The Freels, a group of young St. John's musicians have just released their first Self-titled recording. The album features a wide variety of instrumental music and songs drawn from the Newfoundland traditional music repertoire.

The band demonstrates a musical maturity that belies the youth of its members. The five musicians range from 18-28, but they have been playing for many years.

Here are the band members:

Maria Peddle, fiddle & vocals -Fergus Brown-O'Byrne, accordion & concertina-Danny Mills, flute whistle, guitar and accordion-Anthony Chafe, guitar, bodhran & accordion-Andrew Fitzgerald, fiddle & vocals.

The CD contains traditional Newfoundland dance tunes, a set of reels combining a traditional Irish reel, a lively set of jigs, an a capella version of an old Irish Ballad featuring band member Maria Peddle and a roaring set of dance tunes by Anthony Chafe.

Here are the track titles:

Coming From The Races - Beggar's Reels West Moon Jackson's Fancy - Mrs. Belle's Singles - A Stor Mo Chroi The Goulds - St. John's Waltz - Festival Reels - Cecilia

The band pays homage to legendary west coast fiddlers Rufus Guinchard and Emile Benoit by including a set of tunes from each, they also include a set from Port Kirwan accordion player Belle Fennelly. The CD is nicely rounded out by the inclusion of songs from songwriters as diverse as Ron Hynes, Pat Byrne and Paul Simon.

The Freels was recorded locally at The Sound Solutions, St. John's, with mixing and mastering by Billy Sutton (The Fables) and Jason Whelan and produced by Fergus Brown-O'Byrne, Danny Mills and The Freels.

Atlantic Seabreeze gives this CD high ratings on its ratings list and forsees great happenings wih this band. With the pure and emotive singing voice of Maria Peddle and the bands clever playing the various instruments are sure to please the listener whether its dancing or singing and fans will ask for more. For more information regarding The Frells and their music, refer to the above posted website.