There is more than one group sporting the word Nua - or “new” - in its name. This is the second album by the Canadian trio of that ilk and a very fine effort it is too. It is also…
‘Nua’ in Gaelic means ‘new’, and for Toronto-based NUA it stands for the trio’s approach to creating adventurous and contemporary Celtic tunes inspired by tradition. It’s the fruit of a close friendship between fiddler James Law, guitarist Graeme McGillivray, and…
This Toronto trio plays a contemporary take on Irish and Scottish traditional music: fiddle based, with virtuoso James Law taking the lead, supported by Graeme McGillivray and Jacob McCauley on guitars and bodhrán. Flow is their second album, perhaps more…
Canadian trad-trio Nua build upon the success of their 2014 debut Bold with a solid and satisfying sophomore effort; Flow is flush with both fast flowing melodies and songs as lush as the Irish landscape. It’s amazing how far three…
Toronto-based instrumental trio NUA are fiddle player James Law, guitarist Graeme McGillivray and bodhrán player Jacob McCauley. The band draws on Scottish and Irish folk traditions. Flow is their second album and follows their well-received debut Bold, which came out…
BOLD, the highly acclaimed debut album from the Canadian trad trio NUA has been an artistic achievement. Now they are working on something else exciting… a new album. I initially talked to fiddler, James M. Law for the interview but…
NUA's latest 14 track release, BOLD, is an amazing Folk/Celtic release that makes a strong bid for instrumental album of the year. I don't get excited that often about non-vocal albums, but BOLD is definitely something worth getting a bit…
There’s more than one band called Nua, which is of course a Gaelic word for “new”. This particular Nua is a trio based out of Toronto, playing what is loosely Irish traditional music with a healthy dose of contemporary Canadian…
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Instrumental albums always run the risk of ‘sameness’. It’s not so much a case of running out of ideas it’s the often the listener abandoning attention. There’s that temptation to lose concentration and allow the music to slide into the…
An energetic fiddle, a driving guitar and a bodhran – this is all that is to Nua and to this album – and you would not want anything more. “Bold” features mainly compositions of James and Graeme, primarily in a…