Palm Beach Post - 23rd January 1998

By Charles Passey

 

Section from full article

 

The other artist with a new album is twenty-seven year old Irish singer Tracy Sands, part of another duo - an unnamed collaboration with local folkie Rod MacDonald. Her release 'Voice on the Line' concentrates on her Celtic roots, but with a contemporary kick. The 13-track CD includes such classics as Danny Boy and Step it out Mary but in renditions more vibrant than tradition-bound. You'll also find one of Sands' own songs, the pop driven Voice in the Line plus MacDonald's I'll Walk in the Highlands, a ballad that aches for an Irish voice. And of Sands, "I'm at my very best when I get lost in a song," she says of her gentle style.  "Singing is definitely a spiritual thing." Born and raised in Ireland, Sands started performing when she was 8.  By her teen years, she was entering talent competitions and soon thereafter, playing clubs.  She came to South Florida a few years ago while on tour with a group of Irish musicians  - and decided to stay. "I had no idea of the music scene," she admits.  "I discovered there weren't many Irish singers here so I guess I was lucky in that I was unique." But she needed a guitarist - and that's where MacDonald entered the picture.  A veteran artist who has played coffeehouses from New York to Lake Worth, he blends easily with Sands and supplies much of the duo's contemporary material.  "He's a very clever writer," she says. And no the two are not romantically involved. Sands, in fact, is married and expecting her first child in June.  In the meantime, Voice on the Line, her debut album, remains her biggest production to date.