Tony Christie, Ranagri

Tony Christie and Ranagri have joined forces to produce an album of 12 of the most well loved Irish Folk Songs.

Tony Christie and Ranagri chose 12 of their favourite songs to record. The album features an array of songs with outpourings of great joy and deep sorrow; rousing ballads such as 'Black Velvet Band' and 'Star of the County Down', poignant songs of love and loss including 'Carrickfergus', 'When You Were Sweet Sixteen' , 'The Parting Glass'.

'Many of the songs we chose reflect this dual heritage. A good example of this is 'Lord Franklin's Lament' - a song with a perfect blend of lyrics from an English collection, twinned with an ancient Irish traditional melody. What a thrill for us to discover, whilst recording this song, that Franklin's lost ship from his ill-fated 19th Century expedition to the Northwest Passage - HMS Erebus - was rediscovered near Canada.'