AndreaÕs album influenced by diverse musical backgrounds

A very strong background in music is very apparent in a new album which has just been released by a Galway woman whose influences stretch as far as the USA and Australia.

The debut album by Andrea Walsh, whose parents are from Dunmore, is easy listening and transcends the borders of folk and country.

The daughter of well known musician Sean Walsh (of The Haymakers fame) and Breda, Andrea’s new album is titled Say It Again and features tracks made famous by country stars like Randy Travis, Don Williams, Crystal Gayle and Dolly Parton.

But Andrea stamps her own individuality as a singer on these songs and introduces new elements, as the album features her father-in-law Michael Farrell from Australia on backing vocals.

Her family on both sides were bitten by the music bug and Andrea's late grandparents in Killooney, Dunmore were musicians for most of their long lives too. Her grandmother, the late Ellen (Nellie) Walsh, created her own piece of notoriety by releasing her first record when in her mid 80s.

Her father, Sean Walsh, is a well-known musician, singer and record producer. He has been singing and playing country, folk and traditional music since he was a teenager.

Listeners can hear the Bluegrass influences of Sean on the track I Saw the Light. In fact he joins his daughter on vocals with Good Night Irene which was once covered by the Chieftains and Ricky Skaggs. But there are other musical influences on the release also.

"My in-laws are a very musical family (especially when it comes to harmonies) and they are from a little, very Irish town called Boorowa in New South Wales, Australia," says Andrea, who now lives in Renmore.

Her husband, Rhys, is from this town in Australia which has a huge number of Irish names among its population and Rhys has been trying to find his Farrell roots in Tipperary.

His father visited Ireland last Christmas and while here he put down the backing vocals on the song.

"Michael is a gifted musician and he played the bass and sang for years with a band called The Shades," Andrea adds. Andrea spent over a year in her husband's native country and while in Australia she and her young brother Alan played at many singsongs and gained something of a following in the process.

Andrea also has a nice rendition of the old Dolly Parton/Porter Wagoner hit If Teardrops Were Pennies on this album.

While travelling around Australia she became a fan of Troy Cassar-Daley – not a familiar name here but he is an emerging young country star in the land down under. Andrea says he is set to emulate the success of another Aussie, Keith Urban, who is also a favourite of hers.

Meanwhile, her own new album has just been released, is bound to be popular with a lot of country and traditional music fans.Say It Again is available now in record shops.