My mother (and probably yours too) used to say: if you have nothing encouraging to say to someone, then better say nothing at all. I suppose you were away the day they taught that lesson. The lad was trying very hard. Give him a break.
Emmet is a brilliant, soulful, cracking guitar player. I would have him back me on tunes any day. He knows what's up. As lovely a box and guitar duo as I have ever heard. Pure and tasty at the same time.
It is quite lovely and perfectly situated with Colm's beautifully articulate and musical style. You can tell these two have played together for a long time. Incredibly tight. Also, I think you meant " a dozen chords or more?" because there is a LOT going on in the accompaniment here. You may want to listen with headphones to hear all the harmonic goodness Emmett is pulling out under the tunes. Been listening to this set constantly for several years. Gets better every time. And Irish guitar is not "strummy"? Try telling that to John Doyle, Arty McGlynn, Donogh Hennessey, Jim Murray and a hundreds more. It certainly can be "strummy". It is just played with a control and syncopation to the rhythm that most non-trad players don't know how to employ. It takes a lot of work and skill to acquire and a lot of immersion in the music, which these two have obviously grown up doing for years. This is an excellent example of how to play tight rhythm with trad music along with some very respectful, tasty chord substitutions. Brilliant stuff altogether.
