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Learn Celtic Fiddle with Gillian Boucher

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Hi folks. Just discovered this wonderful fiddle musician/ teacher . I think my time on social networking sites like facebook exposed me to materials posted by other Celtic music lovers.  Like all best fiddle players that Cape Breton can offer, Gillian leads her pack like comets blazing the night sky of Celtic music. Fiddle playing has never been sweeter, infectious and explosive the way she does it. For those who are audience of Celtic Colors then you might have noted her performance from2008 to 2011. She already earned the Nova Scotia Music Week Award in 2009 for Roots Traditional Recording of the Year and an East Coast Music Award Nomination in early 2010 in the same category. Her playing is transporting and I can close my eyes and reach places in the mind that is not possible to access in the physical state.

This site http://gillian-boucher.com  lets you hear tracks from her album Elemental(2008).  She is working on a new album to be released this year.

I dedicate this post to my friend Nancie in Lyon France who is a fiddle player herself. I hope that one day I will hear her play.

Continental Celtic Music:Julien Jaffrès

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A certain  Alice Delsarte sent me links to sites of Julien Jaffrès. I am amazed by this man’s talent with the guitar.  He brings freshness and verve to the European  continental Celtic scene. He is worth checking out.

 

http://www.youtube.com/user/jjrockncelticguitar

http://www.julienjaffres.com/

KCLR 96 FM:Pipers with Martin Bridgeman Later.

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Been tuning in to KCLR 96 FM in Carlow Kilkenny Ireland with Martin Brigeman. His shows are:

The Eclectic Light Programme( Saturday 9pm to 11pm)-“it’s music you won’t hear in the mainstream and it’s all good stuff”. There are new bands, features with local bands, acoustic sessions and some classic rock thrown in”.

People In Profile (Sunday 6pm to 7pm)-“where each week he talks to one people from Carlow and Kilkenny about their lives, their work, their passion and their personal musical choices”.

Blas Glas ( Sunday 8pm to 11pm)-“which features of folk and traditional music from around the world”.

He will feature pipers for his Sunday night show later so this is something that we should never miss. For those who love pipe music, I invite you to listen to Martin’s show later with me.

Click the icon to listen

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See my friend Rachael McCormack

 

The Ballads of Mickey Coleman

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I am listening.

Listening to Mickey Coleman. I am in the mood for ballads. Songs of longing, missed soul mates, loss, nostalgia and hope. I think these themes are close to my heart than anything else. But Mickey’s songs are also a variation of those and fast tunes.  I also heard funny ones. The thing that carries his tunes is his style of singing-part choir tenor and   part brew that brings smoke into your eyes. Highlands of Belfast and Coaisland Girl make you sit down and really listen. Somewhere Else Instead became my song today. I urge you to come  and join me. It’s the right time and the right mood.

Listen to his tracks here:  http://www.mickeycoleman.com/gallery.html

January 20 Marks the Birthday of Roma Ryan

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Happy Birthday Roma!

I want to pay tribute to one of the amazing people in the history of music who shaped my life. Roma Ryan. She is the poet lyricist for Enya which is a Trio of Enya herself, producer Nicky Ryan and of course Roma.

Roma and Nicky Ryan met Enya in 1978; Nicky was managing Enya’s family’s band Clannad. Enya had just finished secondary school when Nicky Ryan rang her, asking if she would become a member of the group. The Ryans and Enya left Clannad several years later to focus on their own musical careers. Enya originally wrote instrumental melodies. Roma found these melodies “very visual” and suited to film work; she began to write lyrics to them.

Roma is originally from Belfast Northern Ireland. She is a visual artist as well as a poet and writer; her artwork, as well as selected poems, may be viewed at her official website, www.romaryan.com

 

One day, one night, one moment,
with a dream to believe in.
One step, one fall, one falter,
find a new earth across a wide ocean.
This way became my journey,
this day ends together, Far and Away.
This day ends together, Far and Away.
Far and Away.

That video above is taken from the movie Far and Away. Have you seen that movie? I admit it is a long one. But it is a beautiful story about Irish immigrants and a race for lands in the United States. “find a new earth across a wide ocean”..I love this line. For those who hope for a better place, a new beginning, this song echoes it all. Sometimes our journey to freedom from oppression doesn’t really mean going into another country…sometimes it is  a feeling we just have to overcome. And for those who f0und themselves out of bondage and pain, this song goes to you.