acoustic instruments

Startijenn: Leading the Wave Of Young Breton Musicians

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We will be focusing on Breton music most of this week. I visited Dom Duff‘s website from time to time and I asked him to be my next guest on my interview . I did feature the music of Brittany on my previous thread . Right now let us give the spotlight to a band called Startijenn. Most of  what you need to know about the band can be found in their official myspace music page. You can also visit the Trad.It! section to read more in English. The Official website has a lot to give. However it’s in French and Breton. I wish one day it will have an English/multi-lingual  translation available soon like what happened with Loreena McKennitt’s Quinlan Road website.startijennG

The first time I heard the music I was captivated. They resemble a bit to their Irish cousins Kila but this one has that distinctive Breton sound that can also be heard on Dan Ar Braz and Denez Prigent. They are young, great looking and they bring something to the mix that isn’t available in others.

For more information please visit the sites I posted to get more information about tour dates, news as well as new music.

The Autoharp

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2677605039_b62f952263_mMaybe it’s the tea. Maybe it’s waking up on the other side of the bed. I started this blog today featuring a musical instrument. Now I am featuring another one. It’s called an autoharp. Though it is of German origin, this instrument has been used as a folk and blue grass instrument in the United States. There’s this one artist in You Tube that I follow in terms of the autoharp playing. She is Jo Ann Smith

Here’s how she plays a traditional Scottish Air


autoharps

Introducing the Harp Guitar

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John Doan at Aran Island

John Doan at Aran Island

It’s nice to have a cup of tea while listening to your favorite instrument at 6 in the morning. One of those instruments that I like is the Harp Guitar. I’m sure you folks out there who are used to just the Harp or the Guitar would wonder what this hybrid is. Well, to tell you, harp guitar’s history dates back 200 hundred years and there are notable composers/performers out there who single-handedly created names for themselves through this instrument. The sound is like no other.

There are other artists who are known to play this but I would only give credit to one. His name is John Doan. The fact that he is my MySpace pal, and we sent comments to each other’s page on several occasion proved to be memorable. Here’s his music site in case you want to check out how a harp guitar sounds like.