The lyrebird is a mimic, a musician and a dancer too, prancing in rhythm to its own melodies, mimicking other creatures in its habitat and even imitating mechanical sounds. It is a perfect name, then, for musicians to draw into their orbit. So it was for ex-Breabach fiddler Patsy Reid, Edinburgh-based Nordic mandola player Marit Fält and cellist Alice Allen, whose debut as LYRE LYRE collects 12 songs and tunes – graceful, playful, melodic, groove-driven – that blend traditional and original material and draw on Scottish, Scandinavian, European and classical influences.
Reid and Fält have known each other for ten years and played together regularly, with one eye on the idea of creating a trio. Then Reid heard cellist Alice Allen. “And I said, Marit, you have to see this…
