Burning Bridget Cleary: Press

"Views and Reviews"

Traditional music just got younger and prettier with the arrival of Burning Bridget Cleary, a band as exciting and charming as their name is unusual. (It seems that Bridget Cleary was the last witch burned in Ireland. She was done in by her hubbie and his side of the family. You'll be glad to know that divorce is now legal in Ireland).
17 year old, Genna Gillespie, Irish singer, dancer and champion fiddler is joined with 18 year old, Rose Baldino, Irish singer, dancer, whistler and champion fiddler and Rose'd dad, guitarist, Lou Baldino.. Their debut CD, "Catharsis", is a winner and I bet you will like it but I can't wait to see these kids perform I know they are local and that they work a lot. Maybe, they have a website. http://www.burningbridgetcleary.com

BBC (If you think I'm typing "Burning Bridget Cleary" a lot, you don't appreciate my sloth) features the depth and texture of double fiddles and the haunting beauty of voices that blend like coffee and cream. Their songlist is impressive but mysterious due to tiny print (theirs) and aging eyes (mine). This is an enchanting performance that deserves a place in every celtophile's collection.

"Cleary a Don't Miss"
. . . Above all plan to hear (and see) a local band that recently packed Godfrey Daniels with a sell-out crowd at the group's CD release party for their first recording, "Catharsis".
The group appeared at last year's Celtic Classic and the Green Lane Scottish and Irish Festival in Montgomery County, where they will be a mainstage attraction this year. According to the rather laid-back Baldino, "We do a real high-energy show."
If seeing them at Godfrey's is any indication, he's got that right. The girls are pretty, charming, and lively, and often break into spontaneous step dancing and fits of giggles, as the mood swings them.
Sweeney (Executive Director of the Celtic Cultural Alliance), himself sounds like a proud parent when speaking of the girl's accomplishments. "They're both products of our fiddle competition and scholarship winners. Now they're moving into performanace and really carrying the Celtic tradition forward," he said. "It's gratifying to see what we're doing is working."

Week In Reviews
BURNING BRIDGET CLEARY

The name — honoring a stong-willed Irishwoman burned to death by her husband — draws you in. The bio — two teenage fiddlers backed by a dad — piques further interest. The spirited music brings it all home.
Burning Bridget Cleary — Genna Gillespie (daughter of Blackwater's Tom and Alison Gillespie) and Rose Baldino, along with Rose's father, Lou — gave a sold-out CD release show at Godfrey Daniels last Sunday that revealed a group with talent and places to go.

The girls worked their fiddles with skill and style, like youthful Natalie MacMasters. Lou, joking that ''If you haven't noticed by now, I'm the young and beautiful one,'' added drama with his rhythmic guitar. The trio conveyed an aura that was at once sweet and spicy.

The two sets contained originals and classics — foot-stomping, hand-clapping reels and jigs and enchanting ballads — many merged into single numbers. Energetic step dancing by the girls completed the package.

Genna, the perky, chatty one, and Rose, a little quieter with a mature air, complemented each other with a chemistry born of friendship, respect and love of Irish music.

There wasn't much singing in the first set, until Lou's heartful solo on the traditional Welsh hymn, ''The Miner's Life,'' with lovely backup harmonies and fiddling by the girls.

The girls brought out their voices on the second set. Genna's sister, Fiona, assisted on a fun, drinking-song sing-a-long, with their father Tom on the bodhran.

There wasn't any singing on (their original) ''Burning Bridget Cleary,'' but the lilting drama of the original song, which transitions into fiery fiddling, make it memorable like its namesake, past and present.

Burning Bridget Cleary

" . . . Listening to their lively Celtic reels and jigs had my foot and heart tapping. Their ballads were warm and beautiful.
The group was having a party on Sunday at Godfrey Daniels to celebrate the release of their first CD. Titled "Catharsis," it truly is an emotional release through music. . .
Their on-stage energy is infectious and their mastery of the fiddle borders on brilliant . . .
The trio has been performing as a group for seven months, but from the way they complement each other on stage and in the music, one would think it was seven years. They wowed the massive crowd at the 2006 Scottish-Irish Festival in Green Lane . . ."