at film festivals. She self-published her first novel Lydia’s Family in 2006 and is working on her second.

Celtic Music Magazine Feature Celt Mag Feature X Yes Song Henge Permission X Reply Celtic MP3s Magazine [e-mail] via distaff.lunarbreeze.com show details 12/24/09 Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted by Hank Cramer ([e-mail]) on December 24th, 2009 at 02:16PM (PST).realname: Hank Cramer email: [e-mail] Phone_Number: 509 996-3527 Band: Hank Cramer Homepage: http://hankcramer.com Description: Hank Cramer is a national-touring folksinger from eastern Washington. He has recorded nineteen CD’s, four music videos, and three movie soundtracks. He has a booming bass voice, a wry sense of humor, and accompanies himself on vintage flat-top guitar and five-string banjo. Hankis a popular solo performer at festivals and venues across the United States and Canada. He also leads the Celtic-nautical band Constellation’s Crew.Though he performs a wide variety of folk songs, the ballads of Ireland and Scotland are the centerpiece of Hank’s repertoire. Born into an Irish-American family, Hank grew up listening to the albums of balladeers like the Clancy Brothers, Tommy Makem, and Harry Lauder. He has been featured at Celtic festivals in Washington, Arizona, and Colorado, and toured Scotland three times in the last few years. Hank’s music has received critical acclaim, including nationwide airplay on National Public Radio. Sing Out!, the folk magazine, called his Constellation CD “one of the most beautiful and accomplished albums of sea music we’ve ever heard.” Bob Shane of the Kingston Trio gives a straightforward description of Hank’s singing: “He’s got one helluva voice!” At the 2006 Tucson Celtic Festival, Hank took first place in the music competition as vocalist, while band-mate Davey Hakala took first place in fiddle (both in the professional performers’ category). Northwest Public Radio’s Inland Folk chose Hank’s CD “Songs From Maurie’s Porch” as one of the Top Ten folk CD’s for 2006. Texas Public Radio’s Random Routes placed two of Hank’s songs in their Top Twenty for 2007. When not on the road performing, Hank lives on a ranch in Washington’s Methow Valley with his wife Kit, daughter Kelsey, and their many critters Hometown: Winthrop, WA USA Similiar: Tiller's Folly, Tom Lewis, Stan Hugill Influences: Tommy Makem, Liam Clancy, Harry Lauder, The Corries, Cyril Tawney Song_Suggestions: Ae Fond Kiss ~ Ned Of The Hill ~ Red Is The Rose ~ Farewell To Carlingford Buy_CD: Album name is “Loosely Celtic”. URL is www.hankcramer.com Compilation: Yes, please consider adding one of my songs to your compilation CD_Review: Yes, please review my album. Premium_Service: Yes, add my MP3 to the Song Henge aff1rm1: Yes, add me to the Podcast! submit: submit Reply Forward