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The Loreena McKennitt Canadian Summer Tour Up Now!

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1128981_356x237Good news Canadian fans! Loreena McKennitt will be at the hometown this July for her Canadian summer tour. Quinlan Road website confirms:

Following a highly successful Mediterranean & middle Eastern tour, Loreena McKennitt has added two more concerts to her Canadian summer festival tour — she and her band will present two performances in her hometown of Stratford, Ontario.

The concerts, will be held on Wednesday July 22 and Thursday July 23, will be held at Knox Church, 142 Ontario Street, Stratford.

The Stratford shows come in the middle of a brief Canadian festival tour that’s due to start at Le Festival d’été de Quebec in Quebec City on July10, followed by appearances at the Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest and the Winnipeg Folk Festival.

The two Stratford concerts will be followed by appearances at the Hillside Festival in Guelph and the Calgary Folk Festival.

“We’ve toured extensively throughout Europe & North America these past few years and yet have not performed in Stratford since 1995. Many people I run into in my everyday life in Stratford have not seen us perform, and  they have kept cajoling me, ‘When are you going to perform here?’  Although the church sanctuary is not a concert hall, it is a very beautiful space and one I have been very fond since I first came to Stratford in 1981.

Her band includes Brian Hughes (guitar, bouzouki), Jon Pilatzke (violin), Caroline Lavelle (cello), Donald Quan (keyboards), Ben Grossman (hurdy gurdy), Clive Deamer (drums), Simon Edwards (bass) and Rick Lazar (percussion).

More information here

How to Wear your Kilt Proudly

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It’s my day off! And yes I have nothing musical to write about today. I am making this post as an excuse for that lack of energy to check my myspace band page, to surf the net or to make decent reviews of the albums I own or listened to that I haven’t done before.

A few weeks ago I opened a discussion about wearing of Kilts. Now it’s making a comeback after realizing I have nothing musical to put here. It doesn’t matter if you are not from the Highlands. It has traveled among the Seven Celtic Nations and beyond. I know a Scottish-Filipino guy in this country who plays the bagpipes really well. And that’s complete with the kilt and all. The thing about kilt-wearing is that, it has a deceptive simplicity.  A great deal of elaboration in its preparation as can be seen in this video.

More resources can be found here.

You might want to buy this book.

Another interesting one from Japan

Random Playlist : Songs to Make your Tea

/ mrbaxteria2008 / 1 Comment

1195906488_capercaillie-cascade I have been busy with work . Also been catching sleep as much as I can. These days having a complete hours of sleep is a luxury. I hate looking like a yo-yo in the middle of the job. Anyway, since there is nothing new to cover for now, I want to share with you some random play list I have . I am an album guy. I am used to playing the whole album as compared to shuffled tracks from different artists. I think an album tells a whole story. Yes there will always be weak tracks and memorable ones. But then again weak or strong each one contributes to the whole picture. So here are my lists of albums and songs that get played in any order depending on my mood.

1. Cascade-Capercaillie .This is the debut album of Scotland’s legendary group. Karen Matheson already displays maturity and good instinct in this beautifully crafted 1984 release.

2. Mummer’s Dance-Loreena McKennitt. The song that brought  mainstream attention, from The Book of Secrets.

3. Song of the Sandman-Enya. I always have this song mostly before I go to bed.

4.The Wind that Shakes the Barley–Dead Can Dance.

5. Sea of Silence-Kate Price. Love her exotic instruments and ethereal vocals.

6. Puirt-a-Beaul Set-Julie Fowlis

7. She Moved through the Fair-Lothlorien

8. Wandering Fish-Kila

9. One of Us-Heather Dale

10. In Concert(1978)- Clannad. This is the first attempt of the group at live sound. The songs are mostly traditional. This is the Clannad before all the layering and haunting productions but nonetheless still excellent.

You might want to check out Irish Music Magazine for new releases and news. Here’s also the video of Riverdance. Amazing dancers. Cheers!

Ruby O’Brien ,Teen Wonder!

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Original news found here.

There are news stories that are so funny I spill coffee . Then there are those amazing ones that make you smile with fascination. Such is the story of Ruby O’Brien. She is Killarney-born but raised in Australia, in a  household filled with Irish tradition. No wonder at 14 Ruby already danced her way across Europe. This baffles people. To quote from her:

“People in Germany thought it was really weird that we came all the way to Berlin to perform Irish dancing for Australia,” Ruby said.

Well, here’s a video example of girls and boys doing the Irish dance. Really, this never fails to bring a shiver up my spine.

Come into the Folk Alley

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What I love about maintaining this blog is that it also serves as a bookmark for the links I stumbled upon via the Internet. And sharing these links to readers out there is one way to spread the Celtic spirit in Cyberspace. Though Celtic music is of European origin, American musicians contributed their style to it. Thus Blue Grass was born.

Been listening to Folk Alley an on-line station offering live-streaming 24 hours a day. It was launched in 2003 produced by WKSU-FM in Kent, OH, which also built and maintains the web site. It will appeal to those who are into easy listening. It offers news, new releases and tour news. The site design is patterned to the color of the banjo which is the official instrument of Blue Grass music. You’d be expecting the hear from artists like Kate Price, Bella Fleck and The Chieftains when you  tune in to Folk Alley.