Bruce Von Stiers

There is a wide range of musical talent that makes up Contemporary Christian Music. There are Divas, grunge bands, hard rock and one that I had never thought of before, Celtic. A band that I hadn’t heard before is releasing a new album soon. The name of the band is Ceili Rain. The first word in their name is pronounced Kay-lee. This new album is their third release. The title of the album is No You-No Me. It is being released on the Cross Driven Records label and distributed by Provident Music Distribution.

There are twelve songs on No You-No Me. All of them have a Celtic flavor to them. Front man for the band, Bob Halligan, Jr. began writing in performing Celtic type of music in the late ‘80’s and formed Ceili Rain in 1995. Bob is the lead singer, plays the acoustic guitar and writes songs for the band. He has written songs for Christian artists like Rebecca St. James and mainstream artists Michael Bolton and Kathy Mattea.

Bob is joined by Raymond Arias on lead guitar, Rocky Marvel on drums, Jeanni Cioffi on fiddle and Skip Cleaveinger on whistle/ bagpipe.

The first song on the album is A Hundred Smiles An Hour. It has over a minute’s worth of instrumentals as an introduction. The song is about how happy God makes us feel.

Everybody Clap For Everybody is the second song. It is about being supportive at sporting events, especially one’s for children. It also talks about everybody getting along with other people, not matter who or what they are.

Forty Shades of Green is about the conflict in Ireland. It talks about it not being wrong to have either English or Irish pride but “how about ‘I’m on your side’.” Everything Good In Me is praising the lord for every good thing in the singer’s life. Ping Pong is a fast paced Celtic song. It is about the love from God and how it goes back and forth like a ping pong ball.

The title song is No You – No Me. It is a haunting song about being at two people being at odds with each other. Johnny leaves Bridget only to find God and goes back home to her.

Queen For a Day is about not having anything but an active imagination to get beyond a young girl’s circumstances. Live Like a King is about Jesus and how the singer wants to live his life like he did. The music and tone of the song reminded me of a Billy Joel ballad.

House Not Made With Hands is about going to heaven. “I Love You” Always Works is a prescription for getting people to forgive each other and get along.

The other songs on the album are Bliss That I’m Swimmin’ In and We Made It To The Top.

No You – No Me is a unique album in its blend of soft rock and Celtic music to provide an exciting praise album.

Look for No You – No Me in stores on September 17th.

You can check out more about Ceili Rain on their web site at www.ceilirain.com. Or visit the Cross Driven web site at www.crossdriven.com