There's a reason folk music has survived every storm humanity has thrown at it. It carries people through. And on their ninth album, Our Ship Is Ready, is what traditional music has always done -- they look the hardest realities of our time squarely in the eye, and still see what's worth holding onto and celebrating. Emigration. Love. Loss. Climate change. These aren't easy subjects, but CARA have experience of navigating choppy waters. With a repertoire spanning their own original compositions and finely crafted arrangements of songs and tunes from the Irish and Scottish traditions, the band weave the old and the new into something that feels both timeless and relevant.