Phil Cooper and Margaret Nelson entertain their audience with a lively mixture of excellent music, well crafted introductions, and sometimes absurd humor!
This Chicago duo (they have been performing together for over twenty years) has garnered praise from numerous critics, and has won the admiration of the serious folk music community as well.
"Cooper & Nelson are quite a team, bringing traditional music to great heights with delicately beautiful arrangements but without compromising the nature of the material." --Keith Fotheringham, Andy' Front Hall catalogue.
..."What seems at first like a measured stateliness soon becomes tender, then passionate, as these stalwarts of the Anglo-Irish folk tradition work their magic. Phil Cooper's guitar playing is subtly powerful--harplike at times--and a perfect match for Margaret Nelson's shimmery, intimate vocals..."Stuart Rosenberg, Chicago Magazine
"In a world of singer-songwriters, most of what they perform is traditional, drawn from sources as diverse as a turn-of-the-century Chicago police chief's tune collection and the Child ballads. No long anecdotes, either. Tunes are set up quickly, amid a patter of off-the-wall jokes and outrageous puns - they have an intelligent, bone-dry sense of humor - but with a scholar's attention to where they came from..." --Pete Zicari, FolkNet newsletter
They describe what they do as "Strong Old Music" and sometimes as "songs of love, sex, greed, betrayal, death, revenge and more death". As you may have gathered, their repertoire leans heavily to the traditional side. Margaret fell in love with British Isles folk songs (mainly ballads) and she takes the alto lead on those that they sing. Phil is an accomplished guitarist and provides accompaniment to Margaret's vocals along with masterful arrangements of Scottish fiddle tunes. Into that mix throw some more instruments (autoharp, spoons, bodhran and doumbek), some humorous songs, an abundance of jokes and bad puns - the result is a lively and entertaining concert with something for everyone.
Visit Phil and Margaret's Myspace Page and listen to samples of their music.