Celtic sounds distinguish Knopfler’s ‘Get Lucky’

BARRY COURTER: I’m mostly familiar with Mark Knopfler through his Dire Straits work. This is his seventh solo studio CD. “Get Lucky” is a more personal collection of songs with a very folk feel and plenty of Celtic influences. Fans looking for Dire-style radio hooks may be disappointed, but I like this record.

Knopfler has always been known as a great guitarist (No. 27 on Rolling Stone’s list), and there is plenty to like here. It reminded me of a Richard Thompson album, though it’s pure Knopfler.

CASEY PHILLIPS: I’m also mostly a Knopfler fan through Dire Straits’ “Brothers in Arms” and as the composer of the score to “The Princess Bride,” but I was introduced to his independent work through a bootleg of a 1996 concert in Copenhagen, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked his solo material.

Barry touched on this, but I think what might surprise most people unfamiliar with Knopfler outside of a Dire Straits context is just how much Celtic influence is mixed in with his imminently recognizable bluesy guitarwork. On “Get Lucky,” you can hear the Isles breathing through almost every track.

That’s thanks in no small part to a trio of traditional musicians he hired on, including accordionist Phil Cunningham, celebrated session whistle player/flutist Michael McGoldrick and multi-instrumentalist John McCusker, formerly of The Battlefield Band. Knopfler’s imminently recognizable, self-assured baritone folds in between the layers in an unassuming way that still demands attention.

BARRY: It’s there, but it’s not overwhelming. This is a very relaxed album to me that let’s the stories and the sounds speak. It is full of wonderful playing and melodies and a confidence that I really liked. It’s one of those records that you can immerse yourself in to or listen as background music. It’s also one that gets better with multiple listens.

CASEY: This is a collection of songs with lyrics that read like a postcards pointing out the momentous significance of seemingly insignificant events.

A couple of particular favorites are “Monteleone” and “So Far From the Clyde.” The former sounds like a string-resplendent love sonnet a luthier sings to the wood as he shapes it into the instrument it was destined to become. The latter chronicles a proud ship arriving at a scrapyard to be dismantled.

BARRY: I liked those, and I really liked the bluesy guitar on “Cleaning My Gun.”

CASEY: From “Border Reiver,” the Scottish ballad that lifts the veil at the album’s onset, to “Piper to the End,” the Scottish ballad that closes it out, “Get Lucky” is an enjoyable listen. I could recommend it to almost anyone, whether they’re a Mark Knopfler fan, a folk/Celtic fan or even a Dire Straits fan, so long as they don’t expect to hear the casual sarcasm of “Money for Nothing.” This one’s going to be in rotation for a long time, I think.