Celtic Fusion

Holiday Releases from Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy,The Gothard Sisters and SeaStar!

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Plus Kyle Carey’s Kickstarter update, The Celtic Social Club and Friday Frolics.

Well well well, lads and lassies my mailbox is buzzing! Music keeps coming in from all sides and this is the busiest holiday so far. There is just so much music to taste (with my ears of course). So first up…

Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy.

It’s been a while since I heard major releases from these two Canadian artists. I never thought it would be a holiday album with their combined musical talents. I am yet to listen to A Celtic Family Christmas so I can post a reactionary entry.

Here’s an in-depth info from their website for those who are curious. Again my big thanks to Anita Daly for always pointing me to the great artists! The album is available from

 iTunes, Amazon and the  Linus label store. The latter also sells other Canadian Celtic music artists of you are curious. Really worth checking out!

“For the album A Celtic Family Christmas, we’ve taken some classic Christmas songs and flavored them with our own brand of Celtic tradition,” says Natalie MacMaster. “We have celebrated Christmas in a big way our entire lives and finally have recorded the music. What ease and joy with which it came pouring out!”  She continues. “Many Christmas songs have gorgeous melodies that stand strong as instrumental pieces and I want it to stay with our fans throughout the holidays and beyond.”

The album creates a counterbalance between both the traditional and modern. Donnell says, “I feel there is a lot of depth behind the melodies and meanings. What I love about this record are the layers of ancient instruments, weaving through and around one another to create a Celtic Christmas tapestry.”

Please visit http://www.acelticfamilychristmas.com or for additional information on Natalie MacMaster visit www.NatalieMacMaster.com and for information on Donnell Leahy visit www.DonnellLeahy.com

Sound great right? I’ve always considered these two as the ‘stalwarts’ of Celtic music. They are the force of nature in the industry, bringing old and new fans together with every release. I am so excited to listen to the album to let you know what I think.

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New Christmas Album: Falling Snow by The Gothard Sisters

Have you seen any of their YouTube videos? If you haven’t yet, you should. They are amazing stage performers and they combine their mastery of the visual as well as musical side of their careers. They have a new album out, just perfect for the holidays.

Falling Snow will be released in the middle of December (16th to be exact) and I am sure this will enchant listeners.

“It was high time for a new Christmas album featuring the songs we’ve been playing at the Christmas shows over the last few years – there were many great songs and arrangements just begging to be recorded,” says Greta Gothard.

“The music of Christmas is so beautiful, it has been a delight to work on these arrangements of eight classics – Hark! the Herald Angels Sing, Still Still Still, Winter Wonderland, Skater’s Waltz, Good King Wenceslas, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, French Carol (Il Est Ne Le Divin Enfant) and Joy to the World, as well as including two new tunes that the band wrote – Christmas Flower and The Happy Elf.”

The press release adds that  although the sisters are known for their Celtic music styles, their western American heritage can be heard in their music. This has always been part of their specialty as a trio and the fusion works positively. Expect magical sounds wrapped in sweet melodies floating, bright as tinsel in the cold magical air! Christmas is coming!

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SeaStar is a blend of both the old and the new, the tranquil and passionate, the dramatic and playful.-Official band website.

Here’s another American band bringing to us cool music. They are called SeaStar. I love that name! They describe themselves as an original Celtic Folk band from Seattle.Seattle is also the original home of Grange music in the 90s, if you remember. The same place in the western United States with many Loreena McKennitt devotees.

There are four members  who are also friends ” who love to play music and share stories with others.” Another interesting background is that they already toured around Ireland, Scotland and other places in Europe.They even shared the stage with notable performers  like Dougie MacLean.

The new album is called Never Go Back. The band described the music as “Dusty dreams, salty seas, and a few silver linings tangle with powerful vocals, contagious melodies, and singable choruses.” They also promised to ” bring together a unique fusion of Celtic, Americana, Folk, and Bluegrass.”

Sounds like an interesting combination! I will post my reaction after I’ve listened to the whole album so watch out for that.

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Kyle Carey has reached her Kickstarter goal with 102% this week. This is really good news because it means her fans are passionate about what she does. I am so excited that the new album will happen and we are all part of it! Congratulations Kyle!

I received this link from the Facebook Celtic Music Fan page and it is an interesting concert held in Brittany. They are called The Celtic Social Club. And judging from the Reggae infused music, they are very inclusive  and they keep the listeners groovin.’ Just look at those people! Visit their website to know more.

 

Have you also heard of the Friday Frolics? They are a Celtic/Folk band from Barcelona Spain. I remember featuring a band from Spain before called Aulaga Folk so I feel a bit nostalgic.
Their  second album is called  Factor 3,has just been released. I haven’t heard the new album yet but I will post the entry here when I am done listening. Their Facebook page is right down below. Check out the amazing video. The music will blow you away. Sooo good!

facebook.com/FridayFrolics

 

Prime Celtic Fusion Group in the Philippines: Trad Street

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The creative net that Celtic music has thrown reaches far and wide…even to the Philippines. Trad Street is the newest Celtic fusion band to come out of South East Asia. They are heavily influenced by bands such as Flook, The Chieftains and Scottish instrumentalist Fraser Fifield. They combine jazz, folk and even Filipino flavour to their Celtic mix, giving you music like no other.

They are performing all over Manila and they are gathering materials that will become a recording in a not so distant future. If you are from Europe or pasrts of the United States and you are visiting the Philippines, look for Trad Street. And much better of you can get the guys to perform with your band for a live, acoustic Celticky performance!

https://www.facebook.com/trad.street

Moxie have started a fundit campaign to make their debut album in January / Febuary

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The guys in the band Moxie have been making sparks around Irish music traditional scene with their exciting style. It combines jazz,bluegrass, world, rock and traditional Irish tunes. The result is a sound that’s really unique with exuberance. One example is their track Spike the Island Lassies:

They already released their EP in 2012. They wowed the crowd, gained enthusiastic following and even a nod from Kevin Crawford of Lunasa. In fact he has this to say about their debut EP:

This is a stunning debut from five of the best musicians on the scene today; the fact that they are so young is both frightening and inspirational too. I find myself for some reason comparing this EP in terms of instrumentation, virtuosity, rhythmical interplay etc to Béla Fleck’s eponymous album “Drive” which changed my perception of what “Bluegrass” music was supposed to sound like and would not be one bit surprised if Moxie has a similar affect on some people’s perception of “Irish music”. Their sound is sophisticated, slick and adventurous yet exciting, full of fun and overflowing with fresh ideas. Moxie’s unique approach is both melodically and rhythmically addictive; surprises lurk around every corner in the form of instrument and metre changes combined with intelligent and well executed arrangements. I’m very excited by the music Moxie are making and look forward to hearing a lot more from them in the years to come” – Kevin Crawford (Lúnasa)

Now the debut albums is going to happen and this will further showcase their potential that’s already evident in the debut EP.

If you want to help just go to the fundit link: http://www.fundit.ie/project/moxie-dbut-album

Band Members Explain the Eclecticism Behind La Única(Interview)

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Neil Reedy and Brian Falkowski at Flanagans Harp and Fiddle. photo courtesy of Mike Landsman

Neil Reedy and Brian Falkowski at Flanagans Harp and Fiddle. photo courtesy of Mike Landsman

I was lucky to catch up with Neil Reedy of La Única (\lä, oo’-nee-kä\) who submitted the responses of five band members. Based out of Washington, DC, the band is representing the beautiful blend of Irish and Latin music. They are in the middle of promoting their self- titled album. Members of the band give us a close look at what makes  La Única unique, exciting and definitely worth checking out.

1. With the release of your self-titled album, what are you expecting in terms of the listener’s reaction to this project?
La Única: We’re hoping our listeners, upon hearing our songs, will begin to … well, we’re not sure how to answer this question that doesn’t end up in ownership of a private island.  But the most common response we get from people who have just heard our music is, “Wow, at first I didn’t get it, but it really works.”  We expect similar reactions of surprise and embrace.  But overall, we hope our listeners listen with an open mind and discover our new, fun sound.
    2. There are five core members and a total of nine musicians who worked on the tracks. How was the recording experience so far?
We are very lucky to be located in the Washington, DC area where each of us has played with phenomenal musicians from very different backgrounds, and we love having them join us occasionally for gigs to add a nice, fat sound.  The recording itself was a beast! The album was completely independently produced and funded. We even had a situation in which one of us temporarily lived in Miami and had to commute for recording sessions! We looked at the project from a standpoint of first recording the ideas and thought of the 5 core members and then conspiring with these additional musicians to add elements that add value to the complete vision of the album as a whole.  But thanks in no small part to our bass player, who produced the entire album — including all those strange scheduling challenges — we were able to put out a great product.

La Unica at National Cherry Blossom Festival.

National Cherry Blossom Festival.

    3. The Spanish and Irish connection really work! Tell me about the musical connection of Ireland to Spain.
Our Venezuelan lead singer knew about the Irish migration to Argentina, and taught the rest of us about Celtic regions of nations not named Ireland that have their own, distinct Celtic culture like Galicia in Spain, Brittany in France to name a few.  He also turned us onto some artists doing this, notably Gaelica (based out of Venezuela), Salsa Celtica, a few Ruben Blades songs and the Chieftains tried something similar on their San Patricio album. As a shout out to all of these guys, our live shows include two Gaelica covers and one from the San Patricio album.  Musically, you can hear when the traditional Irish rhythms contain roots in the fundamental rhythms that are shared by many styles of music. 3/4 and 6/8 rhythms are understood by the Latin side of our band and that is where the fusing of styles begins.  Then we add styles we’ve acquired from our various experiences and you have La Unica.
    4. Contigo O Sin Ti (With Or Without You) is a pleasant surprise. Tell me about the decision to record this track.

La Única : Pure energy.

La Única : Pure energy.

Our bass player is partial to U2’s guitar player, The Edge.  We brought in “With or Without You,” which–I guess you can say–is “Irish,” but more to demonstrate that we can apply our style to popular music as well.  We want to show that our style doesn’t just have to be so eclectic that only a few people “get it”—in fact, at our live shows, we get great crowd responses from cover songs of popular music that we’ve “La Unicized.” With or Without You has a nice chord structure, a pleasing melody throughout, and a climax (which is interpreted here as a salsa). Bachata throughout is a very dance friendly feel, and goes perfect with the violin and tin whistle.  Hopefully, people may come across our version when looking for U2’s With or Without You and perhaps be interested in checking out more of our stuff.
    5. All of the tracks I’ve heard are amazing. How do you work on polishing  and making them sound the way we hear them now.
The musicianship of our members is really impressive both in terms of technical ability as well as creativity.  We see examples of it all the time at our rehearsals when we come up with more and more ideas for songs we’ve played a lot (and we get incredibly frustrated when we forget to press record!). It stems from persistent practice, and playing many shows live. Sometimes new ideas sprout up even a year after a song is technically completed. Those ideas are then incorporated in the recording process, and additional elements are discussed and our bass player executed those ideas with supreme production skills. He added elements to these tracks that really make them a pleasure to listen to like the short hip hop beat in Dame Sabor, the ambient sounds in Silver Spear, and the background voices in Walk.
    6. Where can listeners purchase the album?
Everywhere. But make sure to come to a live show to get a signed copy of our music.  You can find out site and store at launicamusic.com
    7. What’s your message to other Celtic fusion artists out there?
Contact us!  We love hearing from bands and are always looking for new ideas or bands to partner with for live shows.  All five of us agree that after having played in scores of bands, this project is by far our most successful and most fun; we think a large part of it is the merging of so many distinct styles and producing a truly unique sound.  So if you’re a group out there doing that, keep at it and we’d love to hear it!
    8. Please invite your readers to buy the new album.
Buy our new album …how’s that for persuasion?  If you really want to hear something different, something that’s very likely not on any of your playlists, and will put you in a good mood, have a listen and give us your support!
    9. How do you unwind after a great gig or recording?Album now out
Honestly, after our gigs we are absolutely exhausted, so sleep is our go-to for now.  Yep, not too exciting an answer.  We occasionally hang out with the owner and staff at Rumba Café in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of DC—they’ve been very good to us.  Oh, if anyone would like to be a roadie for us, yeah, we’ll take that.
10. Top 5 albums you are listening to right now?
“Valtari” from Sigur Rós
“Random Access Memories” from Daft Punk

“Secret People” from Capercaille
“Muy Divertido” from Marc Ribot y Los Cubanos Postizos
“La Revancha del Tango” from Gotan Proeject

Links:

https://www.facebook.com/launicairishband

http://www.launicamusic.com/

https://twitter.com/launicaib

http://www.reverbnation.com/launicairishband

http://vimeo.com/user17693879

http://www.jambase.com/Artists/97816/La-Unica

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Huzzah!

If you like this interview, check out other exciting pages of friends:

This is from 67 Music:

Haunting melodies and evocative storytelling are at the heart of “Transplants” from Amelia Hogan

This is from Tradconnect:

Live Review : Goitse / The Mill Theatre, Dundrum

 

Introducing Brian FITZY Fitzgerald (an Interview)

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My new solo record is out! A New Shade of Green is across the board, truly. Think traditional Irish music + Foo Fighters + Genesis + Incubus + Iron Maiden + a dash of Bill Withers. Yep, all over the place, but it all comes together in this project and manages to make sense. The goal was to make a record that was still “one of my records,” but pose some big challenges along the way. I hope you dig it as much as I do.  -Brian

Brian FITZY Fitzgerald is a wonder. He does both- playing a challenging instrument and also singing tunes that require vocal acrobats. He also does  remix tweaking and manning the gears in a recording studio.  People react to his playing with amazement.  It is a music that has that haunting quality to be  pop yet groovy enough to make it accessible to fans of  Hip Hop and Jazz.  The free-spirited energy of his music is reflected in his stage persona.

I really enjoyed this interview with Brian. It’s one of those rare moments that I let an artist decide what font color to choose in the article layout.

A New Shade of Green is  a combination of traditional Irish sounds and urban funk. What are you trying to accomplish musically by releasing this recording?
 
My goal is always to try to do something different, and I really enjoy the concept of ‘mash-ups’ — as long as they make sense.  The idea of “make it your own” was instilled in me at a pretty young age, so that’s what I set out to do.

Have you met musicians who are into Celtic music around PA?
 
Actually, a tremendous number.  I spent the better part of a year touring in the US, and overseas to Ireland, with a band called Ceann.  At many of the festivals we played, I heard quite a few groups blend in progressive rock and hip hop elements.  Music, art…culture; a total melting pot.
 
Why  the electric violin?
 
I hear that one a lot; usually preceded by “what is that thing,” haha.  My background and formal training is of course centered on the traditional acoustic violin, but I started experimenting with pickups early on.  The further I went, the more I realized the technical limitations of that setup, like feedback, and made the switch.  I still perform and record with an acoustic violin often, but the majority of the time I stick with the electric.  Just a lot more control over what ultimately reaches the ears of the audience.

The song writing process, I want to know how you create each song.
 
It’s always different for me.  Sometimes I’ll start with lyrics or the head (the recognizable main melody) and construct around that, then go back in with a knife, rearrange all of it and re-record everything.  Perhaps more often than that, I’ll start with a rhythm section groove and build upwards.  Groove and feel is everything to me.  I prefer density to sparsity in a mix, when it’s warranted, so I usually reach a point where I listen and think about what’s “missing.”  As a multi-instrumentalist, I’m able to plug most things in on my own, be it a Fender Rhodes, Hammond B4, a 20-piece string section, or horn stabs.  I love the writing process, and the production work that’s entwined is just icing on the cake for me.

Are you a night person or a day person.

Night, all the way.  I perform mainly at night, so my day doesn’t end until around 5am.  “Morning” starts around 12 noon.  Doing 280+ dates a year forces that I stay nocturnal, but it’s useful when I’m not performing as well.  The better part of my “day” can be spent working with little interruption while the rest of the world sleeps.

 

Note your greatest musical influences.
 
I credit Jean-Luc Ponty and Philly jazz violin legend John Blake for planting the bug to “get out of the box.”  I got to sit in with Blake’s quartet in front of my school only a year after I started violin, around 9 years old.  That was a huge defining moment.  My mother played Ponty for me starting at a very early age, way before I started violin.  I got a healthy education of George Benson, Yes, The Police, Al Jarreau, Genesis, EWF, Huey Lewis etc. from them, too.  As a teenager I got heavy into Rage Against The Machine, Led Zep, Foo Fighters.. I have an equal love of raw rock, huge production with horn sections, and thick 13 chords.

Engineer,producer and musician. How do you reconcile these facets and how is it like being 1, 2 and 3?
 
Usually very frustrating, haha.  It’s been a real learning experience to learn to step back from what I’m doing and axe something I love if it doesn’t really work.  Another really big problem is my obsessive perfectionism.  I have a hard time knowing when to say “it’s done.”  I’ve done 100 takes of the same bar before, all of them solid and usable, but couldn’t stop going back in.  On REDEFINITION and New Shade, I set somewhat ridiculous time constraints to force completion.  REDEF’ was written, recorded, and out of post production in 36 hours over 3 days.  A New Shade of Green was about a week from start to finish.  I function better under pressure, but if I can bring in another pair of ears I can alleviate a lot of the stress that goes with that pressure.

Weirdest/funniest experience on the road.

Played a 2-night run in Virginia a couple summers back shortly after stink bugs infested the state.  We had to use wet/dry vacs to suck them off the walls..by the hundreds.  It was like an indoor camping trip.  I’m sure there have been other times to top the oddness of that one, but man..

I also did a gig opening up for Snoop Dogg.  Literally 30 seconds before he’s supposed to be on stage, the backstage loading doors of the venue open and he comes jettin through.  There’s a dude standing there off to the side holding his mic..he had been there for a while.  Snoop grabs it, runs out on stage, rocks the joint, finishes up and runs back off handing the mic back to the dude like a baton in a relay race.  Right back out the door he came in and that was that.  I laughed pretty hard.

Memorable experience?

Working with John Paul Jones and the Foo Fighters for a week…wow.  Walking down a hallway with Stevie Wonder.  People paying to see me perform.  What purpose does art have without an audience?  Hard to beat that!

 
More info about how to buy a copy of  A New Shade of Green here: http://brianfitzy.com/        
 
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