It says: musicinscotland.com is dedicated to promoting music and musicians with a Celtic connection to a world-wide audience. If you are a webrat like me and spends half of your weekend surfing the net (if you are not nature-trekking or on the beach) then you might have come across this fantastic website. If not then this is something you just might want to put in your bookmark. It’s an on-line store OK. But apart from that it has a news section, and it also offers a lot of stuff not just limited to albums. You should also check out the What’s New Blog section. Right now something wonderful is going on there . Go click.
scotland
Julie Fowlis Admiration Day
I don’t really want to turn this site into Julie Fawlis admiration page. But today I have been listening to “Mar A Tha Mo Chridhe” and this Scottish vocalist and multi-instrumental lady has been making waves. She’s awesome. You should hear her. So I found these random pics from the net and decided to out them here. Just to smile while listening to her gorgeous voice.
Check out her officicial MySpace page.
Looking Back:Connie Dover’s Somebody
I first discovered American singer Connie Dover when I got a copy of CD Review in the early 90s.This line caught me and I knew I have to find her recordings:
“Just occasionally, a voice arrives on the folk scene that is so pure, so beautiful, so magical, that it tells you: this is how to sing a song. Such a voice has Connie Dover.”
— The Scotsman (Scotland’s National Newspaper)
Connie posseses one of the rarest voice in the folk music industry. I find it totally beautiful. The title track Somebody evokes longing, driven by acoustic guitar and vocal harmonies. The Baron of Brackley has that old Fairport Convention feel to it. Other tracks are mid-tempo, divided into lively and traditional airs.Cantus is one some that’s actually based on a Gregorian chant but translated into 3 parts: Latin, English and Gaelic. Connie indeed has a knack for doing tireless research and singing in multi-language.O’er The Hills and Far Away is a paean for unrequited love set on a lively sway with a Scottish feel. Shenandoah is sung acappela with her voice dubbed several times to create harmony vocals. Rosemary’s Sister is about the perils of war. So far this collection pays tribute to the journeys of different people coming from Ireland and Scotland, and then settling into early America, bringing with them songs that’s as old as a thousand years.
For detailed information,please visit her official website
Celtic Connections
For those who want to see how Scotland showcases its brand of tunes for international audience, then you might want to bookmard Celtic Connections.It’s a site devoted to budding talents in Celtic music.The aim is to inspire new audience and also for existing audience be exposed to new talents.As part of their repertoire, they are also supporting the Scottish Music Center as part of the Showcase Scotland program.
The Picts of Ancient Scotland
It was Anne Rice (who can trace her roots in Scotland) who introduced me to the Picts and the Pictish culture in her novel Lasher.It’s part of the series about the lives of the Mayfair witches. You can say that Pictish is related to Celtic or they look the same. But there is a difference. The are the ‘painted people’ of ancient Scotland inhabiting most of the North Eastern part. A beautiful example of their art can be found here: http://www.penandprint.com/images/scotland/2007_dec/pictish_stone_lrg.jpg
For more resources, visit the following links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picts
Celtic Music Fan 
