Although I haven't purchased this debut CD yet, I will when I see her in 10 days. This young concertina/ harp/ fiddle player really impresses me. She has totally immersed herself in Irish trad music, and a visit to her sight with a read of her bio will give you insight into this rising player. I first bumped into her in Atlanta in February 2007 where she was playing concertina like a pro, I then heard her play fiddle, and harp. Same impression. I saw her next in the Catskills at a session. She then went to the Mid Atlantic Fleadh in Pearl River New York. No surprise to me, I saw her in my class at Eigse Mrs Crott. After that she went on to compete in the Fleadh Cheoil. She got a medal on the harp, and I imagine the concertina competition for her age level was fierce. Take a listen to the sample of her playing Hanley's Tweed ( a Paddy O'Brien RIP composition), and enjoy. She makes a fine sound on her new Suttner Concertina. ( Can't wait for mine to arrive)

http://alex.reidinger.googlepages.com/

Nice playing. But can't help it, I've already heard it. It's the same problem with Russian music, the conventional players all sound alike, even good ones.
I found that the pop singers often perform folk songs really interenstingly, unlike hordes of folk musicians, whose playing is indistiguishable from each other.

I would agree that we have heard it before, however......As a you player from the US not yet 18 she shows a lot of musical maturity. She will continue to evolve as a musician, and I applaud the fact that she has had the dedication to pursue her playing to such a high standard. There are several bright young players of Irish music in Ireland, such as Edel Fox, Jack Talty, etc. In the US, removed geographically from the source, one has to put in that extra work.

Yes.
What makes me optimistic about this, is the fact, that some youngsters pick a folk instrument and, going against the odds amongst their peers, play folk music. It's very hard to steer one's musical interest towards that, when all people around tell you "Oh, you are very musical, you MUST and HAVE TO hire a piano teacher, or a violin teacher and learn REAL instrument and play REAL music". Know this myself, I wanted my second child to learn slide guitar, but all family humors the idea. So - Piano instead.
Have you heard those holow body square neck slides? Man, they rock!