The Voice Squad's second album, which has for a couple of years been unavailable, is now released again. Fran McPhail, Gerry Cullen and Phil Callery are The Voice Squad, and their excellent vocal harmonies made this album a firm favourite the first time round.
The Voice Squad's (Phil Callery, Fran McPhail and Gerry Cullen) style of singing in harmony does not form part of the Irish singing tradition but each singer had already served their time in our individual tradition before coming together to sing in harmony. They have carried with them this individual approach to the song and it is this that gives the group its unique sound.
&The Voice Squad has been compared to those great English family groups, 'The Watersons' and 'The Copper Family' and while they would have enjoyed the singing of both these groups their strongest influences have come directly from our own traditional songs and the styles of our individual singers. It is the union of the distinct tenor voices of Fran and Phil plus the bass of Gerry, along with their own particular arrangements of good songs, that has made them one of the most distinctive unaccompanied singing groups of recent times.
However as a group they were also much in demand as studio session musicians adding their vocal textures and melodic colour to the recordings of other artists who have included:
- The Chieftains
- Rita Connolly
- Christy Hennessy
- Elvis Costello
- Jimmy McCarthy
- Sinead O'Connor
- Liam O'Flynn
- John Renbourn
- Dolores Keane
The Voice Squad
Holly Wood
The Coventry Carol
The Cocks are Crowing
The Sheepstealers
A Stor Mo Chroi
Jimmy Murphy
I am stetched on your grave
Good People all
The Brown and the Yellow Ale
Sarah Jane
Down in your forest
A Fond Kiss
annan Waters
The Parting Glass
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