tradconnect

The Mentionables: This Week in Music!

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It is the first week of December folks and I assure you there are many reasons to update this site. The scene is boiling with great events from your favorite Celtic bands either those I know and don’t know. This is a great year and 2013 will prove to be a good year in music!

New CD from The Picts

Douglas McQueen Hunter

Douglas McQueen Hunter

Scottish band The Picts have just finished recording a new set of tunes and they are working on polishing the craft. According to front man Douglas McQueen Hunter:

“I’ve been up to my eyes in the new cd coming out… I’m tied up tonight and tomorrow. All the recording is done now…. just paperwork and CD artwork”

Douglas is also in the middle of an interview with yours truly so you can see he has his hands full 😉

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An Tain

I did mention before in the Martin Tourish interview that he’s working on a music based on The Tain. Here is a snippet of the music:

According to Martin: ”

In the final act of An Táin the Brown Bull and White Bull finally meet and gore and slay each other in a furious and frenzied, slaughter which shakes and tramples the entire country. The Brown bull emerges the gore-spattered victor but his great fury proves too much and his heart cracks like a nut in his chest.

Release/catalogue number: lmm011002
Release date: Feb 1, 2012″

Awesome. Wait for that one!

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The Celtic Tenors in NYC

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Zelienople, PA.

The Celtic Tenors are making rounds in NYC. They are getting more and more love from their American fans. A few weeks back they made a successful concert in China. It is just a matter of time before they conquer the world 😉

According to them:

“Tomorrow (3rd December) we will be singing a song as part of a Benefit gig for Huntington’s Disease at Playwright’s Theatre on 42nd Street NYC. Delighted to be appearing with Michael Brunnock — at Bohemian Pizza”
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Have a Cornish Christmas
 Here is a nice track translated to Cornish by Matti Clarke. Yes the season is really looking up 😀
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Celtic Music live The Czech Republic
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” Been meaning to see Pipes and Pipes for ages, and I’ve got no excuses this time. They’re in Plzen and their support includes Cheers!Hurrah!”
There is no excuse to see this even when you are in the Czech Republic. The invitation is in Czech but it means one thing: Great music 😉
Nejnašláplejší tuzemská punkrocková kapela Pipes and Pints přijíždí se svou novou desku „Found and Lost“!
Nové album je stále o dravém punkrocku s charakteristickým zvukem skotských dud, ale mnohem vyzrálejší o zkušenosti které kapela nasbírala během uplynulých tří let, kdy s debutovým albem „Until We Die“ objela prakticky celou Evropu. Za tu dobu se z Pipes and Pints stala kapela minimálně evropského formátu a není jistě náhodou, že si je pod svá křídla vzal respektovaný label “People Like You records” a

produkce na novém albu se ujal zkušený producent Darian Rundall, který úzce spolupracuje například s “Epitaph records” a “Hellcat records”.
Jako speciální host se celého turné zúčastní klubový objev Dirty Blondes a v Plzni je navíc doplní jihočeská legenda melodického punk rocku Suffer, která zde odehraje jeden ze svých posledních koncertů a zároveň představí poslední desku “Bee-Songs From The A-Cide” a plzeňská folk punková naděje Cheers!.http://www.pipesandpints.com/
http://bandzone.cz/dirtyblondes
http://www.suffer.cz/cz
http://bandzone.cz/cheersstart: 20:00
vstup: 170,-/200,-

Vstupenky na tento koncert lze zakoupit také prostřednictvím Plzeňské vstupenky zde: http://www.plzenskavstupenka.cz/index.php/cz/component/ticketseller/title/1004-pipes-and-pints

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Great album reviews from TradConnect
If you haven’t checked yet, this is a great site for anything traditional. Yes, there are many styles of music and sometimes it is hard to look for something you want if you are not sure where to go and also who is in authority for such matters. Well, I tell you now, Tradconnect is the best in the tradmusic online sites. You can sign up and chat with other members and even get to have a good chat with owner Tony Lawless.
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Song for Advent from Phil Holland and Dave Palmley / Celtic Duo
Here’s a message from Phil and Dave:
“Here’s a wee Christmas Carol for you from Celtic Twist…The Coventry carol….our own arrangement and recording…to get you in the Christmas spirit now that advent is upon us…please share with all your friends and family this year at Christmas….
all the best, Phil and Dave”
Seriously this is one awesome track. It has all the ingredients of what makes a perfect yuletide song: atmosphere, beautiful instruments and heavenly singing.
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Babel Pow Wow project‏ by Dom Duff

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“2013 will see the release of my new album Babel Pow Wow. Celebrating all cultures od the world, in my breton folk rock mood and language.
I am looking for people to help make the album possible by purchasing a copy in advance, or if you would like to contribute more to the making of the album by purchasing one of the other rewards on offer.
The money raised will cover the musicians fee, mixing, mastering and duplication.
Thanks for your support
Dom.”
Yes I truly support this project and I think this will be a great one.
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WGBH Music: Carlos Nuñez – Aires de Pontevedra

I am glad my friend Greg Shea always updates me with only the best videos in Celtic music. Today we have Carlos Nunez:

Born in Galicia, Spain, Carlos Nuñez began playing the bagpipes at the age of eight. He met Paddy Moloney of The Chieftains as a teenager and later became known as the “7th member” of the band. In Europe, he plays to sold out stadiums and arenas. He has toured throughout the world and continues to wow audiences with his high-spirited Celtic music.

Nunez kicked off his latest North American tour from the intimate confines of The Burren Irish Pub in Somerville, Massachusetts. This is their closing encore of the night, “Aires de Pontevedra”.

Carlos Nuñez — Galician piper
Xurxo Nuñez — Percussion
Hanneke Cassel — Fiddle
Katie McNally — Fiddle
Pancho Álvarez — Guitar

The Burren Backroom Series is hosted by Brian O’Donovan of A Celtic Sojourn on WGBH Radio.

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel WGBH Music:http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=WGBHMusic

WGBH Music Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/WGBHMusic

More from A Celtic Sojourn: http://www.wgbh.org/Celtic/

Audio Engineer: Antonio Oliart
Camera/Editing: Greg Shea
Camera: Annie Shreffler
Producer/Host: Brian O’Donovan

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Barrule booking for more gigs in 2013!

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According to the band:” Barrule  from The Isle of Man are booking for 2013… Got any festivals that you would like to see us play next year? Let us know, and more importantly, let them know too!”

Visit them here: https://www.facebook.com/barruletrio

Atmospheric Beauty and Top 10 Trad Albums

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Sinead O’Connor  Image Credit: Neal Preston/Corbis

I am a big fan of atmosphere. Atmosphere is another piece of a puzzle that every recording has. People who work with sound are masters of these by incorporating effects like reverb, echo, delay and attack- things that we refer to as ‘wet sounds’. Not all atmosphere is achieved inside a studio. Most of the great things you hear can be reproduced outside in enclosed spaces like churches or a small space with walls and ceiling aligned perfectly to create that bounce of sound. Most of these songs I featured here are either live performance or recorded songs but they all have one thing in common-they create atmosphere.

Today’s play list is all about traditional sessions held in open as well as enclosed spaces like churches. The beauty of live music plus the spiritual atmosphere that surrounds these performances are your perfect getaway to the stressful surroundings that mark day to day relationships at work and outside. So journey with me today as we both explore the music and the people who play these tunes.

Dave Sheridan playing the flute, Michael McCague playing the bouzouiki & Donal McCague playing the fiddle in a concert which took place as part of the Steeple Sessions 2011 season at the Unitarian Church on St. Stephen’s Green in Dublin on September 20th. The tune is called The Independence Hornpipe

Donal is one of our guests before and it is great to see him continue to win fans in the traditional scene. Check out my interview with him here:    https://celticmusicfan.wordpress.com/2011/09/05/donal-mccague-this-fiddles-on-fire-interview/

Donal O’Connor playing “Tune for Rose”, a tune for his grandmother and fiddle teacher Rose O’Connor at the Steeple Sessions on August 11, 2011 at the Unitarian Church in Dublin.

Laoise Kelly playing a piece called “Sliabh na mBan” on the harp at the Steeple Sessions on August 23, 2011 at the Unitarian Church in Dublin.

Ali gets a go of a Steinway Grand at Colchester Arts Centre! Filmed during our UK tour April 2011. Mike and Ali play 42 Beech Avenue and Cavers of Kirkcudbright.

Twins Mike and Ali Vass performing together. I am posting my own review of String Theory which is a new project by Mike Vass so watch for it .

Been a big fan of Iarla since his work with The Afro Celts Sound System. His voice is as exquisite and the heavenly lights of the Aurora Borealis. It stops you on your tracks and grabs you. I can close my eyes while listening to him and I feel like I am in a different place. To have a beautiful voice like that and to move souls…that’s got to be something! I think I am having an epiphany now LOL!

More about this recording here : http://realworldrecords.com/catalogue/foxlight/

This is a tragic piece about lost love. This song was written in 1909 although the original pre-dates this. But a song collector and publisher named Herbert Hughes heard the melody while in County Donegal and approached the song writer Padric Colum with the last two lines of the song and asked him to write a version.

Iarla Ó Lionáird Dublin mbac bac Bhaile Baile Brian Kennedy Átha Cliath teilifís teilifis TG4 Gaeilge TG4Gaeilge Celt Celtic Ireland Irish Ceol Gael Gaelic Folk Eire Traditional RTE World television programme Mick O’Brien TG4.ie Dubliners

Sinéad left out some of the song.
Usually the third verse is
“The people were saying no two were e´er wed,
But one has a sorrow that never was said,
And I smiled as she passed with her goods and her gear,
And that was the last that I saw of my dear.”
and the last verse should start:
“last night she came to me, my dead love came in”
This is where the young man denies that he murdered his young love.

In the last verse we hear the line, I dreamed last night my young love came in. The original line is, I dreamed last night that my dead love came in (implying she haunts him for what he done).

The song has been used in several movies including Brave Heart.

Siոeаd O’Cοոոοr oո іTuneѕ http://tinyurl.com/6c5v8b8

I don’t think any playlist is complete without the beautiful voice of Sinead O’Connor. In a way I totally get her. The passion and intensity she place on her songs and the emotional force in which she lives her life is something that speaks to me. We all have our little Sinead’s in us all..

 

Top Ten Traditional Albums – March 2012(TradConnect).

Find out more here: http://tradconnect.com/profiles/blogs/top-ten-albums-march-2012 

 

Irish Music Useful Links

/ mrbaxteria2008 / 4 Comments

The traditional music collective is ever growing with people creating sites and musicians uploading more links to their works. I dropped by my buddies at the TradConnect forum and threw them a question. I was asking about useful topics because these past few days were trying. I think I am suffering from writer’s block.It is hard to think and writing was a struggle. But that is life. Sometimes you make it easy, sometimes you walk the hard road. And the hardest roads are the ones that shape you and make you think about what kind of person you are.

I have learned that anger can change you and turn you into someone else. But stepping back, and asking your soul is always helpful-but hard amidst the raging storm. I was off from an island vacation. I remember how angry the sea was and how scared I was. And I left it with the waves still angry.

Within this adventure. Our bus passed by a victim of  a motorcycle accident. I didn’t look at the window. People said there was too much blood. Then I look ahead just a few meters from the scene of the accident and realized how the world didn’t care. How butterflies and birds still dance in the wind. How people go on with their daily lives not caring that a tragedy has happened. And the sky was ever blue, not mindful of the darkness behind. Scenes such as these makes you think….how fragile we all are and how frail our voices can be, so helpless against the humdrum of the world around us. So there is no one to deal with your broken soul but you. Love yourself more…that is the only way to be saved! Because sometimes…no one will.

The guys are really helpful and enthusiastic . I like to thank Jim McAuley for the wonderful links he provided me. Here’s his video playing Parnell’s March and Strop The Razor.

Jim and Friend’s :Jim McAuley (fiddle) – Daire Taylor ( Pipes ) Morton Robinson ( Banjo ) and John Morrow ( Guitar ),, At of Local Session, all player’s are from East Antrim.

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Below are useful links for those who are trying to gather more information about Traditional Irish music.

http://www.causewaymusic.co.uk/-Built by Dick Glasgow as a site dedicated to his music plus links to other sites. Very educational

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Ireland#Traditional_music-This is a wikipedia article about the music of Ireland.

http://www.standingstones.com/cmaoitm.html-The following discussion on the origins of Irish traditional music was assembled from several posts made by Caoimhín Mac Aoidh to the IRTRAD-L list. Caoimhín Mac Aoidh is an expert on the fiddle music of Donegal, which he has been collecting and studying for many years.

http://comhaltas.ie/?gclid=CPDE4Ye5jqoCFcIMfAodxjJtwA–Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann -From the website:is the largest group involved in the preservation and promotion of Irish traditional music. We’re a non-profit cultural movement with hundreds of local branches around the world, and as you can read in our history we’ve been working for the cause of Irish music since the middle of the last century (1951 to be precise). Our efforts continue with increasing zeal as the movement launches itself into the 21st century.

TradConnect:Connecting Traditional Irish Musicians Across The World

/ mrbaxteria2008 / 3 Comments

TradConnect was launched in April 2011 and is a new social network for people that play, listen to and enjoy traditional Irish music. The aim of the site is to connect people that are learning and playing traditional Irish music with other players in their area.

There is a kind of glow that happens when you meet a new friend. There is a sense of anticipation and wonder. We always start somewhere the way we end. TradConnect is like that. It is a community of musicians and music lover promoting traditional Irish music.

It came as a surprise when Tony posted a link on my blog. I always try to click on the profile of whoever has contributed their thoughts. Then I saw this site. Nanvigating is easy, and links are all placed just under the header. Not too much eye candy here as it prevents distraction.

Other than the videos of members playing music, one of the  interesting attraction is the chat room. There you will be able to share musical ideas with fellow musicians from all over the world. Tony, the site administrator also pops in and out once in a while and everyone is having a great time sharing a craic.

I am from the Philippines writing about Celtic music, and I am welcomed to the group with open arms. I am looking forward to share musical ideas with the members and write stories about them so that this great circle of musical tradition will be enjoyed by many.

http://tradconnect.com/