Wade In The Flood was Andrew Cronshaw’s fourth solo album and is an instrumental album of Celtic folk music, which exemplifies his prowess in playing the electric zither, concertina and whistle. He is well backed by 5 well-known musicians in Rick Kemp (Bass – of Steeleye Span fame), Martin Simpson (guitars – regarded as one of the most skilled folk guitarists nominated 23 times in the 11 years of BBC folk awards and has released a huge number of solo albums and collaborations, but this was his second collaboration with Andrew), Ric Sanders (electric violin –who has played with Soft Machine, Fairport Convention and a host of other famous acts), John Gillaspie (polyphonic synthesiser, piano and bassoon – who also played on albums with Allan Taylor and the Silly Sisters – June Tabor and Maddy Prior) and Holly Tannen (Appalachian dulcimer – resident of California who has released several solo albums). There is a distinctly Scottish feel to many of the tracks, possibly picked up while Andrew was at University in Edinburgh, plus a track originating in California ‘ Table Mountain road’ thanks to Holly Tannen which gives that world-music feel. There is also a touch of a Mike Oldfield sound on a couple of tracks.
Andrew is a bit of an eccentric, but this album showpieces his fantastic talent in a real class release. This is a folk lovers’ dream. Great album.
