In Still Getting Away With It Chris has produced a masterwork of extraordinary breadth and depth. The CD, at a little over an hour long, contains 18 tracks, 10 of which are original compositions. Balancing virtuosity with lyricism and ranging from the dark and hypnotic Pear Drops and Fourteen Pounds via the haunting Air on a Shoestring, the smoky Moanin’ and the tender Closing Time to the helter-skelter Not Likely! and the joyfully effervescent Québec Reels, it’s a perfect showcase for his extraordinary skills as guitarist, mandolinist and arranger.

Chris’s distinctive style of composition was forged in the melting pot of cultures that was the north London of his youth and the wide spectrum of music to be found in the English folk clubs of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Like all real composers, he doesn’t consciously set out to write a tune in a particular genre: though influences ranging from English, Scottish, Irish, Swedish, American and Québecois folk and folk-rock, to country, latin, African, swing and modern jazz can be discerned, he creates a seamless whole that inspires an irresistible urge to dance!

The CD is a very personal statement – a sort of musical autobiography. The front cover features Chris as a five-year-old playing the guitar in his grandmother’s garden. The accompanying commentary is a warm and witty invitation into his rich, rooted but diverse and questing musical world.

Guesting are Arty McGlynn, Nollaig Casey, Simon Mayor, Paul Buckley, his brother Mark, Roy Whyke, Davy Stuart and of course, Máire Ní Chathasaigh.