Thank you so much for supporting our music! We hope you enjoy what you hear. We’d love it, if you could share a few thoughts about the album that we can use to help spread the word. 2-4 sentences would be enough! Getting initial feedback from listeners around the world before the release date, might help us to gain press coverage here in austria.
Please email us at spinnlied@gmail.com or send us a message on facebook.
All the best,
Danika, Bernhart & Fabian
Liner Notes
Danika Ruso: vocals, accordion, harp, kalimba, shruti box
Bernhart Ruso: nyckelharpa, percussion
Fabian Zechmeister: guitar, bouzouki, flute, whistles, vocals, banjo
Guest musicians:
Bruno Assenmacher: percussion (6)
Stephan „Stoney“ Steiner: nyckelharpa (8), fiddle (11)
Isabella Krapf: harmonica (10)
Special thanks to Annie Kissack, the Manx bard, for her dedication to
preserving the Manx language, providing invaluable resources to help
others learn and appreciate it, and for her helpful pronunciation guide
of 'Ushag Veg Ruy
All songs traditional, arranged by Spinning Wheel except:
“Medhel An Gwyns“ written by Mike O’Connor
“Stretched On Your Grave“ lyrics anonymous, music by Kated Rusby
“Awkward Annie“ written by Kate Rusby
“Chì Mi Na Mòrbheanna“ written by John Cameron
Hè Mo Leannan (Hey My Sweetheart)
In this lighthearted and playful Scottish waulking song, a woman advises
her fellow waulkers to keep three boyfriends handy, just in case one
leaves. We have inverted the traditional verse and chorus arrangement in
our version.
“Love vanished, the union broke – I really don't care!“
Y Cwcw Fach
In this traditional song from Wales, a woman sends a cuckoo to her lover’s
home at the banks of the River Wnion to cheer him up with a song.
“Little cuckoo, if you see there someone weeping salty tears
Sing to him the song of spring, a song of hope to comfort him”
Chì Mi Na Mòrbheanna
This song in Scots Gaelic, written in 1856 by Highlander John Cameron,
expresses his joy and relief upon returning to his beloved homeland. It is
commonly known in English as "The Mist-Covered Mountains of Home”.
“I will have hospitality and love when I reach there
For that I would not trade tons of gold”
Nead na Lachan (The Duck’s Nest)
The chorus of this traditional Irish children's song is an example of port
a' bhéil (mouth music), made up of nonsense vocables. The melody is a
traditional Irish slip jig, the 'Foxhunter’s Jig'. A currach is a type of boat
unique to the west coast of Ireland.
“Nest of ducks in the moat, and I will send you out on the harbour
I will get a currach and a crew for you, and I will send you out on the harbour.
I will buy a fishing rod and line for you, and I will send you out on the harbour”
Medhel An Gwyns (Soft is the Wind)
Mike O’Connor wrote this beautiful haunting song for the series
'Poldark'. It is about the men, women and children working in the copper
and tin mines of Cornwall around 1800. Bal (Cornish: 'mine') maidens
were unmarried girls who processed the ore that was sent to the surface.
“Songs like the dreams that the bal maiden spins,
Weaving the song of the cry of the tin”
Hen Ferchetan (Old Maiden)
This Welsh song tells the story of an unmarried woman who repeatedly
loses her lovers to marriage. After her most recent heartbreak, she dresses
in satin and lace and goes to the town fair in search of a new suitor.
“All the old lovers have gone to the church, but there will be new potatoes
on the apple tree before Little Lisa from Hendre will marry”
Stretched on Your Grave
This song tells the story of a young man mourning the loss of his lover,
The lyrics are a slightly adapted translation of 'Táim sínte ar do thuama',
an anonymous 17th-century Irish poem. The melody voice was written by
English folk singer and songwriter Kate Rusby.
“My appletree, my brightness, ’tis time we were together,
For I smell of the earth and am worn by the weather”
Gaol Ise Gaol I (My Love is She)
A traditional waulking song from Scotland, in which a pregnant woman
talks about the father of her child.
“I am heavy with child. By no ordinary lad is my child, but by the
dark-haired hero, son of the Laid of the ships”
Witches Reel
The first two verses were mentioned in a contemporary account of
Scotland's first witch trial in 1590, One of the accused, Agnes Sampson,
confessed under torture to attending a gathering of 200 witches where
they danced and sang this song before meeting with the devil.
“Ring-a-ring-a-widdershins, loupin' lithely widdershins
Kilted coats and fleein' hair, Three times three.”
Ushag Veg Ruy (Little Red Bird)
A lullaby from the Isle of Man that tells the story of a little red bird
searching for the perfect place to rest.
“Did I not sleep last night on the top of the briar? And oh! Wretched was
my sleep!“
Awkward Annie
Kate Rusby wrote this upbeat song about a downbeat young man trying to
win a girl's favour by gifting her with farm animals, which she proceeds
to treat in a rather unconventional fashion.
“I gave to you a hen, you gave it back again, without its eggs, my Annie.
I gave to you a hare. You really didn't care, now it has no legs my Annie.”
White the Sheep
This is a rare example of a waulking song in English from the Isle of Skye.
It has been adapted for a traditional verse & chorus structure to make it
accessible for sing-alongs during waulking sessions. Danika wrote the
chorus with guidance from Christine Knox Chambers’ 1980 thesis paper
'Non-lexical Vocables in Scottish Traditional Music'.
“Sing the garden of the sea from whose flowers we won the dye,
Sing of sea-tang wild and free from our misty Isle of Skye.”
reviews of previous releases:
Amazing voice, spacious arrangement, soaring melodies and an overall very nice natural vibe.
(Putumayo World Music Label, US)
Dipping into my Irish Heritage I am thrilled to add the delightful soundings of Spinning Wheel’s “Kells Water” featuring the heartful vocals of Danika to our Spotify Playlist. Find yourself transported into the sweet realm of Ireland, with its wondrously flowing green hills and countryside, then belly up with friends at the pub for a pint of Guinness while you soak in the luxurious sound of Kells Water.
(Jay Carney – Starbust Records, US)
"This new release is certainly up to the high standards established by the earlier Spinning Wheel collection. All but two of the tracks are traditional, all feature vocals by Bernhart’s wife Danika, and all are very tastefully arranged. As I noted in my reviews of both the Spinning Wheel and Smoky Finish CDs, the members of this band are all Austrian. Yet they seem to have a great affinity for pan-Celtic music, and I mean that in the sense of fondness for as well as skill in playing.
Danika’s exquisite voice with some overdubbing provides a nice continuity across the entire album. The mix keeps her voice forward so the lyrics are very clear. Most of the songs feature at least one fair maiden, which adds to the sense of thematic consistency. The arrangements are sufficiently different for each track so that the overall effect is one of rich texture and certainly of varied rhythm. I caught a kalimba on ‘Emoton.’ The harp on ‘Ffarwel’ gives it a very stately feel. ‘In Aimsir’ includes a long instrumental bridge that is actually a traditional Irish tune called ‘Out in the Ocean.’ The hurdy-gurdy on ‘Murdered Brother’ is just a little scary. Markus adds his guitar work to Erich’s original tracks. Bernhart and guest artist Stephan Steiner play nyckelharpa; Danika and guests Peter Beinhofer and Marek Poledna play accordion; Klara Schiffermüller contributes fiddle to several tracks, as well.
Only five of the twelve tracks are actually in English. These include the title track (whose lyrics offer a clever twist on the more familiar ‘New York Girls’), a rollicking and rather light-hearted version of ‘Newry Highwayman,’ ‘The Lass of Glenshee,’ ‘Sixteen Come Next Sunday,’ and ‘Murdered Brother,’ one of the original Child ballads. Of the remaining songs, one is in French (the incredibly catchy ‘Deja Mal Mariee’—I found myself humming the tune after I’d listened to it just once). Two tracks are in Welsh (‘Dacw ‘Nghariad’ and ‘Ffarwel’); two are in Gaelic (‘In Aimsir Bhaint An Fheir’ and ‘Puirt-A-Beul’). One of the non-traditional tracks, ‘Tu Gitana,’ a waltz written by a Portuguese artist named Zeca Afonso, is in Galician. The other non-traditional track ‘Emoton,’ was composed by Finnish musicians Kari and Sirpa Reiman.
There is more than enough good material here to provide you with many enjoyable hours of listening and maybe even a little dancing!"
(Donna Bird, Greenman Review)
"The distinctive and delightful sound of Spinning Wheel is a consequence of the utterly scintillating vocals provided by Bernhart’s wife Danika, the band’s tasteful acoustic arrangements, and their choice of traditional material. Selection 1999-2005 features fourteen tracks, running just over fifty minutes’ worth of music, selected from the band’s first three albums, The Spinning Wheel, This Time of the Year, and Live in Concerto. Danika Ruso is the primary vocalist. She also plays the accordion and tin whistle and does a bit of percussion work. While the liner notes describing the band are not in English, the CD insert includes a full set of song lyrics, and many of the songs are in English, including splendid arrangements of ‘Bruton Town’ and ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen’. Three songs are in Gaelic, one is in Spanish (with a melody I recall from a very old Kingston Trio album), and one is in French. Danika handles all these languages quite well and has a delicate, melodious voice that is a pleasure to hear. The instrumentation complements, but does not overwhelm, the vocals. I particularly appreciated the use of hand drums. The CD also includes two instrumental tracks, medleys of dance tunes rendered quite beautifully."
(Donna Bird, Greenman Review)
Delicate arrangements and with a special ethereal vibe. The vocals are sublime and the instrumentals are absolutely wonderful.
(Heart Beat Records, US)
I absolutely love the delicacy of the vocals and the instrumentals are gorgeous.
(Heartbeat, Spotify Curator, UK)
A stunning atmospheric album featuring very clear and passionate vocals.
(Zoe Konez, Spotify Curator, UK)
I feel completely drawn in, the vocals in this song are absolutely beautiful.
(Lexi Brooks, Spotify Curator, US)
Stunning song performed by an emotional and very expressive voice and organic instrumental accompaniment, achieving an authentic sound and intense atmosphere.
(Caoba Records, Chile)
The combination of mesmerizing heartfelt vocals and magical guitar gives the music a wonderful flow. The song is an enticing listen right out of the gate.
(Underrated Records, US)
I was captured by the warm and elegant voice, very expressive and touching and the subtle guitar accompaniment.
(Raighes Factory, IT)
Your vocals are dazzling, I particularly enjoyed the simple backing to allow them to shine and take centre stage. The beautiful guitar that almost felt medieval — something you would hear in a period drama alongside the kick from the drum. This is really interesting music and something so totally unique.
(Shona Oliver, Spotify Curator, UK)
Meaningful and light-hearted lyrics delivered with delicate and lilting vocals which suit the entire charming vibe of the song.
(Renforshort, Spotify Curator, DE)
Especially the vocals are really amazing, very clean and professional performance.
(David, PlayListSubs, CZ)