The Voice Squad are a traditional Irish singing

Traditional Irish Singers

Some of the traditional Irish singers alphabetically listed below are known to have sung in both the Irish and English language and if so are listed in both sections below as well known singers of macaronic Irish songs.-Mainly English language songs:...

 group from Ireland. The members include Gerry Cullen, Phil Callery and Fran McPhail. They have recorded two albums and have toured Ireland, the UK and the US.

Though group singing, especially in harmony, is not part of the Irish music tradition, The Voice Squad have a considerable repertoire of Irish traditional songs and have always sung unaccompanied.

'Many's The Foolish Youth, first issued in 1987, was the first record by Fran, Gerry and Phil. Later they became known as The Voice Squad. Their style of singing in harmony does not form part of the Irish singing tradition, but each of the singers had already served his time in our individual tradition before coming together to sing in harmony.' - Frank Harte

Frank Harte

Frank Harte was a traditional Irish singer, song collector, architect and lecturer. He was born and raised in Dublin. His father Peter Harte who had moved from a farming background in Sligo owned 'The Tap' pub in Chapelizod...

They have been compared to English family groups of similar style, such as 'The Watersons' and 'The Copper Family'. 'It is the union of the distinct tenor voices of Fran and Phil plus the bass of Gerry, along with their own particular arrangements of good songs, that has made them one of the most distinctive unaccompanied singing groups of recent times.'

Performances

The group have performed in Ireland, the UK, Europe and the US. 'In October 2002 they performed, in front of Ireland's President Mary McAleese

Mary McAleese

Mary Patricia McAleese served as the eighth President of Ireland from 1997 to 2011. She was the second female president and was first elected in 1997 succeeding Mary Robinson, making McAleese the world's first woman to succeed another as president. She was re-elected unopposed for a second term in...

, at the Gala opening of Dublin's newest concert venue The Helix

The Helix

The Helix is a building on the Dublin City University campus between Glasnevinand Whitehall on Dublin's Northside, originally planned to be called the Aula Maxima. It was completed in 2002, and it is described as a "performance space" and holds concerts, university conferring ceremonies and...

 at Dublin City University

Dublin City University

Dublin City University is a university situated between Glasnevin, Santry, Ballymun and Whitehall on the Northside of Dublin in Ireland...

. The concert was recorded by RTÉ

RTE

RTÉ is the abbreviation for Raidió Teilifís Éireann, the public broadcasting service of the Republic of Ireland.RTE may also refer to:* Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 25th Prime Minister of Turkey...

 television for later transmission. The track they performed was a special Shaun Davey

Shaun Davey

- Early years :Shaun Davey was born in Belfast in 1948. He graduated from Trinity College, Dublin in the history of Art in 1971. He then took a master's degree at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. In the late 1970s, he made his first recording, "Davey and Morris," with Donal Lunny and others...

 arrangement of "The Parting Glass

The Parting Glass

"The Parting Glass" is an Irish traditional song, often sung at the end of a gathering of friends. It was allegedly the most popular song sung in both Scotland and Ireland before Robert Burns wrote "Auld Lang Syne"....

".'

In June 2003 the group performed at the opening ceremony of the Special Olympics World Games

Special Olympics World Games

The Special Olympics World Games are an international sporting competition for athletes with intellectual disabilities, organized by Special Olympics....

, in Ireland with Rita Connolly

Rita Connolly

Rita Connolly is a Dublin-born singer who has lived and worked in Ireland. She is primarily known for her work with composer Shaun Davey Shaun Davey who wrote a song cycle for her called 'Granuaile' based on the 16th century pirate queen Gráinne O'Malley as well as including her in other of his...

 and Ronan Tynan

Ronan Tynan

Ronan Tynan is a singer in the classical Irish style. He is most famous for his renditions of "God Bless America" at Yankee Stadium during important New York Yankees games, such as Opening Day, nationally-televised games, the last game at the old Yankee Stadium, and playoff games...

 to perform "May We Never Have To Say Goodbye", composed by Shaun Davey, which was the theme song for the games.

"The Voice Squad represent the melding of two related but separate traditions — a British harmony-singing tradition (as exemplified by the Copper Family and the Watersons) and the unaccompanied solo singing tradition of Northern Ireland (as exemplified by such legendary artists as Paddy Tunney and Joe Heaney). By taking the traditional Irish repertoire and harmonizing it in a generally British style, the three members of the Voice Squad have created something new and absolutely wonderful. All three singers have excellent voices, but tenor Fran McPhail is the one who brings something tonally unique to the ensemble; his voice has an eerie, almost horn-like quality that blends beautifully with the harder-edged voices of tenor Phil Callery and baritone Gerry Cullen. - Rick Anderson, Allmusic

"All three singers merge miraculously into a single, enchanting confluence." (The Irish Times)

Phil Callery

Phil Callery sang in the Dublin folk clubs of the late sixties and went on to found the first 'Singers Club' in Dublin in 1970. The 'Singers Club' provided a platform in the early seventies for such names as Dolores Keane

Dolores Keane

Dolores Keane is an Irish folk singer and occasional actress. She was a founding member of the successful group De Dannan, and has since embarked on a very successful solo career, establishing herself as one of the most loved interpreters of Irish song.-Background:Keane was born in a small village...

, Triona

Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill

Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill is an Irish traditional singer, pianist, and composer, considered one of the most influential female vocalists in the history of Irish music. She is famed for her work with traditional Irish groups such as Skara Brae, The Bothy Band, Relativity, Touchstone, and Nightnoise.-...

 and Maighread Ni Dhomhnaill

Maighread Ní Dhomhnaill

Maighread Ní Dhomhnaill is an Irish traditional singer from Kells, County Meath. Known for her work with the short-lived, but very highly regarded Skara Brae and her collaborations with sister Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill, as well as other traditional musicians...

, Mary Black

Mary Black

Mary Black is an Irish singer. She is well known as an interpreter of both folk and contemporary material which has made her a major recording artist in her native Ireland, and in many other parts of the world....

, Christy Moore

Christy Moore

Christopher Andrew "Christy" Moore is a popular Irish folk singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is well known as one of the founding members of Planxty and Moving Hearts...

, Luka Bloom

Luka Bloom

Luka Bloom is an Irish folk-rock singer-songwriter. He is the younger brother of Irish folk singer Christy Moore.-Early life:...

, Paul Brady

Paul Brady

Paul Joseph Brady is an Irish singer-songwriter, whose work straddles folk and pop. He was interested in a wide variety of music from an early age...

 and many more. The 'Singers Club' was a forerunner to An Goilin

An Góilín

An Góilín Traditional Singer's Club is a traditional singing club in Dublin, Ireland. Founded in 1979 by Dónal de Barra and his brother-in-law, Tim Dennehy, the club serves as a meeting place for those who want to sing and listen to traditional songs...

 traditional singers club. Phil has guested on several albums to date including Sinéad O'Connor

Sinéad O'Connor

Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor is an Irish singer-songwriter. She rose to fame in the late 1980s with her debut album The Lion and the Cobra and achieved worldwide success in 1990 with a cover of the song "Nothing Compares 2 U"....

, Christy Hennessey, Jimmy McCarthy

Jimmy McCarthy

James "Jimmy" MacCarthy is a singer/songwriter born in Macroom, County Cork, Ireland.- Early life and career :Jimmy MacCarthy was born in 1953 to Ted and Betty MacCarthy . He has 11 siblings. The family had a business distributing newspapers and magazines all over Munster. However the family soon...

 and others.
In September 1999 Phil released a solo album 'From The Edge of Memory' with The Long Wave Band.

Recordings

The Voice Squad have recorded three albums, Good People All being a re-release of Holly Wood with the same tracks.

'We Sang in St. Kevin's Church during the "Music Under the Mountains" festival in 1991. The natural stone quality was the best we have ever found so we came back to record this album. Most of these recordings were made in the Church, some during a concert. Other tracks were recorded in John Butler's house. St. Kevin's Church is the oldest Christian Church in Leinster which is still in use. It was built on the site of a hermit's cell, inhabited by St. Kevin before he went to Glendalough. The building is approximately 1000 years old and is now the Hollywood Heritage Centre. Hollywood is a village situated on the western approach to the Wicklow Mountains.'

• Many's The Foolish Youth, 1987, Tara, TARACD4004

Tracklist:

1. When a Man's in Love

2. The Bonny Irish Maid

3. Willie Taylor

4. The Banks of the Bann

5. The Holly She Bears a Berry

6. The Parting Glass

7. Kilmore Carol

8. Annan Water

9. Shepherds Arise

10. 0de to Autumn

11. Oh Good Ale

• Holly Wood, 1992, TARA 4013

Tracklist:

1. The Coventry Carol

2. The Cocks are Crowing

3. The Sheepstealers

4. A Stor Mo Chroí

5. Jimmy Murphy

Jimmy Murphy (song)

Jimmy Murphy also known as 'Little Jimmy Murphy' is a song, possibly of music-hall origin, referencing the 1798 rebellion, which occurred largely in Wexford....

6. I Am Stretched on Your Grave

I Am Stretched on Your Grave

"I Am Stretched on Your Grave" is a translation of an anonymous 17th-century Irish poem titled "Táim sínte ar do thuama". It was translated into English several times, most notably by Frank O'Connor.It was put to music by musician Philip King in 1979....

7. Good People All (Wexford Carol)

8. The Brown and The Yellow Ale

9. Sarah Jane

10. Down in Yon Forest

11. A Fond Kiss

12. Annan Waters

13. The Parting Glass

• Good People All, 1993

Tracklist:

1. The Cocks Are Crowing

2. The Brown And Yellow Ale

3. Sarah Jane

4. Down In Yon Forest

5. A Fond Kiss

6. The Coventry Carol

7. Jimmy Murphy

8. I Am Stretched On Your Grave

9. Good People All

10. The Sheepstealers

11. A Stor Mo Chroi

12. Annan Waters

13. The Parting Glass