Music for St Andrew's Day: music of Scotland

Saint Andrew’s Day, November 30th, is a holiday that’s close to home for every Scot, at home and abroad, and even more so in this year of Homecoming Scotland. There are concerts, light shows, and celebrations of all sorts, and a general throwing wide the doors to the winter holidays. From the northern isles to the western ones, from Lerwick to Galloway and Oban to Aberdeen, it’s a time of festivity. If you’d like music to go along -- or perhaps delight the Scots on your Christmas list -- here are several ideas.

Capercaillie Roses and Tears

Capercaille is one of the best loved and indeed most musically adventurous of Scottish bands. They've taken their musical tastes all across the world, For this recording, though, they bring things back home, focusing on music in English and Scots Gaelic that holds close to the Atlantic fringe where most of the band members grew up. Outstanding instrumental tracks from the band and fine vocals from Karen Matheson show the group in top form. Notable cuts include the Gaelic groove of Him Bo and the anti war song Don’t You Go.

Lauren MacColl Strewn With Ribbons

Fiddler Lauren MacColl has a sure touch and a distinctive tone, and she’s a flair for graceful composition and song selection, as well. Here she draws from music collected and composed by four musicians from her native Ross-shire area, mixed with her own pieces. It’s a fine work in which you can almost hear the voices of the hills. Barry Reid on guitar and Mhairi Hall on piano, who usually work with MacColl in concert, add to the music with their creative support for MacColl’s fiddle lines.

Eddi Reader Sings The Songs Of Robert Burns

Indeed she does. Reader has said that she wanted to present Burns conversationally, as things might be if you happened into a pub in his times. She has done that, and offers the songs in such a way that they are conversational to today as well. There’s one non Burns song, Wild Mountainside by John Douglas, which is a real standout its own. There’s an extended version of the recording with tracks collected from other projects, which is worth seeking out, but the original release stands fine on its own as well.

Julie Fowlis, Eamon Doorley, Ross Martin, and Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh
Dual

Astute readers will note that this appears on my suggestions for Irish music for your holiday gift list, as well. That’s because it’s an exploration of the connections and intersections of songs in irish and Scots Gaelic. It’s a very fine project, one you’ll be well able to enjoy whether you understand a word of either language ot not.
more about that here

Jim Malcolm First Cold Day

Not for nothing has Perthshire native Jim Malcolm been given top honors in Scotland as both singer and songwriter. He’s also a fine song picker too, as for example with the first track on the collection, The Valley of Strathmore, a reflective, haunting ballad of regret by Andy M Stewart. The original An Hour in the Gloaming is a tribute to Robert Burns and to the joys of fishing that you have to be neither a fisherperson nor a poet to enjoy. Down in Alabam is a funny take on some of the food Malcolm has encountered on his travels in the southern United States, while Schiehallion grew out of a project he did with Perthshire School children.

You may also wish to see

Emily Smith: Too Long Away

season of change: music for autumn

malinky: flower & iron

Eddi Reader, Emily Smith, Robert Burns

music for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving time in the United States. Musical ideas to explore for the holiday

Hanneke Cassel and Christopher Lewis: Calm the Raging Sea Top Scottish style fiddler and guitarist turn their attention to a set of hymns

Jay Ungar and Molly Mason Harvest Home
fiddle and guitar on lively and reflective music of the American landscape


Mark O'Connor: Americana Symphony
classical and Americana meet in the hands of a composer who is master of both


Donal Clancy Close to Home Irish music, on guitar, close to home


bluegrass, jazz, Celtic, and folk keep good company on this recording from Alison Brown
The Company You Keep


you may also wish to see

Music Road: Daisycutter: Sara Milonovich

Music Road: holiday gift list: American harvest

Music Road: harvest time: Native American music

holiday gift list: American harvest

From the California coastline to the Arizona deserts to the Rockies in Montana, from the Kansas plains to the Texas hill country to the lakes of Minnesota, from the apple orchards of Michigan to the peach trees of South Carolina, from the Gulf Coast to the Maine Coast. the United States is a beautiful and varied country, with people, landscapes, and music to match. Here are several suggestions about music which reveals parts of that, for your holiday gift list, and for gifts to yourself as well.


Albert & Gage Dakota Lullaby

Christine Albert and Chris Gage call Austin, Texas, home these days, and they are fine singers and songwriters, together and separately, so they know a good song when the find one. Recently the pair came across an an old tape made by Tom Peterson, a writer Gage used to know in his native South Dakota, and decided to do a whole album of his work “As we listened to the tape in the truck one night, I felt like we had just struck gold in the Black Hills,” Albert says. Find out what she’s talking about in the haunting past and present of the west in the title track, the funny dash of Louisiana spice If I Die Tomorrow, the affirmation of hope after loss In Tender Loving Care, and the happy swing of Does She Have a Future with Me?

Gretchen Peters One To The Heart, One To The Head

Another take on the American west comes from Gretchen Peters, also a top notch songwriter who decided to lend her gifts to others’songs . Notable tracks include Ian Tyson’s Blue Mountains of Mexico and Stephanie Davis’s Wolves, and an original instrumental by Barry Walsh, North Platte. Tom Russell sits in too.


Tim Grimm, Michael White, Krista Detor, Tom Roznowski, Carrie Newcomer
Wilderness Plots
These five artists look at a different sort of frontier, building their songs around a time where the Ohio Valley, where they all live, was just beyond the edge of civilization. There are songs of hardships, imagination, joy, sorrow, distances, and choices, all framed in the stories that time and place, set in time yet timeless. .

Claire Lynch Whatcha Gonna Do

Claire Lynch’s music is rooted in bluegrass, a bluegrass that lends itself to crossing borders into swing, country, and folk without ever losing its bedrock authenticity. Lynch, who has won a number of awards and been nominated for a Grammy, has a warm, engaging soprano, and she chooses songs of substance that often include a dash of humor, and are just as likely to include a dash of faith. A train song, a song about false lovers, a meditation on love’s hardships and the strength it takes to learn from them, and really fine road song are just a few of the gems she shares here,. accompanied most of the time by her road band, and with a guest shot from Jesse Winchester.

Steve Wariner c.g.p. My Tribute to Chet Atkins

If you’re looking for excellent guitar work on tunes you may know and others you won’t have heard before, then this is the recording for you. You get some history along the way, too: Atkins was a legendary Nashville guitarist and producer who worked with artists ranging from The Carter Family to Mark O’Connor, to a young guy from Indian, Steve Wariner, who became a close friend ( and certified guitar player -- thats’ what the c.g.p stands for). Wariner decide to frame this tribute to his friend, who died several years ago, as a sort of chronology of Atkins’s life, with some original pieces to mark certain times and places mixed in with music Atkins played, composed, and produced. The result is a flowing set of music that’ll keep you engaged and interested through many listenings, . If you’ve a guitar player on you holiday list, be sure to consider this one..



you may also want to see

Music Road: holiday gift list: music of Canada

Music Road: holiday gift list: Irish music

Music Road: Robin & Linda Williams: The First Christmas Gift

if you are looking for non musical gifts
here's a roundup with ideas for pet lovers, readers, travelers. lovers of Hawaii. Martha Stewart fans...and the list goes on

holiday gift list: music of Canada

Canada has as many diverse and varied sorts of music as does its neighbor to the south. Here at Music Road, we’ve many regular readers from Canada, from Whitehorse and Yellowknife to Victoria and Vancouver, from Calgary and Edmonton to Regina, Ottawa, Toronto and Quebec, and from Charlottetown to St. John to Halifax to Sydney to Baddeck. If you’re looking to fill up holiday gift baskets, here are several of our favorites from Canadian musicians.

Maria Dunn The Peddler
Dunn writes of heritage and immgrant life and the struggles of war and the joys of friendship in this recording. She’s been called the female Woody Guthrie, and while she is certainly her own artist, that gives you a bit an idea of what to look for. On this recording, look for her Scottish roots, too, in melody and instrumentation, and in the presence of The McDades as back musicians on many tracks.

Ian Tyson Yellowhead to Yellowstone and Other Love Stories

Ian Tyson is the voice of the western plains. From his days as half of the duo Ian and Sylvia to his part in the cowboy renaissance to his place as a poet of the west, he’s told the stories and sung the songs of the lives and people who live in the sometimes harsh but always beautiful western part of North America. On this recording, his voice, weathered by time and illness, may seem a bit different, but it’s still Ian Tyson, and the songs are all his too, from the opener framed in the travels of a wolf to the closing bittersweet affirmation of hope for love after loss.
Whatever part of the world you hail from, it’s worth a listen.

Le Vent du Nord :La Part du Feu

From Quebecois history to lively dance tunes to reflective songs to pure fun, the men of Le Vent du Nord bring the many shades of the music of their home place, Quebec, to the world.

The Barra MacNeils 20th Anniversary Collection

The Barras, as they’re known for short, bring the music of the Maritimes and Cape Breton home, with sea songs so fresh you can taste the salt, connections to their Scottish heritage with outstanding versions of Robert Burns’ My Heart’s in the Highlands and Doug MacLean’s Caledonia, tasty sets of tunes, and well done new pieces including Island and Coaltown Road. Outstanding lead and harmony singing too.

Natalie MacMaster Blueprint

Cape Breton fiddle player MacMaster kicks this one off with a tune called A Blast, and it is, with her lively beats, distinctive tone, and flair for writing and choosing fine tunes. The Touch of the Master’s Hand is a thought provoking song, and Josefin’s Waltz shows she can handle a slow tune with emotion as well. The concluding song, My Love, Cape Breton, and Me, is a real keeper too, a last minute addition to this album that fits perfectly as a closing piece.

You may also want to see

Music Road: thinking about Cape Breton: music and landscape

Music Road: Leahy: Live in Gatineau dvd

Music Road: songs of place: Canada

Music Road: holiday gift list: Irish music

Austin Holiday stroll coming up

Downtown Austin Alliance's Holiday Stroll is a really lovely and very musical event. Carol singing at the Capitol steps, loads of shops and people and all sorts of music along the way, and by the time you get as far as La Pena and Mexic Arte, a bit more of the Hispanic tradition kicking in. Anywhere you join in along Congress, though, it's a fine holiday evening.

Here's this year's plan, courtesy of the Austin Music Alliance.

Saturday, December 5


6:00-7:00 pm: Holiday Sing-Along
south steps of the Capitol

7:00 pm: Capitol Christmas Tree Lighting
south gates of the Capitol

7:00 - 9:00 pm: Holiday Stroll on Congress Avenue

Congress Avenue will be buzzing with holiday cheer during the Congress Avenue Stroll. Shops, restaurants, galleries and museums will be open late and will feature special activities, offers or refreshments to visitors.


photo of the Capitol in Austin and the Texas Tree all in lights by Kerry Dexter

music to go along with these ideas

Music Road: Jeff Talmadge : At Least That Much Was True

Music Road: A Tejano Country Christmas

Music Road: Albert & Gage: One More Christmas

for a range of interesting posts, visit
Delicious Baby's Photo Friday

Daisycutter: Sara Milonovich

Sara Milonovich
Daisycutter

It’s an interesting journey Sara Milonovich takes listeners on through the course of Daisycutter, beginning with a look at the sometimes harsh realties of Country Life all the way to a finishing set of lively tunes from the Adirondacks, Louisiana, and Italy. Milonovich is a top notch fiddle player. You may have heard her on Pete Seeger’s Grammy winning At 89 album, and on the road backing Richard Shindell and Cathie Ryan, or perhaps in her duo appearances with guitarist Greg Anderson.

She is also a very fine singer -- think power matched with conversational tone, a bit like country singer Suzy Bogguss -- and both fiddle and voice come to the fore on this varied set of tunes and songs. There are timely as well as timeless touches of political commentary in Insanity Street and Under the Weather, and a timeless take on Eliza Gilkyson’s bittersweet love song Last Dance. Northern Cross is a darker ballad, while Pleasant Valley Sunday lets the sun shine in with its bouncy Carole King by way of The Monkees look at suburban life. The tunes are equally well done, drawing for the most part on Milonovich’s time in Celtic music and her background growing up in New York state. There’s a tune for her road weary car, called Fiona’s Breakdown, and a set called No Sweat Helene, which pairs two Quebecois tunes with a original written for guitarist John Doyle, who joins in for that tune and several other cuts as well. Anderson plays all sorts of stringed instruments across many of the cuts, too, and John Kirk, Natalie Haas, Lloyd Maines and Eliza Gilkyson are among those who also sit in now and again. That’s a powerful support group, and Milonovich shows she’s well up to it

you may also want to see

Music Road: Liz Carroll & John Doyle: Double Play

Music Road: Cathie Ryan: Songwriter

Music Road: Athena Tergis: A Letter Home

photographing music: hands, continued

There are times when a musician's hands are as expressive as his or her face and voice.























from gigs in Massachusetts, Texas, Louth, Glasgow



you may also want to see

Music Road: Celtic Connections 2009: images


Music Road: photographing music: hands

Music Road: Irish music, Irish landscape

for a range of interesting photography, visit
Delicious Baby's Photo Friday

winter meditation: aine minogue

Winter: a meditation

Aine Minogue has considered the light and dark of winter in her music, and she does so as well in the dvd she has created to extend those ideas.

Minogue is a harpist from County Tipperary in Ireland, now based in the Boston area, so it perhaps comes as no surprise that she includes both ancient and modern ideas and visual elements in her work on Winter Mediation.

There are forest scenes at sunset and at sunrise. There is a burning fire which may suggest yule logs or an even older ceremony. Dancers and other figures move in and out of landscapes, half seen as they suggest stories and ideas yet to be told. Children dance; snow falls, stone spirals seem to speak. The light changes, and snow falls again, all led by Minogue’s harp through eleven tracks of music both familiar and new. Visual elements and music together make thought provoking companion as winter begins.

stills and a bit of music from the dvd




you may also want to see

Music Road: winter music

Music Road: creative practice: winter thoughts

Music Road: ceol chairlinn: sharing music in winter

Music Road: disclosure policy

creative practice: friendship

Friendship, or lack of it, often comes into play in Irish and Scottish music. Sometimes that’s in the form of an emigrant missing home, or those friends left at home saying good by; at other times it’s in the form of one giving the other advice -- good or bad, as the song unfolds -- and at others it’s a friendship that turns into love.

Friendship is a balance point in the lives of those who make music too. The creation of music requires solitude, and silence, and being alone with yourself. Sharing music is done in company, and the music itself sometimes changes with that. Not everyone who listens to a song will become a friend of the song writer, nor should they. There is a connection there, though, and a good distance, as well. Each comes to the song from a different place

In the connection and safety of true friendship, something that lasts beyond the length of a song, there is space where each person can be who he or she really is and be accepted at best and at worst. There is a saying in Irish: The heart of a true friend makes a good mirror - Déanan croí fíor cara scáthán maith. The heart knows its own home. That’s a fair space from which to create, too.



music to go along with these ideas

Music Road: eddi reader, willie stewart, and the search for haggis
Music Road: creative practice: autumn to winter
Music Road: cathie ryan: the farthest wave

harvest time: Native American music

As autumn turns toward winter in the northern hemisphere, harvest time is celebrated, and in North America, stories of history involving contact between Native Americans and European settlers are told. Mnay of those stories, over time, have come to have more fiction than truth in the details, but the peoples did connect with each other in many different ways. As they still do.

Louie Gonnie, a visual artist and musician of the Dine (Navajo) people of the American southwest, sings of fire, water, wind, and earth in Elements.
The songs are in the Dine language. With rhythm and sound, pitch and harmony, his ideas come through clearly, though, and in the liner notes there are words in English which reflect his thoughts as expressed in songs including Dawn of Fire, Earthbound, and Winter’s Breath.

Johnny Whitehorse offers a percussive groove laced beat in a selection of song honoring his name, framed around the connection between man and horse, and the life the two live out beyond the edges of places where people gather. Warriors dance around a ghostly drum, and then ride off into the distance, wild ponies race, and the iron horse of the railroad comes to the west in Whitehorse’s vision. Tribal drum and Native flute meet in stories of a west gone by in his self titled album, in songs including Indian Pony, Last Ride of Cochise, and Riders of Snowy River.

Joanne Shenandoah, who is of the Oneida-Iroquois Confederacy of New York state, and Michael Bucher, who is Cherokee, join together for a project that in many ways traces the troubled history of Native American connection with the laws and lives of those have come later to North America. It is also in part a tribute to three musicians who walked that ground several decades ago, only to experience blacklisting and hostility: Johnny Cash, Peter LaFarge, and Floyd Westerman. There are songs by each of those men on the recording, which is called Bitter Tears Sacred Ground, There are several very fine originals by both Shenandoah and Butcher, as well. In what may be the balance point of the album, Shenandoah sings The Star Spangled Banner -- yes, the one you’re thinking of -- as almost a lullabye, and a lament. Whether you know or care anything about the history of all the varied Native tribes or not, it’s likely you will be drawn to listen to this album all the way through, and to come out with both answers and questions when you’re done.

That may be true, though for different reasons, when you listen to Kelvin Mockingbird’s recording Sacred Fire, as well. Mockingbird grew up on a Navajo reserve in Arizona, which, he says, taught him respect for space, spirit, and time. He was drawn into playing the flute by a dream. This album features songs of quiet reflection, with titles including Wind Child, The Flames Within, and The Healing of Hand, with emotion which translates readily through melody, with no words needed.

you may also want to see

R Carlos Nakai: Talisman

Music Road: looking toward Christmas: Bill Miller

Music Road: work of autumn: music

Music from the Atlantic Fringe

Music from the Atlantic Fringe




The Atlantic fringe is what it sounds like - the landscapes, coasts and waters to the west and to the east of the north Atlantic sea. That’s a wide sea, as anyone who has traveled between Ireland and North America knows. That distance is perhaps not the first thing that Cathy Jordan, Seamie O’Dowd, and Rick Epping had in mind when deciding on the music they’d include on this album, but it’s a subtle presence nonetheless, from the opening track Out on the Western Plains, a cowboy blues song of the American west, to the closing cut, Eileen a Ruin, which Jordan first heard sung in the far northwest on Ireland, at a pub in Donegal.

It’s an unusual and creative selection of songs, both melodically and in where the music comes from . Out on the Western Plains -- known also as When I Was a Cowboy --is from bluesman Leadbelly, and yet treats of the far west, and here it is paired with the reel Jenny’s Welcome to Charlie. Jordan then takes the lead on what is a cross between folk and formal song, Becky at the Loom, said to have been composed by a soldier in the American War Between the States, a Confederate far from home. There’s a set of Sligo reels, followed by a song from a contemporary Sligo writer whose title, It’s Cool to Be Green, gives a clue to its content. The Diamantia Drover finds its protagonist reflecting on ties that bind and lives that separate. There are several more songs and reels, well connected in both idea and musicality, with the three musicians putting of folk spin on The Rolling Stones classic No Expectations before winding home with a slip jig given a touch of blue, and then quiet longing found in the song Eileen a Ruin.

O’Dowd, who plays guitar, fiddle, and harmonica, grew up in Sligo in the west of Ireland and is known for his work with accordion player Mairtin O'Connor among others. Jordan, from Roscommon, is perhaps best known as lead singer with the top traditional band Dervish, and plays tenor guitar and bodhran. Epping, who is from California, has been moving back and forth between Ireland and America for three decades and has played banjo and concertina with the likes of Bill Monroe and Joe Cooley. Each is a gifted singer as well as instrumentalist.

This recording is much like a session with three very creative song selectors, and gifted players as well. How much O’Dowd, Jordan and Epping enjoyed sharing with music with each other comes across clearly in their playing and singing, and is in turn shared with those who listen, and there’s more to hear with each time it is is played.

you may also like to see

Gretchen Peters: One to the Heart, One to the Head

Crooked Still: Still Crooked

Cathie Ryan: Songwriter