Caleigh - Caleigh Ceilidh

All Music Guide

While fans of Caleigh will already have these songs, as they've all appeared on their previous releases, Branching Out and Into the Woods, what A Caleigh Ceilidh (pronounced kaylee kaylee) provides is an introductory sampler of material drawn from both those albums, which is a pleasant way for new listeners to get acquainted with them. Caleigh, an all-women quartet from Bemidji, MN, has one of the most delicate yet striking instrumental renditions of "Mairi's Wedding" available, rich with crystalline harp and dulcimer -- this one could be from the music box of the gods It's truly a prime example of their distinctive, lucid sound. Definitely merits repeat play, this one does. "The St. Patrick's Day Medley" is a cheerful, lilting, slightly more traditional-sounding set that has done quite well on the charts at /MP3.com, as have their other instrumentals, including "Si Bheag Si Mhor" and "Irish Christmas Eve/Trip to Windsor." Unfortunately, "Red Is the Rose" is another copy of the same earlier recording from Branching Out that sounds a bit choppy and needs more work. Regular listeners may wish that they'd left this one off and included "Feel So Near" instead, but perhaps it's because they consider "Feel So Near" to be more of a folk-style song, and this sampler is primarily Celtic in focus. So while this sampler benefits new and casual listeners, more long-term Caleigh fans will be hoping that they're at work on new material, similar to "Mairi's Wedding," for a follow-up.

- Murrday Fisher, All Music Guide