Cyberpiper(Schmatt) Julie Fowlis(Hug air a Bhonait Mhoir) Shona Kipling & Damien O’Kane(Ferret Painting) Dom Duff(Kig Ha farz)
For more information on the artists featured on the Celtic Folk Podcast, including links and pics, click on www.celticfolkpod.com.
CFP26 Show Notes:
MySpace on our space. This is a show I’ve wanted to to do since we started the Celtic Folk Podcast. Our four tracks this week highlight the diversity that is found on MySpace.
MySpace has its detractors, but no matter what you think of this online community it contains some great - and free - music from both established stars and new and up-coming artists.
Click on the “(more…)” link to see the rest of the ShowNotes.
OK, got a homework assignment for all of our subscribers!
As we prepare our next Celtic Folk Podcast (due out on Sunday 29th), we have been contacting all the major sources for great Celtic and Traditional music, in order to convince them to allow us to feature some of their artists’ music on the podcast. What we would like you our listeners and subscribers to do is flood them with emails, asking them to please allow the Celtic Folk Podcast to help them spread the word about their fine artists.
I have listed several contacts for you below and hope that you can take a few minutes to send them a note. (more…)
Doug Sparling(The Old Stone Bridge) Russ Rentler(The Way Things Might Have Been) Mary Knickle(Wild Irish Man) Celtic Mystique(Play It Again) SullivanBurton(Winnie’s Morning Tune Set)
For more information on the artists featured on the Celtic Folk Podcast, including links and pics, click on www.celticfolkpod.com.
CFP25 Show Notes:
The Season of Sprinter. After a couple of weeks of very pleasant weather, we have dived right back into winter rather than spring, here in Kentucky - or “Sprinter,” as a friend of mine describes it. Don’t forget you can purchase downloads of music featured on the podcast by clicking on the Upbeat Sounds logo next to the band’s or artist’s information in the ShowNotes. Digital Singles are $0.99 and we also offer complete CD’s in both hard copy and digital versions.
We have a good mix this week of traditional and modern folk.
Click on the “More” link to see the ShowNotes for this show.
The Larkin Brigade(Sean South of Garryowen) Anne Roos(Mairi’s Wedding) - Buy It! O’hAnleigh(Siuil Aghra/Irish Rover/Star of the County Down) - Buy It! The Borderers(Will You Love Me When I’m Fat, Bald & Ugly) - Buy It! Raymond McCullough(I will lift my eyes up)
For more information on the artists featured on the Celtic Folk Podcast, including links and pics, click on www.celticfolkpod.com.
CFP24 Show Notes:
Growing Strong. We’ve cracked the top 100 music podcasts on iTunes here in the U.S! Thanks to all our subscribers and regular listeners.
After our last show, which tended more on the folksy side of the artists’ music, we lean more towards the traditional. I also have a quick shout-out and dedication to my brother, Darren, who still lives back in Scotland and is experiencing the same effects of aging as me (just listen to the show to find out what I’m talking about.
Don’t forget to register at CelticFolkPod.com and leave a comment. Everyone that signs-up throughout the year qualifies for our big Christmas Giveaway, so click on the Login link towards the bottom of the right-hand menu.
The Larkin Brigade - Sean South of Garryowen.
The Larkin Brigade are a loud and fast Irish folk band from Boston. With a unique, piano- and fiddle-driven sound and a live set of witty originals and pub classics, they’re the rag ‘n’ reel cream o’ the scene.
Biography
Paddy Keys, Paulie Thunder, and Diesel Dennis have been playing together since the turn of the millennium. They’ve known each other since the early ’80s, when they were wee tykes in Dorchester. And the music they play has roots considerably deeper than that.
Boston natives, the lads’ forebears came from Ireland, an island with a musical tradition centuries old. Growing up, they learned the rebel songs, the drinking songs, the romantic ballads, and the jigs and reels of that tradition by accident. The music was one part of their real-life soundtrack as youngsters, heard on the Irish Hour on local radio, on record albums by the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, and played live at church variety shows and family gatherings. (Brothers Paddy and Paulie, nee Patrick and Paul Kennedy, have a ton of musician relatives, including an uncle, Bob McCarthy, who has regularly toured with Tommy Makem.)
As adolescents in the Boston Public Schools, they naturally got into rap, soul, rock n’ roll, metal, and punk rock. Dennis (last name Doherty) played drums in a memorable hip-hop/funk-rock band called Epileptic Disco. They were regulars at the Rat in old Kenmore Square, and played on bills with acts such as Shootyz Groove and the Lordz of Brooklyn.
Paddy eventually started a hardcore punk band called the Molly Maguires, who almost exclusively played VFW and church halls with bands like Darkbuster and the Explosion. At the same time, he was listening to more Irish folk than ever. He hosted the Celtic program on WZBC 90.3 FM and wrote music reviews for the Boston Irish Reporter.
One cold night in December 1999, with all that in the past, Dennis and Paddy rolled to BC to catch the Prodigals, an Irish rock band based in New York. Halfway through the set, a light bulb exploded over Dennis’ head and he exclaimed: “We should start an Irish band.” Before long, they recruited Paulie to play bass, formed a band called the Bogtrotters, and (despite Paulie being 19) wowed the crowds at downtown bars for months. With a ridiculous amount of energy and rawness, they covered songs by the Pogues, one of their favorite bands, and the Wolfe Tones, whom they regularly went to see at the IBEW hall in Dorchester. Good times were had. The drink flowed and so did the puke. (Well, once.)(We shan’t name names, but he was only 19.)
For various reasons, that band came to a halt in early 2001. In 2002, another band came to a halt as well: Melee, an underground thrash act known for inspiring fans to mosh naked and spray paint “Melee Mosh Hogs” on buildings all over town. Now bandless and bored, their drummer, a friend of Paddy’s named Dynamite Jack, talked Paddy into starting an Irish band once again. Paddy talked his brother into playing bass again — perhaps “begged” is the best term — and in 2003 the Larkin Brigade was born. They took their name in honor of Big Jim Larkin, a labor-union founder who took part in the fight for Irish freedom in 1916. This time, Paddy was not only playing piano, but singing lead — an activity much more in keeping with his not inconsiderable ego. Furthermore, he began writing a few of his own songs for a change, rather than strictly ripping off the Pogues and the Wolfe Tones. The three-piece went through a series of fiddle players — Smokin’ Joe Kessler (whose claims to fame include a stint with Page & Plant, making the Larkin Brigade two degrees of separation to Led Zeppelin), Big Paul Harty, and Christie Catastrophe.
In spring 2005, Dynamite Jack was called into service to stick it to the Man as a negotiator for the UAW, headquartered in Detroit. The job required that Jack move to Motown. Things looked grim for the Larkin Brigade until their old friend Diesel Dennis blew the dust off his sticks and began pounding the bejeezus out of the drums once again.
Soon after, thanks to their hanging out in the local ska scene, the three old friends found a new fiddle player: Heavyset Joe. Nee Joseph Wyatt and raised on the icy, snowy plains of Wisconsin, Joe brought a tremendous versatility and musicianship to the band, not to mention complex musical glossary terms they had never heard before, such as “verse” and “A minor.”
Today, the Larkin Brigade is ready to rock your socks off. They sing the songs they remember hearing around the house as kids, and they sing their own songs that they intend as part of that tradition. Some of the songs are serious in subject, many less so. They appeal to punk rockers and to old fogies. But no matter what, the energy and power of their live show is a shot in the arm for everyone who likes a good night out in a loud pub.
Discography
Paddy Keys For Mayor (2006)- Full length out now on Spit Shine International/Squealing Records www.cdbaby.com/cd/larkinbrigade
Self titled EP- 7 song self released EP featuring orginal tunes as well as covers of traditional favorites
Boston Harpcore- 7 inch released August 2005
Anne Roos - Mairi’s Wedding.
Anne Roos is considered at the top of her field as a Celtic Harpist. She is a many-faceted performer who excels as a soloist in concert, as well as with her ensemble. Her recorded music is aired internationally and is described as “lovely” and “enchanting”.
Instrumentation
Anne Roos: Celtic Harp
Biography
Anne Roos’ love of English and Celtic music blossomed as a child and young teen at Southern California Renaissance Fairs, when she became involved singing in madrigal groups, performing period music. She started playing the Celtic harp quite by accident. While employ
ed at an incredibly stressful job, Anne serendipitously met Sylvia Woods at a booth full of little Celtic Harps at a Winter Solstice Fair and began taking private instructions from Sylvia as a creative outlet. Then came music theory courses at UCLA and eventually teaching music for the Los Angeles Unified School District.
Anne has performed throughout the country for more than twenty years as a soloist at resort hotels, convention centers, cruise ships, concert venues, highland games, Celtic and Renaissance fairs, casino clubs, wineries, meditation retreats– you name it. She has been invited to perform for several dignitaries, including the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Ireland.
Her ability to play a wide variety of music, ranging from traditional Celtic, Early, Renaissanc
e and classical music, to modern popular music from the movies, Broadway, Beatles, and even Metallica, have made her a popular and much sought after musician for all types of events. Most recently, Anne was the regularly scheduled musical entertainment at Llewellyn’s restaurant on the top of Harvey’s Resort Hotel in South Lake Tahoe. Fulfilling requests from dining guests, from “Canon in D” and “Greensleeves” to “Stairway to Heaven,” showcased the extent of her repertoire.
Anne is not only comfortable performing in front of a live audience, but also on camera and behind a microphone. She has appeared on a number of television programs and radio shows, performing with the Celtic Harp. Several resort vacation videos promoting travel to beautifu
l Lake Tahoe, where she resides, showcase Anne on the Celtic Harp. She has been able to utilize her extensive knowledge of music as a Classical, Jazz, and World music announcer for National Public Radio.
Anne is a current member of the Board of Governors for the San Francisco Chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Recording Academy. Anne is proud to be involved with this organization which works to positively impact the lives of musicians, industry members and our society at large.
“I really enjoy improvising from a skeletal idea of a song and seeing where it will go. I always get great new ideas playing with others. So, I relish the time working with great musicians, like the ones on my CDs,” says Anne.
Anne’s discography displays her ability to be incredibly diverse. Her earliest release is “Through the Mist”, serenely elegant music inspired by both oriental and mid-eastern cultures featuring original New Age flute and harp duets with flutist David Blonski. This recording contains environmental sounds interwoven into the selections, which were improvised in studio. This CD is a favorite among massage therapists and yoga instructors.
Anne’s “Mermaids & Mariners” recording contains tunes about the mysterious draw that mermaids and the sea have on mariners. Traditional and original music is arranged by Anne for both solo Celtic Harp and Celtic Harp within a small ensemble of instruments. This beautiful CD filled with sea ballads and shanties is packaged inside a 24-page, hardcover book containing a bounty of illustrations and tales about life at sea and the lost loves of those who sail on its waves and swim at its depths.
Anne’s wedding music CD, “Haste to the Wedding” is now available in a new release. It is filled with romantic Celtic music about everlasting love performed on solo Celtic Harp and with an ensemble of other traditional Celtic instruments. This enhanced recording of Celtic wedding ceremony music is packaged inside a lovely 48-page hardcover book containing vintage color images, Celtic toasts, blessings, legends, recipes, wedding traditions, and descriptions of traditional ceremonial attire. The CD can easily accompany wedding festivities, for the titles flow in the order that music flows at a wedding ceremony.
O’hAnleigh - Siuil Aghra/Irish Rover/Star of the County Down.
O’hAnleigh is Irish-American music that hits home all over the world. From Irish pubs to apres-ski, from weddings to music festivals, O’hAnleigh’s drinking songs raise glasses, our pub favorites raise voices, and our original compositions win rave reviews and competition awards.
Instrumentation
Becca Hanley: Lead and harmony vocals, penny whistles, bowed psaltery, bodhran, spoons, shakers, triangle, and other small percussion.
Tom Hanley: Lead and harmony vocals, steel string guitar, nylon string guitar, 12 string guitar, bouzouki, mandolin, bass, tenor banjo, harmonica, penny whistles, bodhran, shakers, and other small percussion; songwriting and arranging.
Cindy Hill: Lead and harmony vocals, fiddle, tenor banjo, bass, appalachian dulcimer, penny whistles, bodhran, spoons, shakers, and other small percussion; songwriting and arranging.
Biography
Ancestral roots and diverse musical talent blend to create lively and haunting rhythms of Irish-American culture that keep O’hAnleigh audiences’ toes tapping and hands clapping from pubs to churches to concert halls across the northeast — and on radio around the world. O’hAnleigh’s premier CD “Of Irish Crossings Told” featuring celt classics like Black Velvet Band and four all-original piecies is playing in over 32 countries, generating rave programmer and listener reviews (review clips below).
Tom Hanley, a second-generation Irishman descended of immigrants from Counties Laois and Roscommon, performed with bar rock bands since the early 1970’s. When asked by a social organization to perform some Irish music at a St. Patrick’s Day event in 2002, he enlisted his then 12-year-old daughter Becca as his ‘front man,’ counting on her ethereal soprano to evoke visions of Ireland past. For the next year, Tom and Becca performed at fairs, Irish clubs, farmers markets, and social events, while Becca’s vocal depth and talents led to repeated slots in the Vermont All-State Chorus as well as performing the National Anthem at numerous large conferences and singing in choirs and as a soloist outside her OhAnleigh gigs.
In early 2003, fiddler Cindy Hill joined the father-daughter team. Cindy’s ancestors hail from Counties Tyrone and Limerick. Her musical credentials range from school orchestra and chorus to a succession of party rock bands, and her interest in traditional Celtic music sprang from her long political activism in the Irish independence movement. Cindy brings a knowledge of Celtic mythology and legends to the band along with her multi-instrumental talents.
From classic Gaelic ballads to rollicking pub songs, Irish-American ‘tin pan alley’ tunes to traditional dance sets, songs of rebellion to songs of love and loss, OhAnleigh’s vocal talents – Becca’s pure soprano, Cindy’s smooth alto, and Tom’s baritone – combine to create the unique OhAnleigh sound. Their vocal diversity is supported with a dazzling array of instruments including 6 and 12 string guitars, bouzouki, mandolin, bass, fiddle, tenor banjo, penny whistles, harmonica, bowed psaltery, dulcimer, autoharp, bodhrans, bones, spoons, and a whole assortment of other small percussion, much of it hand-made out of odd bits of things found in the garage to get just the right sound for a particular song.
The group’s playlist now numbers in the hundreds, including a hearty dose of rebel tunes and a growing list of original pieces, as Tom and Cindy compose music and lyrics to expand the Irish-American folk genre. Their performances are noted for the rapid-fire pace of their song list, as well-rehearsed instrument changes and dramatic or humorous pieces of the ’spoken word’ (Irish poetry) blend one song into the next for a non-stop set of musical energy.
O’hAnleigh’s premier CD, “Of Irish Crossings Told,” was released on St. Patrick’s Day 2006. It is available at www.cdbaby.com/ohanleigh.
Discography
“Of Irish Crossings Told” Green Cabin Music 2006
The Borderers - Will You Love Me When I’m Fat, Bald & Ugly.
The BordererS have played at Womad Festivals in Australia & UK, the Edinburgh Festival, toured Canada & USA and have supported Tom Jones, The Proclaimers & The Chieftains in Glasgow. The band have also supported Shane McGowan from “The Pogues”, but that was just to get him onto the stage.
Instrumentation
Jim Paterson - Acoustic Guitar, mandolin & Vocals
Alex - Vocals, Penny whistle & Bodhran
Steve Fleming - Bass & Fiddle
Jon Emry - Drums
Richard Tankard - Keyboards
Biography
Multi-Award winning Scottish / Irish / Australian band The BordererS formed in 1994 and have released 8 albums, 4 EP’s, 2 kids albums and been
included on 17 compilation albums all around the world.
The BordererS started out as a recording project until Jim just happened to stop in Adelaide as part of his round the world trip. He says: ” I was just visiting South Australia to visit a friend when I got invited to a recording studio to hear this band. I loved their sound so much that I eventually co - produced the album, got 5 of my songs on it and married the lead singer”.
Alex, the female lead singer was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland and came to Australia in 1987. Her influences are Joni Mitchell & Annie Lennox. Jim Paterson was born in Glasgow, Scotland and arrived in Australia on Xmas Eve 1993. His influences are AC/DC ( The band not the lifestyle ) Thin Lizzy, Status Quo & Talking Heads.
What sets the BordererS apart from other bands is their ability to get the whole audience involved.
………”You must be dead if you’re not seen dancing at a BordererS gig”………Jamie McKew - Port Fairy Festival Director ( The biggest Folk / Roots festival in Australia )
The BordererS run their own independent record company and have sold 61,000 CD’s & DVD’s to date. This indie approach paid off big time recently when the band won the Independent Music Award in the USA for their track “Sinner & The Saint” ( Gospel Music Category ) Their song now goes out to 11 million people via Borders Bookstores and eMusic.com
Discography
” A Time For Change” - 2007
“Grace” - 2005
“Live…….and more!” DVD - 2005
“Inspired!” - 2003
“The Gathering” - 2001
“Live at The Gov” - 1999
“Woman” - 1997
“Independent’s Day” - 1995
“Amnesty” EP
“Australia’s Christmas Day” EP
“Back to Back” EP
“Fate” EP
“The River is Deep” single is being played on all the country music stations in Australia ( Dec 05 )
Raymond McCullough - I will lift my eyes up.
Irish Celtic folk/rock singer/songwriter with international folk & rock influences; singing ballads and ‘protest songs’ - about politics, religion, life, love … I tend to write about situations that have affected me personally, politically and spiritually.
Instrumentation
Raymond McCullough: vocals, acoustic guitar, mandolin, bodhran
Connaire McCullough: guitar, vocals
Kelly McCullough: drums, vocals
Biography
Singer/songwriter, Raymond McCullough, has been writing songs since 1973. He plays guitar - “a George Lowden acoustic/electric; actually!” - mandolin, bodhran and, now and then, a little keyboard.
He has travelled and performed in Israel, (on one occasion literally singing for his supper!), China (Beijing), Canada, USA, Scotland and Ireland, north and south - playing pubs, concerts, churches - on the street, if required! At the Rostrevor International Festival in Ireland recently he was described by one of the organisers as “the discovery of the festival!”
He travelled to the People’s Republic of China in 1999 - their anniversary year - to take part in a charity cycle event, organised to raise funds for MenCap. “Friends said just because I’d gone to China, I didn’t need to make a song about it - of course, that’s exactly what I DID do!” he says. The 11-verse saga, ‘Ballad of Beijing’, unfolded bit by bit over the two weeks he spent there.
“As we flew over the Mongolian mountains into Beijing, I just happened to be talking with the beautiful Irish girl who had the seat next to me - about my music, of course! - when a little tune came into my head and sort of stuck there. I added a traditional Chinese rhythm, which I heard performed every afternoon on the streets of Beijing, on Taiko drum and two cymbals - and the words just seemed to write themselves!”
When he returned home he spent the best part of the next month in the studio, just recording that one song - he nearly drove the engineer mad! He then spent the next month adding another four to make up the mini album, ‘The great China Bike Ride’.
Raymond has had a very varied career; including lecturing in computing, selling French perfume, running an Internet cafe, publishing a magazine and two books, hosting his own radio show, ‘In tha Name a’ Gawd!’, producing TV and corporate video, and restoring his own classic wooden boat.
In 2004 he set up Precious Oil Productions - a media production company, which is now in process of becoming a Limited Company. POP are currently raising funding and filming for a new TV documentary linking Scots/Irish settlers, Native Americans and Israeli Jews! Several other TV productions are also in the pipeline.
The latest album, ‘Into Jerusalem’, is now available from iTunes, CDbaby, etc. It contains twelve Celtic and Hebrew worship songs, written by Raymond, and varying from rock, to Celtic, (Scottish, Irish, Bluegrass, folk/rock), to Jewish-style songs. Some reviews and comments are already available.
Discography
‘The great China Bike Ride’, (2004) - Tracks 1, 2 & 6 have received extensive airplay, from Istanbul, Turkey; to Germany, UK & Ireland; to Monterrey, Mexico and all over USA. (all tracks streamed from website & available from iTunes)
‘Into Jerusalem’ (Nov. 2004) - Album playlisted on KWPB FM, Oregon and Celebrate Radio (Satellite across Europe, Russia, Middle-East and North Africa. (all tracks streamed from website & available from iTunes, HMV, etc.)
New 4-track EP/single, ‘Different’, coming shortly!
First Annual Celtic Folk Scotland Tour - September 2007
Ever wanted to visit Scotland and see the real sights, visit a real, traditional pub session with great artists playing wonderful Celtic and traditional music, visit the hidden sights of a country steeped in over 6000 years of history?
Come join me on our first ever Celtic Folk Scotland Tour in late September 2007. I’ll be serving as your tour guide, driver, pub advisor and personal shopper for the trip. We have put together the Itinerary and have posted a pdf file right here in the Celtic Folk Podcast show notes - just check a few posts back.
The Celtic Folk Scotland Tour will be a limited opportunity for Celtic Folk Podcast listeners on a first-come, first-served basis, so email me quickly if you’re interested.
The ShowStopper Track:
Don’t forget to vote for your favorite track from this week’s podcast by emailing us, telling us who you want to hear again and we’ll tally the votes and crown the winner the ShowStopper Track. So drop us a line and tell us who you liked the best of the four great tracks this week.
Please help us support these fine artists by taking a look at their websites, buying their music or at least let them know how much you enjoyed listening to their music on the Celtic Folk Podcast.
Check out our parent website at www.upbeatcafe.com where you’ll find a schedule of great live music, as well as our Online Music Shop were you can buy those old-fashioned CD’s, as well as digital downloads.
STOP PRESS We are currently uploading all the digital tracks and “Sip-A-Clips” to the server. We will be opening this new shop just as soon as we can. You’ll be able to find it here when it goes live. Stay tuned for more updates on our progress.
Like to listen to great new, independent music of all genres from all around the world? Subscribe to our other weekly podcast Upbeat Radio. We feature excellent music for all tastes.
A note for Artists:
Would you like to have your music included on a future Celtic Folk Podcast? Just email us or submit a song to us through Sonicbids.
Please, please, please give us some feedback and let us know how we’re doing. All podcasters live for feedback, both good and bad - it let’s us know what you, our listener and subscriber, want to hear. Email us at info@celticfolkpod.com
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