BoneZone: In Session
Bones and vocals by Scotsman Yirdy "MacBones" Machar with four superb young musicians from Denmark
Features 12 full tracks of traditional Celtic tunes you can rattle with and sing along

Grab Your Bones and Rattle Along with Yirdy

He lives in a wooden cottage under a large oak tree at the edge of a forest on the island of Sealland in Denmark. His passions include singing, playing music, giving workshops on bones and bodhran, and teaching the fine art of calligraphy.

Yirdy has performed with many bands in Denmark including Yirdy's Pipes and Drums, Foxhunters, The McSherry's, McEwans Export, Folk in a Rune, MacMortensens Trio, Paddy's Pint, Three's a Crowd, and Buttons and Bones. A veteran of the touring circuit, Yirdy has shared the stage as a guest performer with such notable musicians and groups including Eleanor Shanlley, Phil Cunningham & Aly Bain, The Dubliners, Wolfstone and Dervish.

2002 World Bones Champion
Yirdy visited the United States in 2002 where he won first place in the National Traditional Country Music Association (NTCMA) Bones and Spoons contest. I first met Yirdy in 2005 at Bones Fest IX in Chattanooga, Tennessee. This CD demonstrates why he is always a big hit at any venue where he performs.

Bones...Bones...and more Bones
The BoneZone is a rare CD that features virtuoso bones or spoon playing on every track. And Yirdy's incredibly soothing singing voice is a sound to behold.

The CD offers a broad aray of musical styles including jigs, reels, a schottishe, mazurkas, and traditional Scottish ballads. Track number 6 features an enchanting 2-minute-and-41-second bones solo which alone is worth the price of admission.

About half the tracks include melody sets so you get a CD packed with 22 tunes. And if you feel exuberant enough while listening, the liner notes include complete lyrics so you can rattle and sing along.

Yirdy describes BoneZone as "basically traditional music, mostly Irish and Scottish, with a swing and a few added flavours." Health issues now prevent Yirdy from performing as he would like. So the prospect of future releases with Yirdy remains unknown at this time.

Band Members (left to right): Steffan Sørensen double-bass, piano. Rasmus Zeeberg guitars, mandolin. Jonas Fromseier banjo, mandolin. Christopher Davis Maack fiddle. (towering above): Yirdy "MacBones" Machar bones, spoons, vocals.

Look what's on the CD:

1. The Dundee Weaver 3:06
2. The Cat in the Corner / Up Ya Boya / Old Leitrim 3:24
3. The Hot Asphalt 2:41
4. Joe Bane's Schottische 2:59
5. Mazurkas 3:46
6. Bones Solo 2:41
7. Paddy Killoran's Highland / Eileen O'Brien's / The Dublin Porter 2:55
8. Tarbolton / The Longford Collector / The Sailors Bonnet 4:47
9. McFadden's Favourite / The Steeplechase / The Highland Man Who Kissed His Granny 3:17
10. The Mormond Braes 2:29
11. The Old Man's Blackthorn Stick / The Heathery Breeze / Flanagan's Banshee 3:08
12. The Bonnie Ship "The Diamond" 6:31

Musicians
Yirdy Machar, Vocals, bones, spoons
Jonas Fromseier, Banjo, mandolin
Christopher Davis Maack, Fiddle
Rasmus Zeeberg, Guitar, mandolin
Steffan Sørensen, Double-bass, piano

• Media Type: Audio CD. Listen to audio disc on CD player or your computer.
• Twelve Tracks: Rattle along or just listen and enjoy.
• Plastic Jewel Case: Protects your CD.
• Running Time: 41:29
• Record Label: Go Danish
• Made in Denmark

BoneZone Review

by Mich Nielsen
Danish Irish Society

BoneZone is a newish band on the "Irish/Scottish" scene in Denmark. Their music is a mixture of instrumentals and songs. The songs are sung by Scotsman Yirdy "MacBones" Machar, who is also a brilliant bones and spoons player. Yirdy is the 2002 world champion bones player and also a very skilful singer. The other musicians on "In Session" are Galway-based Jonas Fromseier on banjo and mandolin, Christopher Davis Maack on fiddle, Rasmus Zeeberg on guitars and mandolin and Steffan Sørensen on double-bass and piano. All very talented and experienced musicians.

I don't know if it's a first ever, but I have never heard a bones solo on a cd before. Yirdy has a 2:40 long solo where he proves why he won the world championship. I'm amazed at the way he can make such (a) simple instrument(s) swing.

I have always been a fan of Yirdy's singing and the songs on this cd are great exponents of his vocal capacities. Most of his songs have a humorous twist to them and the ones chosen here are no exceptions.

Banjo player extraordinaire Jonas Fromseier just gets better and better. Ever since he moved to Ireland his playing has improved to the stage where he, in my opinion, is up there with best banjo players in Ireland. Just listen to his playing on "McFadden's Favourite" – it just doesn't get any better than this.

Fiddle player Christopher Davis Maack is also an accomplished and well-known figure on the scene and for very good reasons. Rasmus Zeeberg has established himself as one of the best traditional guitarists in Denmark. Add to this, the bass and piano playing of Steffan Sørensen and you come up with a winner: BoneZone.

I quite like the addition of the bass and the piano to the otherwise strictly traditional instruments.

The five met at various sessions in Copenhagen and, although, each of them already played in other constellations they decided to get together and form, in their own words, the musical playground we now know as BoneZone. For this we should be very happy.

"In Session" is full of good musicianship and has a good mix of tunes, Irish and Scottish, and songs – in fact the right recipe for a good cd.