harps and Celtic Connections

The harp takes on many roles in Celtic music -- and other sorts of music too, of course. It may be by turns percussive or melodic, leading the song or following a singer. Though the harp has a lot of ethereal connotations, in practice it is a powerful, and powerfully used, instrument.

Below, three harp situations at the Celtic Connections in Glasgow where that was true: the musicians are Mary Ann Kennedy, Moya Brennan, and Siobhan Armstrong.






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Music Road: Celtic Connections 2011:first look
Music Road: Scotland on the harp: Corrina Hewat

Delicious Baby's Photo Friday, where travelers offer new insights to the world each Friday. This time one of those concerns the perfect bagel.

Celtic Connections 2011:first look

The Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow is in full swing, with artists and listeners from all over the world joining in for more than three hundred events that light up the January nights and days across eighteen days' time.


Whatever the numbers, it is a festival which honours and celebrates the immediacy and intimacy created through music...

this photograph is of Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh at the City Halls Grand Hall.

photograph made with permission of artist and festival, and is copyrighted. thank you for respecting this


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Music Road: Altan: 25th Anniversary Collection
Music Road: Celtic Connections coming up

Delicious Baby's Photo Friday, where travelers offer new insights to the world each Friday.

celebrating Robert Burns

Around the world, people are gathering to celebrate the life and work of Scottish poet Robert Burns, most especially on Burns night on 25 January. There will toasts to the haggis, toasts to the lassies, and replies from those lassies as well, all in honor and remembrance of the ploughman poet. His gift for words and rhythm, supported his keen eye for romance, social justice, and humor, and his love for the landscape of Scotland all show up in his work. Charlie Is My Darlin’, Auld Lang Syne, My Love is Like a Red Red Rose, a Man’s a Man for A’ That, all of these are written by Robert Burns, and they are but a few of the hundreds of poems and songs her wrote and collected.

Many musicians have recorded his music. To note especially are Emily Smith and Jamie McClennan,
Eddi Reader, and Jim Malcolm.

Several of my favorite songs written by Robert Burns are John Anderson My Jo, The Westin Winds, Commend Me to The Plooman, Silver Tassie, and this one, below. Tell us some of yours in the comments, if you’d like.




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eddi reader, willie stewart, and the search for haggis
about the book of memories and photographs Touched by Robert Burns

Capercaillie: Roses & Tears

The eight musicians who make up the band Capercaillie come originally from the Atlantic fringes of Ireland and Scotland, and it’s to the music of those places that they’ve returned to source the ideas for the album Roses and Tears.. It is not an album of traditional music. exactly. Nothing Capercaille does ever is quite that. It is, however, adventurous, creative, and well in the spirit of traditional music as connection, celebration, and telling memorable stories.

The first track, Him Bo, is a groove based song which finds Karen Matheson singing in Scots Gaelic. It’s the sort of song that draws you right into the music, whether or not you understand Scots Gaelic or have even heard it before. Matheson has; she’s from a Gaelic speaking area of Argyllshire in the southwest of Scotland. She’s won recognition and awards for her Gaelic singing, and she sings in English as well. Her skill there is in evidence on several cuts on Roses & Tears, including the haunting Soldier Boy, composed Donald Shaw. Shaw is a keyboard and accordion player as well as composer, and it one of the most prolific and widely respected of Scottish musicians, having worked on projects with more than fifty artists, composed music for several films, and in 2008, helming the artistic side of Celtic Connections, one of the largest Celtic music festivals in the world.

The heart of it all for Shaw is still writing and playing music. He too is from Argyllshire, and founded Capercaillie more than twenty years ago while at high school in Oban. Several of the instrumental sets on Roses & Tears pair Shaw’s original work with traditional music. The members of Capercaillie went looking for traditional music that’s rarely been played ot recorded to challenge themselves of this project and they came up with some gems, many from the archives of the School of Scottish Studies in Edinburgh. These include An Turas an Anraidh/The Stormy Voyage, which is paired in a set with an original tune from flute player Michael McGoldrick. McGoldrick is from Manchester, the son of Irish parents . By the age of fifteen he had had already won several prestigious All Ireland championships, and he’s played with the rock band Toss the Feathers, Brit folk artist Kate Rusby, Irish trad music powerhouse band Lunasa and the non trad powerhouse Afro Celt Sound System.

One aspect of Capercaillie that underpins all the music on Roses & Tears is that it really is a band, with the musicians collaborating and connecting to offer an engaging and clear vision of music that’s rooted in tradition and extends the traditional elements of song and story into the twenty first century. David Robertson on percussion, Che Beresford on drums, and Ewan Vernal; on bass, have m musical resumes that include folk, rock, jazz, and world music. Fiddler Charlie McKerron is steeped in traditional music and has worked with other modern day musical adventurers including Aidan O’Rourke and the Finlay MacDonald Band. Manus Lunny, on guitar, bouzouki, and vocals, is a respected composer who hails from Donegal in Ireland's northwest and has worked with The Wild Geese, Phil Cunningham, and others.

What comes through clearly here: the musicians and really passionate and engaged in what they do; they have a fresh vision for sharing an extending Celtic tradition, and they are just plain fun to listen to. The album itself is a fine balance of the fast paced and quiet, the upbeat and reflective. Outstanding tracks include that opener, Him Bo, a set which includes a clapping song from the isle of Barra in the Outer Hebrides and a tune called My New Silk Gown; a haunting cover of John Martyn’s powerful ballad Don’t You Go, and the reflective closer Loedhasach an tir chein/ Lewisman in a Foreign Country.

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The Highland Sessions: Mo Ghile Mear
Julie Fowlis:Uam
Celtic Connections coming up

music and winter

Winter is a time of connection, of community, and of solitude. Music is a solitary and communal activity as well. Music and ideas to go along with these thoughts

New Year's Eve
third week in Advent: connection
listening to Christmas: Heidi Talbot, Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh, Patty Larkin

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artists of the decade

Music is both timeless and immediate, bound in time and yet connecting beyond it. It is a solitary pursuit and a communal one, at the same time, an art that crosses and lasts through seasons, and years, and decades. At its best, it is a continuing conversation.

Here is a nod to those whose conversations I have particularly enjoyed through these last ten years. Wisdom and grace, fire, courage, creativity, humor, great musicality, and sense of spirit, place, and heritage are part of the work of each artist here.

There will be further articles about each of these artists here along the music road as this year unfolds. I hope you will come along for those.

I've included links to stories about several of the artists here. Including links to all would pose problems with internet search engines. However, taking a tip from our road trip partner at A Traveler's Library, I encourage you to place their names in the search box up there on the right to find stories here on Music Road about these artists, and to stay tuned for what is to come.

Thanks for the music, and thanks for the listening. Here’s to continuing these conversations as this new decade begins.

Music Road artists of the decade are

*Cathie Ryan -- a graceful and thoughtful singer and songwriter, who draws on her Irish and American heritage
*Carrie Newcomer wisdom, grace, and mystery seen through daily life
*Kathy Mattea hope and humor expressed through country and folk music
*Natalie MacMaster the heart and spirit of Atlantic Canada to the heart of the world
behind the scenes, *John Doyle and *John McCusker offer creative and engaging support to many gifted musicians, and are well able to step into the spotlight each on their own, as well
*Matt and Shannon Heaton Irish and American music though voice and instrument with energy and taste
*Christine Albert and Chris Gage draw together the roots of Americana and Texas music, with a dash of Albert’s French heritage too
*Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas engaging and creative conversation between fiddle and cello
*Gretchen Peters character songs and personal songs with consistent heart and intelligence, from unexpected angles
*Hanneke Cassel Scottish fiddle with energy, fire and a touch of grace -- and just a touch of other lands too
*Altan taking the local ground of the northwest of Ireland to the local ground of the world
*Hilary Hahn within the disciplines of classical style, great creativity
*Alison Brown jazz bluegrass folk fusion
*Terri Allard songs of hope, faith, and family from the heartland
*Mark O’Connor new American music which brings classical, folk, and jazz into conversation in the same piece


projects of the decade
*Dual Julie Fowlis and Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh explore connections between stories and melodies in Scottish Gaelic and Irish
*The Darwin Song project eight songwriters collaborate to write songs inspired by the life of scientist Charles Darwin
*Wilderness Plots five songwriters tell of connections of people, place, and history in the Ohio Valley

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Best Music, 2010
New Year's Eve

Celtic Connections coming up

The haunting sound of bagpipes, the flickering light of torches, and the anticipation and joy of the people: all of these will form part of the evening as Celtic Connections begins its eighteenth year of bringing music to the heart of Glasgow in the heart of winter.

Large concerts, intimate songwriter sessions, high energy evenings and evenings filled with quiet listening: all of these are part of the festival as well. This year, a collaboration among artist from India, Ireland, and Scotland kicks off things that first night as the parade ends, in a concert called Pulse of the World, featuring tabla master Zakir Hussain. Across eighteen days artists including legendary songwriter Richard Thompson, gospel singer Mavis Stapes, folk big band The Unusual Suspects, Gaelic singer Kathleen MacInnes, fiddler Bonnie Rideout, banjo player Alison Brown, guitarist John Doyle, singing group The Cornish Fishermen, country star Marty Stuart, and pop icon Sir Tom Jones are but a few of the musicians who will appear. There will be workshops, concerts for school children, and open stage competitions as well, along with the always well enjoyed after hours sessions and festival club, where playing, singing, and craic go on through the night and into the morning hours after the formal concerts are done.













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Music Road: Julie Fowlis:Uam
Music Road: Music for St Andrew's Day: music of Scotland
and
Delicious Baby's Photo Friday, where travelers offer new insights to the world each Friday.
.

road trip music: American northwest

The snows of Montana, the mountains of Idaho, mountains and coastal waters of Washington State, and the expanse of the Great Land, Alaska, are the places the Great American Road Trip will travel in January. The soundtrack for this part of our trip ranges from bluegrass to country to classical music.

Stephanie Davis is a woman who really gets Montana, her native state, and the celebrations and struggles that make up life in the contemporary western states, Davis has had success in Nashville, but it wasn’t her place to stay: Montana called her home. Listen to her album Crocus in the Snow and you will learn about the American west, a west you may just have glimpsed around the edges of popular images and books on the subject.

Rosalie Sorrels lives in Idaho, where she’s been writing songs that speak of heart and humanity and justice for decades. For the Idaho part of our trip, though, the soundtrack I suggest is an album she put together in tribute to another songwriter whose writings on social justice have become part of the American songbook. Take a listen to Strangers in Another Country.

Mark O’Connor got his start in Washington State, a start that would take him from bluegrass fiddle championships to rock bands, from being in the top ranks of Nashville sidemen to fronting a jazz ensemble to composing and playing classical music. In the process he’s created a classical genre he thinks of as the new American music, drawing on all those elements. Listen to what he’s talking about on Americana Symphony.

Up in Alaska, there are thriving interests in just about every sort of music. Country Grammy nominee Jewel is an Alaskan, and the bluegrass band Bearfoot was first formed there. You can hear their work on Follow Me.

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Music Road: road trip music: American west
Music Road: Ian Tyson: Yellowhead to Yellowstone
Music Road: Tish Hinojosa: Our Little Planet

This is part of The Great American Road Trip, in which I’m partnering up with A Traveler’s Library to add musical ideas to the book and film suggestions for journeys through the regions of the United States which you’ll find there. Stop by and see what the Library has in mind to inspire travels through the American northwest.

For more about the road trip (and a look at some great road songs) see Great American Road Trip: Music begins

Best Irish Interest Articles of 2010, from Irish Fireside

Over at the top travel site Irish Fireside, there's a lot of good reading on their list of Best Irish Interest Articles and Posts of 2010. You can
check out the list here.

I am happy to say that an article from Music Road and another I wrote for Perceptive Travel have been named to the list. As you might think, they both have to do with music.

at Perceptive Travel an evening in Belfast

at Music Road
Ireland: the best free thing


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Music Road: looking forward, looking back: happy new year

looking forward, looking back: happy new year

happy new year!
what’s ahead along the music road
a series on artists of the decade: thinking about how to do this I decided their work was work more than a just a listing

further adventures as the Great American Road Trip travels in the American west

deeper reflections on music and creative practice
continuing with occasional photo focused posts

and of course, continued insights into Irish, Scottish. Americana. and folk music from many different neighbourhoods, and sometimes, from behind the scenes

looking back at a few favorites

I considered several reflections on music and creative practice from the past year on New Year's Eve

over at A Traveler’s Library, Vera Marie Badertscher, the instigator of The Great American Road Trip, takes a look at what states you liked best in books and references a post I did a bit ago on what parts of the trip you were enjoying most through music. Michigan, Indiana, and Alabama ranked high, and there are two more to add: road trip music New York City: Irish Musicians and road trip music: American west.


reviews of recordings by a top fiddler and composer, an Irish songwriter, and a rising star from Scotland, and a selection of the best releases of 2010:
Hanneke Cassel: For Reasons Unseen
Dreams in America: Luka Bloom
Musical imagination: Matheu Watson
Best Music, 2010

two stories, one about the bodhran and another about kickstarting an Irish music recording.


at Perceptive Travel an evening in Belfast
Song Journeys
and at Wandering Educators
Scottish musician Sarah-Jane Summers shares the best of the Highlands

thanks for reading, and being part of things here, and thanks especially to all musicians who shared their music and their ideas. here’s to a bright new year for us all.