Old Blind Dogs

http://www.oldblinddogs.co.uk/
A review from their website: Anything the Dogs choose to play becomes, for the audience, an auditory feast. And should you find yourself lucky enough to catch them in a live performance, consider that dessert has most definitely been served. Possessed of pure and natural talent, it seems unlikely any of them has need of practice or rehearsal, and changes to the lineup might go more or less unmarked were it not for the sudden appearance of a new face. - www.rambles.net

from http://www.capitalceltic.com/music.shtml
Old Blind Dogs have been at the cutting edge of the Scottish roots revival for over 15 years, since forming in fiddler Jonny Hardie's native Aberdeenshire. Dynamic percussion, bluesy harmonica and smoking small pipes blend with fiddle, whistle, cittern and Jim Malcolm's rich vocals. Wonderfully polished, the arrangements are, as always, both tight and constantly surprising as the band fuses originals with the traditional. The Scotsman has dubbed the band's mixing of the traditional with world rhythms 'Caledonian groovery'.

I was fortunate enough to see/hear these guys live in my hometown last year, performing at the annual Irish Music Festival. I don't like to say a lot of the music at the festivals is unfamiliar enough to those who don't listen to Celtic music much yet similar enough to sometimes run together to effect a background music effect. I work as a volunteer there and listen to the music while working. With Old Blind Dogs, they seeped into my consciousness, and I had to step around the corner of the tent they were in. As I gave them my full attention, I was thinking wow these guys are superbly professional and a sublimely aural experience. I love the way their myriad musical manifestations gestalt into a sound that is greater than the sum of its parts.