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We were amazed to be chosen for this - a showcase double
cd compilation with 31 tracks highlighting the best
of Northern Ireland music. We were particularly delighted
that the other performers from the Ulster-Scots tradition
were Robert
Watt and Field
Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band - both of whom have
been crowned as World Champions in their piping disciplines
many times over many years. The superb Brian
Houston was also on it.
"Did Christ O'er Sinners Weep" is probably
the one track we've had most feedback about. We learned
it from the Doc Watson album "On
Praying Ground", and it dates from the early
1800s, having been made popular through the old Kentucky
hymnbook "The
Southern Harmony and Musical Companion". The
book was compiled by William "Singin Billy"
Walker, a Baptist from Spartanburg, South Carolina,
and it became the most popular hymnbook in the South,
selling over 4 million copies. "Did Christ O'er
Sinners Weep" also appeared in the hymnal of the
Confederate army during the American Civil War of 1861
- 1865. A great
revival swept through the army, just two years after
the great Ulster
Revival of 1859.
You can find out more about the Northern Ireland Music
Industry Commission here.
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