"One of the top ten international recordings of the year"

- Mitch Park, Folk on Sunday, Radio Kidnappers 1431AM Hastings, NEW ZEALAND.

-Tom Coxworth, CKUA Radio, Alberta

"These songs serve as perfect vehicle for the sterling voice that has made Eileen a Canadian national treasure.

Past albums featured her prowess as a contemporary songwriter. Eileen is well known as for her songs depicting various aspects of the Canadian experience. Those familiar with McGann's career, will not be surprised by this album. She has blended traditional songs into her concerts, as well as participating in other traditional music projects. Heritage is her way of acknowledging a significant force in her musical life.

It has been more than twenty years since an artist of McGann's talent and standing has seriously taken on the traditional ballad repertoire. It seems the current generation has found a worthy champion for this body of work. With the release of Heritage , Eileen McGann takes her place along side greats June Tabor, Joan Baez, and Judy Collins. "

There is lot of great singing coming out of Canada currently. It often has an emphasis on strong direct melody and well crafted harmony. I'm thinking of bands like Tanglefoot and singer-songwriter James Keelaghan, who have both toured over here. Eileen McGann's parents emigrated to Canada from Ireland in 1953 and she began singing the old Irish songs in public when she was in her late teens. She was then introduced to the Fiddlers Green Folk Club, where she became immersed in the traditional songs of Scotland and England, and her repertoire has developed from there. Eileen has a beautiful voice - confident, unmannered and completely at home with her material. This is a refreshing and compelling collection of well chosen, traditional songs. Although her work has been shaped out of the context of the Canadian folk scene, her appeal easily survives the rigours of a trans-Atlantic crossing and carries a warmth and strength and difference that we can enjoy, and dare I say it, learn from! Heritage doesn't set out to be an 'in your face' or a "clever" album. There are no grandiose or opulent arrangements such as you might find for instance emanating from Loreena McKennett's world. Rather, the album presents uncluttered, transparent, well organised settings, which interweave and support her vocal journey through each song.

There is a smooth, flute-like quality to her voice, somewhat reminiscent of our own Chris White. You will find quite a range of themes and emotions explored on this CD, from the simple yet haunting Blackwaterside, which opens the collection, to the lyrical and surprisingly smoochy Girl With a Hole in Her Stocking, [The Beltane] and it's good to hear a fresh version of Little Musgrave that sustained this reviewer's interest through a plenitude of verses. Lowlands is given a sparse yearning soulful treatment which feels just right, and Tae The Begging I Will Go explores a medley of three thematically related versions of this song which developed differently in England and Scotland.

This album conjures up images of times and lives past, the trials and vicissitudes of the human heart, and the joy of retelling old tales in the living present. I loved it. -Phil Bird

The Living Tradition, Britain's national magazine of traditional music, Sept/Oct 1997

EILEEN MCGANN "Heritage" Dragonwing Music- What is it about women singers on the other side of the pond that makes them find something fresh in our traditional songs? Sylvia Herold has the knack and in this impressive album Eileen McGann shows that she, too, can unearth new charm in age-old songs. McGann has a crystal-clear voice with diction to match. Perhaps what sets her apart, though, is her ability to target lyrics intelligently while allowing the rhythm of the verse to look after itself. "The Beltane" is one such, with the chorus, even on its eighth repeat, still fueling new images. Backed by first-class occasional musicians, including the incredible Steafan Hannigan in uilleann pipes, this is a well produced album. Altogether a fine work.

>The Record, Sep 18/97 - Kitchener, Ontario

Although a gifted songwriter, Calgary based folksinger Eileen McGann is one of Canada's finest interpreters of traditional music.In response to repeated requests from fans, McGann has released an album of traditional songs from Scotland, England and Canada, as well as Ireland, her ancestral home.McGann's porcelain-like soprano and sensitive guitar work feature prominently, but she receives inspired support from a diverse group of some of Canada's best acoustic musicians including Garnet Rogers, Oliver Schroer, George Koller, Loretto Reid, David Woodhead, Grit Laskin and sometime collaborator David K., in addition to all-Britain piping champion Steafan Hannigan.From a beautiful a cappella rendition of Lowlands to the Child Ballad Little Musgrave, this is an album to tickle the fancy of musical purists of all stripes.By Robert Reid

For another on-line review, check out this one from The Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange.