"That's a good start to the day: getting locked in my trailer."

This quote’s a bit of a hard one, but let’s give it a go!

“Thank you so much, you’ve been such a wonderful audience.”

Lisa Kelly (SftH etc.)

Here's an article where Lisa discusses shares some of the inspiration behind the songs on Juniper. There's a bit of review sprinkled into the article as well:

'A song cannot be an autobiography' - Lisa Lambe

Independent.ie
Barry Egan
April 12, 2020

https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/music/a-song-cannot-be-an-autobiography-lisa-lambe-39121526.html?fbclid=IwAR0I2Lf-5lqVSKx_B5W_AL-BNh4xJt_Z6I9WdmUhGOZ8J9619_2zhCJvheg

I listened to Decade: Best of the High Kings tonight.

All the tracks on this album were studio versions.

"Best of" or compilation albums have a challenging task of pleasing fans that have a variety of tastes and favorites. This album is a good collection of their good songs. But there are certainly some omissions, at least relative to my personal list of favorites. I suppose if I want all my favorites together, that's what a playlist is for (or a "mix tape" for those of us old enough to remember what a cassette tape is).

The Parting Glass (their best version), The Fields of Athenry, The Black Velvet Band, and Rare Auld Times are among my favorites that made it onto the album.

The album also featured 4 songs I hadn't heard on their previous albums:

Homeland
Four Green Fields
The Lonesome Boatman
Irish Pub Song

Homeland was definitely my favorite of the 4 additions, although good though it is, I strongly prefer the Celtic Woman version from Ancient Land (and the Homecoming tour).

The four most notable omissions from my list of favorites were:

Musicmakers
Ireland's Shore
McAlpine's Fusiliers
Leaving Of Liverpool

There weren't many tracks I didn't like. There were several tracks with really good harmony. In contrast to Celtic Woman albums, there weren't many tracks that blew me away, even though there were a lot of tracks I enjoyed. Overall, it's a pretty good album. I'll add it to my short list of albums to consider buying.

Quote from: dbbii on April 11, 2020, 03:32:21 PM

Something tells me that maybe back in 2010, The High Kings "opened" a couple of shows for CW.  I think they did both shows at RCMH that year?

I seen a show that a guys group opened the show for the girls and i was not impressed I was there to see the girls sign not some guys they were ok just not what i was there for  and it wasn't that long ago and it was either in greenbay or appleton Wi.

Yeah, I wouldn't want anyone to open for the girls if it meant the girls had less time on stage. There's nobody else like Celtic Woman. I only want to see other performers on days when there's no Celtic Woman show or it's not practical for me to be at the Celtic Woman show.

Some review for Juniper.

The Irish Times
Lisa Lambe: Juniper – Easy listening, but in a very good way
Lauren Murphy
Apr 3, 2020
https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/lisa-lambe-juniper-easy-listening-but-in-a-very-good-way-1.4215963

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meaww
'Juniper' Review: Irish star Lisa Lambe's second album is a love letter to nature brimming with country folk vibes
Brian Polson
Apr 4, 2020
https://meaww.com/irish-performer-lisa-lambe-actor-singer-juniper-country-folk-love-letter-nature-shimmering-tapestry

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Album Review: Lisa Lambe – Juniper
Apr 6, 2020
https://www.hotpress.com/music/album-review-lisa-lambe-juniper-22811010

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There's review on Digital Journal, but my antivirus detected an infection when I went to the site, so I'm not providing a link to the source material.

Apr 7, 2020
Markos Papadatos

Review: Ex-Celtic Woman Lisa Lambe releases soaring 'Juniper' album

Lisa Lambe (former lead singer of Celtic Woman) will release her new album "Juniper" on April 3 via Blue Élan Records on digital and CD formats.

It opens with "North Star Rise," and it is followed by the crisp and haunting "Hunter's Moon" as well as "Vision in Grey." The album immediately breaks into the stirring "Dust and Sand." "Burning Love" has a retro vibe to it where the listener can slightly recall the early musical work of Stevie Nicks.

Equally memorable tunes are "All the Stars," "Someone Like You" and "Holding Back The Time," the latter of which is heavenly.

After the poignant and atmospheric "Lighthouse," it closes with the title track "Juniper" and the midtempo, lead single "Tiny Devotions."

Juniper is available on Apple Music and on Amazon Music.

The Verdict:

Overall, Juniper by Lisa Lambe is a warm and polished studio offering, which is recommended for all fans of Lambe and Celtic Woman. They will not be disappointed since it has a soothing vibe to it. Juniper garners four out of five stars.
To learn more about Lisa Lambe and her new solo album Juniper, check out her Facebook page and her official website.

I finished listening to Friends for Life (2013) and Four Friends Live (2014).

I found Friends for Life to be the most polarizing I've listened to so far. There were a few songs I really liked:

Musicmakers
Ireland's Shore
McAlpine's Fusiliers
Oh Maggie
Come With me Now

There were also quite a few songs / arrangements on that album I really didn't care for.

Four Friends Live, which was recorded live in Derry, Northern Ireland, was a bounceback album for me in this listening experience. I enjoyed most of the songs on the album. It was fun to listen to. The crowd interaction was well-mixed into the album. It added to the energy level without being excessive or becoming distracting. I very much enjoyed 12 of the 16 songs on the album and the other 4 were still fun to listen to. My favourites (in order) were:

Ireland's Shore
Leaving of Liverpool
McAlpines Fusiliers
The Fields of Athenry
Town I Loved so Well
The Parting Glass

Yes, The Parting Glass was #6 for me. That's how good the other tracks were! I did prefer their earlier (2008) version of The Parting Glass to this one, but this one was still very good! This album's definitely going to be on my shortlist of ones to buy.

April 9 is the anniversary of the Celtic Woman Emerald DVD recording.

Emerald might be the Celtic Woman special that had the most energy and it was super-fun to watch!

Last December, I finally got to see Celtic Woman perform live in the Morris Performing Arts Center in South Bend, Indiana where Emerald was filmed. It was a little surreal being in such a special place.

That was the last tour before Chloë took an extended leave from the group. Many fans still haven't seen Chloë perform live with the group since.

Some were fortunate enough to see Chloë's return on the Celebration tour. She was amazing and I hope everyone that missed out because of Coronavirus or other reasons gets another chance in the future to see her as part of Celtic Woman. <3