Life is all Checkered is the new duet album by Nathan Gourley and Laura Feddersen.  Its strapline reads 'Traditional Irish Music on Two Fiddles' and it is the surprise recording from the end of 2014. The US produced some great recordings last year and this is top of the pile.  It shows that new life exists within many an old tune.  Nathan and Laura through years of playing together and some inspired arrangements have found some new avenues of musical expression that underpin the recording. The use of complementary drones and chordal harmonies overcome any issue of one fiddle cancelling the other. In addition the rich sound that they have extracted from the fiddles in the recording process gives it an extra layer of texture, setting everything at a perfect earthly timbre that matches the mood of the music.  We will get to a full review shortly.

On their background the album notes state that Nathan is "a former member of Chulrua, the Doon Ceili Band, the Two Tap Trio, and the Máirtín de Cógáin Project"and started playing music at age five. While living in Minnesota he had the opportunity to collaborate with such renowned players as Paddy O’Brien of Chulrua, Daithi Sproule of Altan, Brian Miller of Bua, and Norah Rendell of The Outside Track. He was a finalist in the Sean O Riada fiddle competition in 2014 and winner of Boston’s Fiddler of Dooney competition in 2013. Nathan can be seen playing at concerts, ceilis, sessions and festivals in Boston and throughout the United States and Ireland."