Karan Casey’s latest album ‘Nine Apples Of Gold‘ contains a range of topics across its ten tracks – but this beautiful rendering to ‘The Rocks Of Bawn’ is strangely topical for a song so traditional. There’s a case of things never changing with the opening lines “Come all you loyal heroes wherever you may be / Don’t hire with any master ’til you know what your work will be / For you will rise up early from the clear daylight ’til the dawn / and you never will be able for to plough the rocks of Bawn.” And there’s something oh so topical in the admonishment to be sure to feed on good oats rather than soft turnips. A lesson others could heed.
Karan Casey in addition to being one of Ireland’s most famous singers and a founding member of Celtic band Solas, is also a leading advocate for gender equity, spearheading the FairPlé campaign for gender balance in Irish traditional and folk music. ‘Nine Apples Of Gold‘ is Casey’s twelth solo album, and was released in February.
