Mando-lovers rejoice!
Marla teamed up with Jimmy Crowley to create a unique and delightful recording of Irish music played only on double-strung instruments. Though the world knows Jimmy as a great singer, this is an all instrumental album featuring traditional tunes of all sorts, along with an original or two from each of them, played on mandolin, mandola, mandocello, bouzouki, and a big bass bouzouki called a dordán. The project was hatched over an evening of playing tunes together at Marla’s house on one of Jimmy's trips through the Bay Area back in 2009. It was recorded in three busy days in April 2010, and released in April 2011.
"Great recording by two of the best; a must have CD for any mandolin or bouzouki player in Irish music." -- Dennis Cahill
"unique and delightful...a joyful romp" --Fiddlefreak Folk Music Blog
"a must for all who are interested in the mandolin family of instruments, in Irish music in general, and in exquisite duet playing." --Folkworks
THREE MILE STONE
1
Gipsy Princess/Granny in the Corner/Fleur de Mandragore
2
Last Winter was a Hard One
3
The Wheels of the World
Three Mile Stone is Marla Fibish, Erin Shrader, and Richard Mandel. Three Mile Stone serves up traditional Irish music with lift, drive, and sparkle. On their debut album, produced by Grammy-nominated guitar virtuoso/producer John Doyle, tight mandolin and fiddle duets with driving guitar backup give way to poignant airs, traditional songs, or poems set to breathtaking melodies by Marla. Their signature sound is all strings: fiddle, mandolin and guitar, with infectious playing, and inventive tune and song arrangements, in which any instrument might take the melody or play backup. Their repertoire includes familiar tunes and odd ones, a melding of Erin, Marla, and Richard’s repertoire across the decades and the miles. Driving reels, lively jigs, and catchy polkas from Ireland, not to mention a smattering of Quebecois and other styles, come together with a sound all their own.
“A wonderfully played album...performed by a tasty trio of real musicians and singers. If you really like Irish music, and don't just say you do, get this album. A total winner, front to back. Your ears will thank you. A very thoughtfully and tastefully presented stunner.”
—Irish American News
“Three Mile Stone members... play Irish Traditional Music with the respect and love that it deserves. They've created a work of art....And the songs are a delight. I love this stuff.”
—Billy McComiskey (Irish accordion legend)
“...an excellent recording of Traditional Irish music and song. From the quality of the recording to the standard of musicianship, coupled with the choice of material, and the lovely playing and singing has produced a delightful recording.”
—James Kelly (legendary Irish fiddler)
“The tunes are delightfully tastefully managed..., with a joyous inherent gusto....As purveyors of Irish music go, Three Mile Stone are indisputably in the top bracket, and you’re seriously unlikely to come across a much more elegantly persuasive and genuinely uplifting small-ensemble record than their eponymous debut."
—David Kidman, The Living Tradition magazine
“An elegant small-ensemble recording. Some the best mandolin playing in Irish music.”
—Dennis Cahill (guitar virtuoso, Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill)
