Canadian Celtic Band Tartan Terror are releasing a new album!
Now for something totally outrageous and amusing. The Tartan Terrors are releasing their eighth album. They have established themselves as North America’s well-rounded performers not only in terms of music but also in stage comedy. After countless shows around the world, amazing albums and cult following from Celtic music lovers, they bring something new to the music world. Jimmy and I were snickering to this video yesterday because they are so funny in a naughty way. He accidentally found them while checking out bagpipe music in the internet. For those who already own their albums, you couldn’t deny that underneath the amusing stage antics lies the musical excellence of all the members . Check them out! Don’t say I didn’t warn you how amazing they are.
Canadian artist Lizzy Hoyt ventures into history and timeless sentiments.
Have you listened to a new track by Canadian fiddler, singer, songwriter and step-dancer from Edmonton, AB by the name of Lizzy Hoyt? I like her name…it is so perky just like the band Thin Lizzy. And mind you, she is pretty. Her music has a crossover appeal brought about my her foray into Jazz, Folk and Pop.
More about the video:
The Battle:
The Battle of Vimy Ridge was the first time all four divisions of the Canadian Expeditionary Forces fought together under a Canadian-born commander. It marked a change in out-dated war tactics and strategies (demonstrated by the blood-bath at The Somme). It has been cited as a defining moment in the creation of a united Canadian identity.
The Song:
Lizzy’s song “Vimy Ridge” was written after her first visit to the Vimy Ridge Memorial in 2005. It was named a finalist in both the John Lennon Songwriting Contest (2010) and the USA Songwriting Competition (2011). The song was recorded on her second album HOME which received a Canadian Folk Music Award Nomination in 2011 for Traditional Singer of the Year.
Producer: Sarah Hoyt
Created by: aspecialperson.com & Lucho Soldevilla
Art Direction/Archival Editing: Gaby Benicio
Make-up/Hair: Aurélie Martin
Dress: Koshka Mashka
Production Assistant: Ian Surdhar
Brian Kennedy’s double life becomes a story of hope and inspiration to millions of young people.
Today, CMF celebrates the story on one artist who made a difference in the music world and to those who have dealt with personal turmoil before coming out and living life the way it should be. Brian Kennedy is a fine example. If you have followed his career you would understand the kind of double life he led. Society imposes this on celebrities making them as the perfect ‘role model’. There is a price you have to pay for fame sometimes-it is called living a lie.
In September 1 2009, The Telegraph featured and exclusive story which revealed his coming out torment as well as discussing his book The Arrival of Fergal Flynn. He further states : “It looks like you’re ashamed of something, which I’m certainly not. I’m the most reluctant role model there is because I don’t feel qualified enough.
“But I wanted to let people know, especially young people, that it’s not a bad thing to be gay — it’s a good thing to be gay.
“I think if you’re happy and confident about your sexuality then the press tend to ignore it.”
PRESENTED BY TOM MILLETT
If there were a special award for being multi-gifted, then Brian Kennedy would surely walk away with it. A critically acclaimed singer/songwriter and proven radio/television presenter, he is now acknowledged as an author of considerable worth, having produced a series of short stories and two novels (with a third on the way) – not surprisingly, for a lyricist of his calibre.
The common denominator of all his talents is easy to spot. Quite simply, he is a natural communicator! No more so than in his live concerts. In the firm belief that ‘music is the language of emotion,’ he takes his audiences on a roller coaster ride for a full two hours and still finds the energy to meet up with them after each show. But the casual manner and good-humoured banter on and off stage, belie the hard work and early struggles of a man who seems born to perform, spellbinding his audiences while making it all look easy.
Tolkien and Celtic music? Why not? Tolkien made either direct or indirect references to the Celtic lore. Even the film version by Peter Jackson embraced the look and feel of the druidic times. Although the movie didn’t feature Loreena McKennitt, Clannad or other artists noted for their haunting voices but it has Enya. And what could be more Irish than that? Or should we say Celtic?
I had no idea Christopher Lee did a musical project with the Tolkien ensemble singing Treebeard’s song. As a kid I was fascinated with his portrayal of Count Dracula. Just goes to show that an excellent actor will always be rediscovered through generations. His singing is what I consider as a class act.
More info:
Those were the broad days! Time was when I could walk and sing all day and hear no more than the echo of my own voice in the hollow hills. The woods were like the woods of Lothlórien, only thicker, stronger, younger. And the smell of the air! I used to spend a week just breathing.”
Treebeard fell silent, striding along, and yet making hardly a sound with his great feet. Then he began to hum again, and passed into a murmuring chant. Gradually the hobbits became aware that he was chanting to them:
In the willow-meads of Tasarinan I walked in the Spring.
Ah! the sight and the smell of the Spring in Nan-tasarion!
And i said that was good.
I wandered in Summer in the elm-woods of Ossiriand.
Ah! the light and the music in the Summer by the Seven Rivers of Ossir!
And i thought that was best.
To the beeches of Neldoreth I came in the Autumn.
Ah! the gold and the red and the sighing of leaves in the Autumn in
Taur-na-neldor!
It was mor than my desire.
To the pine-trees upon the highland of Dorthonion I climbed in the Winter.
Ah! the wind and the whiteness and the black braches of Winter upon
Orod-na-Thô n!
My voice went up and sang in the sky.
And now all those lands lie under the wave,
And I walk in Ambaró na, in Tauremorna, in Aldaló më.
In my own land, in the country of Fangorn,
Where the roots are long.
And the years lie thicker than the leaves
In Taremornaló më.
Music by Caspar Reiff & Peter Hall
From the CD-box
“The Tolkien Ensemble & Christopher Lee – Complete Songs & Poems”
My friend Christi posted this video and while I was watching I realized the woman singing is Margaret Bennett, the mother of the late Scottish piper who passed away in 2005, losing his battle with cancer.
I can’t pretend I know the intensity of the pain a mother suffers when she loses her child. But I can imagine that it must be so devastating. And Margaret found a way to deal with it-singing. Doesn’t it touch the universal chord in all of us? Singing one’s blues is the ultimate consolation.
“How do you come into terms losing a son like that?”
“I think you just have to learn to live with it. I know that anybody who has experience it will tell you that nothing again will ever hurt. But of course, music is a great consolation”.
look for her album : Love and Loss – Remembering Martyn in Scotland’s Music, 2007.
Celtic Music Fan 