Whisht! is a group of traditional singers who live in County Wexford, Ireland. United by a love of songs and singing they are driven by a desire to share their passion with a wider audience.

These are all traditional singers of the highest calibre with a freshness and infectious joy that will provoke a reaction in any audience. The group features a mixture of young and old, male and female, townies and country folk with a variety of songs as rich as the patchwork design of the Wexford countryside. Songs of love and war; of heartbreak and triumph; of sport and politics; of emigration and re-union; serious songs; stupid songs; fast songs; rebel songs; songs of the Wexford Coast; songs about Napoleon; they're all a part of the vast repertoire of this talented and energetic ensemble. The group features holders of many All-Ireland titles, and many have their own albums to their name.

In 2007, Whisht! released their debut album, The Cuckoo's Note. Including 14 unaccompanied tracks, and a 20-page professionally design booklet, the album was recorded at Liam Clancy Studios, An Rinn, County Waterford. Engineered and mastered by Kevin Evans, it was partly funded by the Arts Council of Ireland.

"Whisht! is the evocative name of a group of traditional Irish singers based in County Wexford. To appreciate the name, say it aloud. This beautiful collection of songs is the outward expression of their passion for all that is good and exciting in the song tradition of Ireland. Our traditional music has had a long exposure to international audiences but the unaccompanied human voice has travelled less successfully with some notable exceptions.

With the fourteen tracks on offer here the listener has an opportunity to sample the wide range of such songs that are embedded in the canon. They can be melodic songs of loss or humorous songs full of wit and mischief. Opening with ‘Edward on Lough Erne’ the album will captivate even the casual listener. The veteran Paddy Berry takes up the vocals on ‘The Maid of Ballygow’, a song thought to date from the early 1900’s is south Wexford and collected by the singer after passing through the various performers of the locality.

Other tracks go further back and further afield like ‘The Waterford Boys’ and ‘The Irish Peasant Girl’. Meanwhile ‘The Auld Grey Man’ and the wonderfully titled ‘The Nigglers from Ballyvaloo’ present us with lovely slices of social history in song. A similar vein of past history runs through the powerful ‘Carroll Ban’.

The album manages the seemingly impossible of delivering a combination of lesser-known traditional songs with the like of ‘Sliabh na mBan’ mixed in and then stunning the listener to realise that ‘The Cold Hand of Greed’ dates only from 1996 and the pen of group member Helen Kirwan, proving that music and song is timeless.

Whisht! are fully professional in their dedication and delivery on this album but as they say, they are amateurs in that they all “have day jobs”. Yet the sound and selection on offer could compete with any band of performers."

Irish Music Magazine

"Whisht! traditional singing group provided excellent tremelous vocals on Macquarie Harbour which is spooky and atomspheric ... Currach features excellent vocals from Helen Kirwan, with the male vocals equally strong. It is an intimate, genuinely moving performance, with hushed playing [from the Irish Chamber Orchestra] during which you could see a sudden tremor of life in the conductor's [Fergus Sheil's] hand as he went about his work ... The Harbour was written by Irish poet, Winifred Letts, and speaks of the Wexford coastline. It was an ideal finish to the musical event, including all of the choirs, with a paroxysm of emotion provided by Paddy Berry of Whisht!"

"Currach, by Tony Curtis, was sung by Paddy Berry, Helen Kirwan, Paul O'Reilly and Niall Wall with delicate monochromes, and a vocal beauty at once as fleeting as wild tulips"

"Wexford Singing differs significantly from that of other regions in that it owes its development less from isolation and more from the influences that have washed through the area over the centuries. Typically inclusive, Wexford singing will have always also featured people not even from the area but who have, through their contribution and the natural openness of Wexford people, become as integral a part of the landscape as the Blackstairs themselves.. Singing in Wexford in not a commentary or a narrative but is a link to the very spirit and soul of the remarkable and unique people who inhabit this part of South-Eastern Ireland."

For further information contact Niall on +353 87 2607010 or whisht@eircom.net

NEXT APPEARANCE:-

"The word Whisht or éist means to be silent, stop or listen, and listen you will to these six top exponents of the unaccompanied song in the traditional idiom.... sixty minutes of wonderful ballad singing." - Liam Gaul, County Wexford Free Press

"Lovers of Irish song will be enthralled by this album." - Geoff Wallis, www.irishmusicreview.com

"It is wonderful to see the best singers in the county coming together to pool their talents for our enjoyment. Each song and singer is a delight."
- Sean Ó Dubhghaill, South East Voice

"I was absolutely taken by what I heard... a fantastic hour of solo traditional singing."
- Áine Hensey, RTÉ Radio One

"Beautifully produced."
- Paddy Ryan, South East Radio

"... a lovely album, well worth having ..."
- Dan Walsh, South East Radio