New Album by The Folkalists Now Available Free for Two Weeks!

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The Folkalists

Laughter is the best medicine. If you can find someone making funny tunes while maintaining musical excellence (and serious face) then he/she is on my top list. This is the case of Northern Irish band The Folkalists. From the first to last track all I get to hear are great vibes, amazing melodies and yes awesome humor. The world is harsh enough to dwell on too much angst(I had many for the past few days) and it isn’t healthy in the long run. Pickin Up The Change is the remedy.

Dee McIlroy, Eugene Glenn and Barry Skeff aren’t scared to poke fun at situations. They don’t take themselves too seriously which is a great thing. That is why these songs just come through right away. The degree of heartfelt humour and talent are  perfect addition to my collection of Irish albums! They made it to my top categories.

Dee has an amazing voice. It’s warm, mellow but with a great range. It is also an expressive instrument. The melodies are gorgeous. Their music falls on the folk/country side with echoes of traditional Irish flavour. Walking in the Sunshine is my personal ‘hit’ song because it is catchy, upbeat and artfully crafted. Just Can’t Find the Words is another favorite of mine. It’s a love song that reminds me a little bit of Crosby Stills  Nash & Young with a tinge of America. I swear I find no weak tracks in this album. This is really well conceived and flawlessly executed. They really make the songs shine with their vocal harmonization.

The instruments used in this recording are fantastic. The mixing sounds great. I look forward to more releases from The Folkalists because they are really nice to be around. We all need this music!

Like them in facebook: https://www.facebook.com/folkalists?fref=ts

http://www.folkalists.webspace.virginmedia.com/

The Spirit of Ireland – An Odyssey Home – Audio Book Launch and live performance with Alan Cooke

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Spirit of Ireland audio.book.master copy reached America today now being copied and put into nine disk package with booklet…..launch date soon..-Alan Cooke a.k.a. The Wild Irish Poet.

Yes watch this link because the countdown begins up to October 24 which is the launch date of Spirit of Ireland- the audio book version. Audio books are the rage. I think with the growing desire to multi task(since technology has given us that opportunity) more and more people are turning to audio books. It gives them the opportunity to listen while not being confined to one place.

Alan Cooke

I think paper books are still amazing. I read the written version of this book and I love it. There’s so much passion that Alan Cooke has placed in this work and I think it is time for the world to have a taste of it. His language is poetic, musical and magical. It is always a joy to read what he writes about. I can’t remember anything written by him that I didn’t enjoy! This man is a walking modern-day bard with the gift of the Sidhe.

The Spirit of Ireland is a sequel to his Naked in New York memoir. I started reading the book at night and finished it the next day because like anyone who is trapped inside a vision of the writer, we get used to this place we inhabit that the thought of leaving by finishing the book is a sad thing.

About this event:

A live launch of Spirit of Ireland – An Odyssey Home. Emmy winning writer and actor – Alan Cooke’s beautiful audio book memoir about his journey back to Ireland and his odyssey around his native land. Alan will be reading live excerpts from the west of Ireland and discussing his life and his work and the audio book will be available to purchase from www.wildirishpoet.com

Other videos from The Wild Irish Poet.

Links: https://www.facebook.com/WildIrishPoetArts?fref=ts

http://wildirishpoet.com/

Alan Cooke earned won the 2009 Boston Film Festival for Best Documentary for www.homethemovie.com, Three Emmy nominations and one win for best writing for documentary HOME at the Emmy Awards 2009

Siltation: A Forthcoming Novel by Darren Lynch

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I admit the character I had in mind was different from the book cover that is part of the promo prior to the book release which is November 10. I am talking about the story called Siltation by Irish musician/writer Darren Lynch.  Somehow I see Bamm Bamm as a little bit on the round side-not heavy but somehow mesomorphic with few traces of fat.  More like Liam Cunningham when he was in his early 30s.

The main character is Bamm Bamm Doyle whose real name is Joseph Anthony Doyle.

I was christened Joseph Anthony Doyle, but as a
child, the mother used to call me ‘Bamm-Bamm’, after
the character in the Flintstones cartoon, I think. Think it
might have been Barney Rubble’s kid, or a pet dinosaur
in it. It was just as a bit of a nickname and a slag, but it
soon stuck, and friends and neighbours knew me as
Bamm-Bamm Doyle.

Bamm Damm is a Dubliner who is suffering from bouts of depression and alcoholism. He often gets into trouble with the neighbors but he strikes me as someone you can get along with if you don’t rub him the wrong side-and as long as he gets his daily dose of drink. He carries a tin whistle and enjoys the craic and good old Irish music. He also keeps a poster of Bobby Sands on his bedroom wall.

What’s really interesting bout Siltation is that Darren Lynch has painted an accurate representation of a life on the edge of the cracks. The perfect candidate of that part of the society that’s marginalized by poverty and mental sickness. “I wanted to show a certain type of person in society that people chose not to see, but lives under the radar.. ” The Man You don’t Meet Every Day was  the initial title according to the author.

I didn’t know what to expect from the kind of language the book has, upon the first few pages. It is spoken through the mind of the character-the first person storytelling. There’s a lot of local expressions. Two pages and I am engaged. This is very Irish. The cadence of the prose sounds like music when you read it aloud but that’s just in my opinion. People read book for the story I guess. Me for both:story and style of writing.

I learned new slangs along the way like for example:gaff:house and looper:crazy.

It has raises a lot of powerful feelings to those who read it. I feel it is timely, with all the things going on over there…the tanking economy..the wounded pride of the Irish. Read up to the end and if it doesn’t make you feel something then you are an android logo.

If you check out the right side of this blog you see there the advert and the release date which is November 10. Please like the fb page of Siltation and let us help Irish writers get their works out there. Yes by the Irish and for the Irish.

Siltation by Darren Lynch

Celtic Music Fan Podcast # 7

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This is the podcast version of my radio show last Saturday at http://www.radiohappy.eu. Yes just music without me talking. I have added links to the band page and yes you better listen to my fantastic interview with Fraser Fifield!

The Indulgers-Ceili Mor
Qristina Bachand; Quinn Bachand-Spootiskerry/High Road to Linton/Big John McNeil
Keltic Trancefusion-Abberance
Fraser Fifield and Graeme Stephen-Esotero
Interview with Fraser Fifield
Ensemble Eriu-Jurna
Irish Moutarde-Glasses to the Sky
Taran Celt-Taran
Kyle Carey-One Morning in May

www.radiohappy.eu

Someone hacked into my pinoycelt33@live.com email

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If any of you has received an email from me asking money etc etc please be aware that it isn’t me and that email has been hacked. I have no idea this could happen to a blogger who is not even that popular and is trying to work his ass off to build a blogging career only to be a victim to this nasty situation.

At first I thought it was a personal intention of someone trying to harm me. I realize it isn’t. I have received a lot of these ‘business’ deals from those claiming they are from Burkina Faso and also people who are stating they have an incurable disease and wants to ask for money for treatment. Well, I just hope these slimy scums of the Earth would learn to look for jobs and stop targeting people who are trying to make a living .

Hacking and using someone’s account for monetary gain is evil. I have been trying to contact Microsoft for a week to retrieve my email but it is frustrating that this so-called software giant has not done anything to help me. Microsoft is really unsecure and I have even upgraded my OS to Ubuntu Mint to save me hours of headache.  So please of you received an email from pinoycelt33@live.com trying to ask for a slimy deal label that email as malicious so that at least if I can’t retrieve that email, Microsoft will just delete it.