Jack McNeill & Charlie Heys - Northern Road

Jack McNeill & Charlie Heys were finalists in the 2007 BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Awards and released their debut album, Light Up All The Beacons in 2008. They bucked the trend of the current crop of young folk musicians by not doing traditional songs, but specialising in Jack's highly individual, very personal, but, somehow, universal songs. In the intervening period they have honed their act and Charlie's perfectly judged fiddle accompaniments have become even more integrated. There's a superb degree of mutual understanding between them which shines through on the new album. Jack writes emotionally-charged intelligent lyrics and Charlie's deft empathic fiddle accompaniment adds up to a very satisfying whole.