Scotland's music:Elan from Rachel Hair and Ron Jappy

Elan: that’s the name Rachel Hair and Ron Jappy have chosen for their most recent album.

As it is a word meant to describe something done with energy, style, and enthusiasm, it makes a description reflacting f the duo’s music.

Rachel plays the harp. Ron’s instrument is the guitar. The two thus bring together Scotland’s oldest instrument and one that is newest to the music of Scottish tradition.

They each bring love, respect, and knowledge of that tradition to the ten tracks on Elan.

Eight of the ten tracks are sets in which several tunes are linked; six of the ten include original compositions from Rachel. Other tunes come from traditional sources and from the work of contemporary musicians who draw on Celtic traditions.

Harp and guitar are in good conversation all through the sets and single tunes.

There’s the lively set Tom Toi’s Polka, for instance, with the title tune by Rachel written for a harp learning friend, followed by Battle of Augrim from Irish tradition, and another tune which they write in the sleeve notes “we found when sourcing new material; it obviously caught our eye because of its name!” It is called Harper’s Frolics and comes from English tradition. The light notes of Rachel’s harp dance against the upbeat rhythm of Ron’s guitar through the tunes. Adam Brown adds the beat of bodhran to the mix.

MacLeods of Waipu is a reflective tune that hold stories of journeys and discovery within its notes. When Ron and Rachel were on tour in New Zealand, people kept telling them they needed to go to Waipu as it it s place important to people from Scotland who emigrated to New Zealand.

On a day off they worked in a visit, and sure enough upon visiting the town’s museum, they found connection not only to Scotland but to Ullapoll, the very town in the northwest Highlands where Rachel was born.

Turns out that a school teacher (MacLeod of the tune’s name) during the time of the Highland Clearances led folk from Ullapool first to Cape Breton in Atlantic Canada and several years later to Waipu in North Island.

Cape Breton. comes in for further reference on the album, too: the Cape Breton Jigs set comprises three tunes by three Cape Breton fiddlers, set over to good effect on on harp, guitar, and bodhran.

Daybrak is a quieter set, also taking inspiration from landscape. The title tune comes from famed Shetland fiddler Tom Anderson. The duo pairs it with Rachel’s Dinan Dawn. That is “a Breton style tune inspired by early morning walks to teach harp in the beautifully medieval town of Dinan, Brittany,” she said.

The engaging music on Elan goes to show why Rachel and Ron each have many projects on the go in addition to their duo gigs and recordings.

Ron comes from a coastal village in Scotland’s northeast. He’s been involved in music since he was in primary school and holds a degree from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. He’s in demand for recording and touring in folk and traditional music projects.

Rachel is one of the top folk musicians in Scotland, known for her teaching as well as her performance. These skills and her love for the music of Scotland take her to countries across the world. Rachel has released six solo albums to date and often works on collaborative projects as well.

Rachel’s regular travels take her to teach harp once a month to the Isle of Man; it’s also where her husband comes from. So it’s natural that there’s be a nod to music of the Isle of Man on Elan.

The set Rachel and Ron have chosen to close the album references the Isle in its title, To the Rock, and in its tunes, which include music from Manx tradition and from contemporary Manx writers. That good conversation between harp and guitar (with Adam Brown’s bodhran again joining in) continues through the set.

Clarity, grace, creativity, and, yes, elan inform the tunes themselves and the playing of them through the album.

All the tracks on Elan are well worth your attention, worth your repeated listening in fact.

Lively sets and reflective ones, traditional tunes and newer ones, the music Rachel Hair and Ron Jappy have created becomes soemwhat like enjoying a conversation with good friends, a conversation to which you will want to return

You may also wish to see
Lossan, an ablum from Rachel Hair and Manx Gaelic singer Ruth Keggin
Caoir,. new album from gaelic singer Joy Dunlop, on which Ron plays guitar
Fas, an album celebrating nature from top Scottish band Breabach
Thar Toinn/Seaborne from Irish musician Muirieann Nic Amhlaoibh
The Woods from Scottish musician Hamish Napier

-->Your support for Music Road is welcome and needed. If you are able to chip in, here is a way to do that, through PayPal. Note that you do not have to have a PayPal account to do this. Thank you.

Lossan: Ruth Keggin & Rachel Hair explore music from the Isle of Man

Lossan: that’s a word in Manx Gaelic that means shimmer, flicker, particles of light in darkness such as you might glimpse when looking at light reflecting on water at night.

It is also the title that Ruth Keggin and Rachel Hair have chosen for their duo album.

“It felt very fitting to title the album this way,” Ruth said. “The word also has connections to sea and sky and it’s these things that connect us both and are so important to our homelands.”

Ruth is a singer, native to the Isle of Man, and an artist who has played a part in the resurgence of interest in the Manx Gaelic language in recent times.

Rachel Hair’s instrument is the harp. She is from Scotland, currently based in Glasgow. Her music has taken her as far afield as Japan, the United States, and Australia. She’s been visiting the Isle of Man for a number of years to teach and play.

Ruth and Rachel met more than a decade ago at an after hours session one night on Man. Off and on since then, they have been playing together, including a gig at the Edinburgh International Harp Festival.

“For years now I have been inspired by the culture on the Isle of Man and its music, song, and language,” Rachel said. “I’m so grateful to those involved in the cultural scene on the island for welcoming me.”

Ruth’s and Rachel’s collaboration on Lossan adds to the creativity of Manx music in both song and melody -- and there are a few tunes from Scotland and Ireland in their set list as well, tunes which help illuminate connections among Celtic traditions, and the work of those who bring those traditions forward.

The whole of Lossan is well worth repeated listenings; indeed the balance of intricacy and simplicity that marks the duo’s arrangements and choices of music readily invites that.

That said, tracks to listen out for especially include

Graih Foalsey is a traditional song from the Isle of Man about about a lover who has proved false to her man. If you know other Celtic tales of false lovers you might hear hints of those in word and melody both. In this tale, though man knows of the circumstance, he remains hopeful. That likely explains why the song is reflective in tone rather than angry or sad It’s a piece Ruth and Rachel each enjoy performing when they are working on their own, so it made a natural choice to include in this duo project.

For the Tri Nation Harp Jigs Set, Rachel features on her own with a set that moves from a traditional Scottish tune to a Manx one to one from Ireland; Ruth similarly has a track on her own with an a capella take on the traditional Manx song Arrane Saveenagh, a song which has similar lyrics in the same vein as Rock-a-bye Baby.

You might at this point be wondering a bit about Manx Gaelic and Manx music and where they come from. They’re Celtic: if you have Scottish Gaelic or Irish a few words might catch your ear .

The Isle of Man lies in the Irish Sea, about halfway between Ireland and Scotland. Through history it has had connections and influences to the cultures of both countries, and to the Nordic lands also, as it made a good way station for traveling Vikings.

The Isle of Man has remained its own country, though, and being an island a bit out on the sea, has developed its own languages and culture from all those elements.

Another set to listen out for on Lossan is Eubonia Soilshagh, which comprises a lively collection of drinking songs, several with trad Manx lyrics set to contemporary melodies by Manx musician Annir Kissack. This is also a track on which guests join the duo: Adam Brown on bodhran, Adam Rhodes on bouzouki, and Isla Callister on fiddle.

The whole of Lossan offers a way to explore an aspect of Celtic music and Gaelic song that’s perhaps lesser known than others.

It also offers a master class in how singer and instrumentalist can work together to explore song and melody.

All that comes together especially in another track: Arrane Oie Vie, also known as the Good Night Song. It too is a traditional Manx song, one which is often used to end an evening of music.

Ruth Keggin and Rachel Hair have chosen this song to draw their duo album Lossan to a close, as well.

There’s much more to enjoy on Lossan. Take time with what Ruth Keggin and Rachel hair have created; you will be well rewarded.

Ruth and Rachel each have other albums in release, which you may find out about at their respective websites.
For English language lyrics of the songs on Lossan, go to the media tab of Ruth’s website.

Photographs of Ruth and Rachel by Amore du Plessis Photography

You may also wish to see:
A Celtic autumn celebration on the Isle of Man
Alterum from Julie Fowlis, with songs in Scottish Gaelic
Thar Toinn from Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh with songs in Irish

-->Music Road is reader supported . Your support for Music Road is welcome and needed. If you are able to chip in, here is a way to do that, through PayPal. Note that you do not have to have a PayPal account to do this. Thank you.

You can also

Second week in Advent: Music from Spell Songs, Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem, Ruth Keggin and Rachel Hair

Celebration in winter months may be lively. It may also be quiet. Music can align well with both of these circumstances.

In the second week of Advent, here are ideas to go along with your lively celebrations and your quieter ones.

This song, Oak, is a good one to get thinking about nature, about time, about connection -- all good things to contemplate in the winter season.

Kris Drever, who comes from Scotland, sings lead here, accompanied by other members of the Spell Songs ensemble, who are Jim Molyneux, Seckou Keita, Rachel Newton, Karine Polwart, Beth Porter, and Julie Fowlis. You will find Oak recorded on Spell Songs II: Let the Light In. Learn more about the here is a way to do that, Spell Songs albums and artists in this story

Whether or not you like the drink hot buttered rum or indeed if you have never heard of it, there is good reason to listen to the song of that name.

Hot Buttered Rum the song celebrates and reminds of the healing possibilities of friendship, love. connection, and hope in the midst of dark and cold. New England based band Rani Arbo and daisy mayhem (who are, in addition to Rani, Scott Kessel, Andrew Kinsey, and Anand Nayak) recorded on their album Wintersong.

Arraneyn Cadlee is the name of a set of two Christmas lullabies which start off the album Lossan from Ruth Keggin and Rachel Hair. Ruth is the singer for the track; Rachel plays harp.

The words of the songs are in Manx Gaelic, the language of the Isle of Man. That is Ruth’s native place. Rachel, who is one of the top harp players in Scotland, has been visiting the Isle of Man for a number of years to perform and to teach. The women met at a session some ten years ago and from time to time performed together, eventually deciding to create a duo album. Lossan is the result. Look for more to come about Lossan here along the music road.

You may also wish to see
A reflection on the first week in Advent
Learn a bit more about the Isle of Man and its traditions
Another album from Rani Arbo and daisy mayhem
Music for lighting the path, at Wandering Educators
A recording from Julie Fowlis

Your support for Music Road is welcome and needed. If you are able to chip in, here is a way to do that, through PayPal. Note that you do not have to have a PayPal account to do this. Thank you.

You can also

Celtic Colours Festival: Heritage and Heart on Cape Breton

On Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, there are times when music seems to rise out of the landscape. One of those times occurs every October during the Celtic Colours International Festival, when the people of Cape Breton invite the world -- including tradition bearers from cultures which have shaped the island’s life -- home for celebration and sharing.

This year, Celtic Colours takes place from 11 through 19 October. Music is at the heart of things; music is woven into the fabric of life on the island. In addition to headline concerts, of which there are a generous number each day, there are many other things explore, see, create, taste, and enjoy. More about those in a bit. First, though, a few highlights of what to expect with the music (and read on to learn how you may hear some of the concerts even if you will not be making it to Cape Breton during the festival).

Beolach and Brebach are artists in residence this year. Often those posts are held by solo artists, but the two bands, Beolach, who are Mac Morin, Wendy MacIsaac, Mairi Rankin, and Matt MacIsaac from Cape Breton and Breabach, who are James Lindsay, James Duncan Mackenzie, Ewan Robertson, Calum MacCrimmon, and Megan Henderson from Scotland, have been talking about working together for some time, and shared the stage for a Celtic Colours gig last year.

Each band has pipers and fiddle players, members of both have been known to step dance, and there are other instruments and singers in both Gaelic and English involved. When Beolach was in Scotland this summer for the Piping Live Festival, the musicians got together to plan what they’ll do in their concerts Kicking Ash and Causeway Ceilidh. The latter is the festival’s finale, where they will share the stage with top Gaelic singer Julie Fowils, who will be making her only appearance at the festival.

The First Nations Mi’kmaq people have long history on Cape Breton, and love fiddling and dance as much as their Acadian and Gaelic neighbors. One way this will come together is at Unama’ki Mawio’mi/A Cape Breton Gathering, where local Mi’kmaq group Stoney Bear will sharing singing, dancing, and drumming, and rising Mi’kmaq singer Emma Stevens will raise her voice. Cape Breton fiddlers Mooney Francis and Anita MacDonald will add in a Celtic flair, and the Ivan Flett Memorial Dancers will bring their Metis dancing to what sure to be a lively afternoon concert.

Another lively time is sure to be had when Kaia Kater brings her soulful songwriting, Appalachian ballads, and high energy banjo playing to the Cow Bay Ceildih, where she’ll be joined the very high energy Scottish trio Talisk and hometown favorites Tracey Dares MacNeil, Patrick Gillis, and Ian MacDougall.

Another sort of energy will pervade the stage at Close to the Floor. That’s a term often used to explain the style of Cape Breton step dance. There will be a dozen or so artists with dance steps from Cape Breton and other regions to share, among them festival favourite Nic Gareiss and top fiddle player, dancer, and singer April Verch.

Fiddler Jenna Moynihan and harpist Mairi Chaimbeul come up from New England to make several appearances during the festival. One of the more unusual will be their gig at the Chapel at the Fortress of Louisbourg. The concert is called Step into the Past. Audience members will have done that, as they’ll have enjoyed a traditional 18th century meal served by candle light and have walked through cobbled, lantern lit streets of the Fortress to reach the chapel. Joining Moynihan and Chaimbeul on stage will be Cape Bretoners Rosie MacKenzie on guitar and Dominique Dodge on harp, and from Scotland, Megan Henderson on fiddle and guitarist Ewan Robertson, who are also members of the band Breabach. There are fine singers in this mix as well as gifted players.

As much as the concert at Fortress Louisbourg is unique, it also shares aspects with many of the headline concerts. Several acts share each bill. Each usually does a set on alone (although sometimes the musicians cannot resist sitting in with each other) and then all join in together to close the show. It is a format that makes for collaboration, sharing, and discovery.

Those elements will be present when the Cape Breton Orchestra meets up with artists in residence Beolach and with Heather Rankin, who is known for her own stellar solo career as well as being a member of one of Cape Breton’s well loved musical families.

There’s always a strong strand of Gaelic running through Celtic Colours; you’ll find it almost every concert. The quartet Farsan, who bring together music and language traditions of Cape Breton, New England, and Scotland, will join forces with Saltfishforty from Orkney and Dwayne Cote and Roger Stone from Cape Breton in a gig called Family and Friends. Farsan will also take part in a Gaelic focused concert called The Waters of Iona, at the church at the Highland Village.

There are many other artists sharing their gifts in the fifty-two concerts which make up this season’s Celtic Colours Festival. Mary Jane Lamond, Joe MacMaster, KIttel & Co., Howie MacDonald, Tim Edey, JP Cormier, Dawn Beaton, Margie Beaton, Ashley MacIsaac, The Chieftains, and The Barra MacNeills, are just a few of these.

The music at the festival club at the Gaelic College in Saint Ann’s begins just as the evening concerts are winding down, and often goes through the night. Artist bookings are not announced in advance, so you never know who you might see.

The music is not all: there are 300 community events taking place all across the island.

You could learn to step dance, or take your partner to a square dance. You could begin on or brush up your fiddle skills, watch a traditional blacksmith at work, or explore the landscape of Cape Breton on a nature walk.

You could try your hand at traditional fibre crafts and dyes, visit an art exhibit, go to a farmers’ market, or explore one of the island’s historic churches. The First Nations peoples of the island are ready to share their stories, hospitality, and history with you, and so are people from Acadian, Scottish, and Irish background.

One of the ways that happens is through community meals, which range from egg and bacon breakfasts to fishcakes and beans to squash soup to lobster, from tea and stories in the afternoon to turkey and all the fixings in the evening.

Chances are, those community meals will come with a side of music, or be located nearby a concert. Music is part of the community sharing on Cape Breton. The Celtic Colours International festival is one of the best ways to experience that.

If you’ll not be on Cape Breton for the festival, keep your eye out on the festival web site. Usually, one concert each evening is shown on live stream. It is not announced what concert it will be until an hour or so before start time, but you’ll not go wrong with whatever is offered. Each concert is most often left up through the next day until almost time for the next evening’s event to begin.

You may also wish to see
Breabach: Frenzy of the Meeting
Alterum, from Julie Fowlis
Learn a bit more about Farsan
Learn about how and when Thanksgiving is celebrated in Canada
Ireland, Scotland, and Story: Music from Eamon Doorley Julie Fowlis, Zoe Conway, and John McIntyre

-->Your support for Music Road is welcome and needed. If you are able to chip in, here is a way to do that, through PayPal. Note that you do not have to have a PayPal account to do this. Thank you.

Another way to support: you could

Listening to Winter: Aine Minogue, Cara Dillon, Matt Heaton

Winter. It’s a time of gathering in, of reflection, a time for preparation and anticipation, a time for solitude and for community.

Music goes well with all these things.

Aine Minogue gathered musical friends to help with her new single, Winter, Fire, and Snow. The Tipperary born artist draws on her deep connection to the mystical aspects of Ireland, and of music, in her work. She has visited winter before in her work, in albums and dvds including Winter: A Meditation.. This, however is a new offering for this season, a song written by Brendan Graham. Minogue's instruments are harp and voice. Seamus Egan of Solas and Eugene Friesen of the Paul Winter Consort are among those who join Minogue on this mediation on the changes of winter.

Cara Dillon’s album Upon a Winter’s Night began with an idea that she and her husband and musical partner Sam Lakeman had to make a gift for their children. “As musicians and singers we thought it was important that our kids grow up knowing isn’t all about Santa,” Dillon told Belfast Live. When the couple first released the album, they booked a small Christmas tour – which has now become a well loved tradition, for their own family and for others. When people have spoken to Dillon after these shows many of them “have said it brings the magic back into Christmas a wee bit because it’s the more traditional reverent songs,” Dillon says. Those songs include O Come O Come Emmanuel, The Holly and the Ivy, The Darkest Midnight, and Infant Holy Infant Lowly.

On his recording Snow Day , Matt Heaton mixes songs that share the joy, the connection, and the fun of the holiday season, There are songs kids will enjoy and songs parents and other adults will like too. There’s a really good answer to that question of when you should say Happy Holidays, in the song with that name. Have you met The Sneak? Always good to know about during the holidays… There’s a song for Hanukkah, one that celebrates Christmas Movies, a funny and gentle lesson in Can’t Judge a Gift. There’s warmth and connection in Christmas Eve With You. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer is around and so is Winter Wonderland. Original songs and traditional ones, Heaton has created a collection of music which should become a well loved part of the winter season.

You may also wish to see
Aine Minogue Winter Through a Musician’s Eyes
Cara Dillon Wanderer.
Matt and Shannon Heaton Another Fine Winter’s Night

-->Your support for Music Road is welcome and needed. If you are able to chip in, here is a way to do that, through PayPal. Note that you do not have to have a PayPal account to do this. Thank you.

Ireland's Music: Aine Minogue: In the Name of Stillness

Music is framed in silence. There’s a saying that as a painter paints on canvas. so a musician paints on silence.

Silence and stillness often go together. They are not the same thing, though. In both silence and stillness, there is music.

Music partners often with dance, and with other sorts of movement -- clapping, stamping feet, and such. Yet music, in both creation and listening, may also be framed in stillness.

Aine Minogue has called her most recent album In the Name of Stillness.

Minogue’s instrument is the harp. She is from Ireland, born in County Tipperary and with a master’s degree in traditional Irish harp performance from the University of Limerick. She has been resident in the United Staes, in New England, for some time.

You may hear the landscapes of both places in the nine instrumental and one vocal track on the album. They are all original compositions. Titles include Sitting Pilgrimage, Quiet Absence, Chant of Eternity, and Home of Belonging. In the Name of Stillness, Minogue’s fourteenth recording, is the second in a series she is calling Celtic Meditation Music. “Whether it’s used in meditation or contemplation,” Minogue says, “stillness helps to open or create more space for ‘something else to come in’ … more peace, clarity, balance, serenity, perspective. For me, stillness says it all.” 

Each piece, and the album taken as a whole, does invite reflection, and coming to a place of stillness. Music and the spaces between the notes blend into each other and lead the listener on a journey of spirit, and indeed, hope. Minogue’s harp leads the way, in quiet conversation with. on occasion, guitar, cello, oboe, clarinet, and keyboards.

In the sleeve notes which accompany the recording, Minogue has chosen words to go along with each track, which, she says, may be helpful to think about in establishing the mood of each piece. These include ideas from sources ranging from Wendell Berry to Thomas Merton to Chief White Eagle.

In the series of videos created to go along with the music (one of them is below) images and these words offer additional material for reflection. Each composition, Minogue says, is a "combination of blessing, community, ritual, and intention,” all things that are integral to Celtic spirituality and tradition. Silence which frames lines and notes of music is a vital part of composition and communication of musical ideas; one might almost say that Minogue’s work leads to contemplation of silence within the notes as well. Take a listen.

You may find out more at Aine Minogue’s web site.

You may also wish to see
Music for Winter’s Changes at Wandering Educators, which includes a video of another track from In the Name of Stillness
Winter Through a Musician’s Eyes, at Perceptive Travel
Music and Mystery: A Conversation with Carrie Newcomer
Ireland’s Music: Cara Dillon: Wanderer

-->Your support for Music Road is welcome and needed. If you are able to chip in, here is a way to do that, through PayPal. Note that you do not have to have a PayPal account to do this. Thank you.

Another way to support: you could

Best music 2013, part 2

Music at its best is a conversation, a connection between musicians and listeners and in some cases a wider world. Take a listen to conversations these musician offer.

This is part two of a three part series on best music of 2013 here at Music Road. Here is part one. Music Road: best music 2013, part 1

note: clicking on the text links and album cover images will take you to longer reviews of the recordings/and or places where you may hear bits of the music.

Ruth Moody, Canadian songwriter whose name you may know from her work with the award winning group The Wailin’ Jennys, is also a fine solo artist. She has the gift for weaving the spiritual into love songs and other experiences of day to day life in her lyrics, and the musicianship to invite you in. You may find all this, along with musical guests including Mike McGoldrick, Mark Knopfler , and Jerry Douglas on her album These Wilder Things.

Ron Block often puts questions of life illuminated by questions of faith front and center in his solo work too. In his case the ideas and the music are infused with bluegrass, which makes sense when you know that Block is a long time member of Alison Krauss + Union Station. Both as aspects of his interest come into his album Walking Song which includes a number of collaborations with new found songwriting partner Rebecca Reynolds.

You might know Heidi Talbot from her work with other musicians, as well: she was lead singer with Cherish the Ladies, and has been know to sing backup to Eddi Reader. Talbot is a fine solo artist as well. Her earlier albums have leant toward music draw for the deep reservoir of Celtic tradition (Talbot is Irish and lives in Scotland). On Angels Without Wings she walks farther into adding her own songwriting voice to the mix, and it proves as powerful and as gracious a one as is her singing voice. Notable cuts include When the Roses Come Again, I’m Not Sorry, and My Sister the Moon.

Childsplay is a gathering of musicians who come together in the Boston area, centered around musicians who play violins made by Bob Childs. The music they make on As the Crow Flies is by turns Celtic, Americana, and contemporary, some original compositions, some from those traditions. It’s not just violin and fiddle, either -- they bring along musical friends including flute player Shannon Heaton and guitarist Keith Murphy as well as Lissa Schneckenburger -- she is one of the fiddle players to be sure, and also lends her fine voice to tracks including Dear Companion and As the Crow Flies. Fiddle players you’ve met here along the music road include Hanneke Cassel and Katie McNally, and Nic Gareiss brings the percussion of his dancing feet as well.

The Paul McKenna Band are rising stars of Scotland’s music. Their album Elements, recently released in the United States, makes clear why this is so: creative tunes, thoughtful songs, a good blend of fast paced and slower tempo, and through it all the taste of Scotland lingers. Standout tracks include the instrumental set Flying Through Flanders , the fast paced song Mickey Dam, and the quiet reflection of the song Indiana.

Dervish know well how to balance music between high flying tunes and time for that quiet side side of things too. They are from the west of Ireland, and a number of the songs they have on The Thrush in the Storm are ones they draw from time as band in residence in Leitrim. The stories they tell in the liner notes are almost as interesting as the ones they tell in the songs and tunes. Listen out for The Rolling Wave set and Shanagolden, which has particularly fine singing from Cathy Jordan.

Therese Honey does not sing a line on her album Summer's End: her instrument is the harp. It’s a fine collection of original and traditional tunes in Celtic tradition, some lively, many inviting reflection. It is a recording you’d do well to let play through as the musician has sequenced the tunes for you.

John Reischman’s instrument is the mandolin, and while on Walk Along John he shows just about every color of it in folk, bluegrass, and Americana music, it’s the power of story, and of the journey he creates for the listener, that shines even more brightly than his skill on his instrument. It’s mainly original music with a few well chosen traditional tunes mixed in. From the Itzbin Reel to A Prairie Jewel though to Anisa’s Lullabye, Reischman will keep you engaged in his musical journey.

Joy Dunlop has a journey to bring you along on, as well -- in her case it is through her native Argyll in the west of Scotland. Whether Scottish Gaelic is your language or not, you’ll follow along with the humor, sorrow, joy, celebration, and other emotions Dunlop shares on Faileasan/Reflections, No worries if your Gaelic is not fluent -- or if you have any at all -- Dunlop tells the stories of the songs and a bit about how they came to her in the liner notes, in English. You’ll recognize the names of several of her musical friends -- all with connections to Argyll -- among them Donald Shaw, Karen Matheson, and Mary Ann Kennedy.

photographs are by Kerry Dexter, and are copyrighted. thank you for respecting this.

you may also wish to see
Ireland's music: two voices
Winter's grace

-->Your support for Music Road is welcome and needed. If you are able to chip in, here is a way to do that, through PayPal. Note that you do not have to have a PayPal account to do this. Thank you.

Winter meditation

Winter is a time when dark comes early. We light the lamps and fires to bring light inside, and go outside to reflect on the stars in the night sky, and perhaps, the fall of snowflakes. It is a time for remembering and sharing well loved stories, and singing songs handed down across time. A time for gathering, and a time for solitude, winter is also a time for appreciating and reflecting on the roads traveled the changes made, the friendships which last, the lessons learned, the winter season is as much a time for mediation and planning and dreaming of what’s to come as well as recalling what’s past and enjoying what’s present. Whether you make resolutions at the turning of the year ot at some other time, or not at all, music is a fine companion for the reflective aspects of winter.

Music to go along with these ideas

note: clicking on text links and album cover images will take you to places where you may read more about the music and/or hear bits of it. photographs above are by Kerry Dexter and are copyrighted. thank you for respecting this.

Matt and Shannon Heaton offer Shannon’s song Fine Winter's Night which evokes the clear winter skies, cold nights, and the warmth of connection and music which also mark the season, as the tile track for their seasonal album Fine Winter's Night

It might seem touch unusual to suggest an album called Summer's End for winter meditation, but I think you’ll find Therese Honey recording of original and traditional Celtic music on the harp a good choice, as well.

Al Petteway and Amy White employ guitar dulcimer, keyboard and other instruments as they explore the Appalachian side of winter in Winter Tidings.

Gretchen Peters does a fine job of working with a song of Appalachia too, I Wonder As I Wander. It is on her album Northern Lights. which contains fine traditional and original music of the lights and shadows of winter.

Hanneke Cassel is a fiddle player and composer who has a number of albums that go well with winter reflection. The music of Scotland is her inspiration but in both interpretation and composition, her music is all her own. At this season, I’d suggest Some Melodious Sonnet

and from Carrie Newcomer, a musician whose work you’ve met before here along the music road -- a song inspired by a drive home on a winter's night

-->Your support for Music Road is welcome and needed. If you are able to chip in, here is a way to do that, through PayPal. Note that you do not have to have a PayPal account to do this. Thank you.

Ireland's music: harp & accordion

The harp: its stately elegance is is often thought of in connection with orchestras. The button accordion: the small lively button box is often thought of as anchoring sessions down at the pub, or accompanying the beat of step dancers’ feet. True, harps and accordiona are found at home in all those places. What happens when you put them together, though?

A wonderful confluence of creative and engaging music, as it happens. Floriane Blancke -- she’s the harpist -- and Dermot Byrne -- he plays accordion -- decided to do just that. Their differing backgrounds add to the ideas they bring to the music they create, too

click on the album cover to learn more about the recording

Blancke, who was born in Paris, has Hungarian gypsy jazz and classical music among her family influences, and studied classical music for ten years. In 2006, she moved to Ireland and has become part of the Irish music scene Byrne is from Buncrana in the north of Donegal in Ireland, where Irish traditional music, especially the fiddle music of that area of northwest Ireland, formed a part of his day to day life as he was learning his instrument.

The music they make draws in Irish tradition. Their original music and their arrangements of traditional pieces stir in these additional flavours as well, and the creative sounds their instrument make together. I was fortunate to be present at a concert the duo gave at the Celtic Connections Festival at the National Piping Centre in Glasgow. Should you have the chance to see Blancke and Byrne play live, take it. Meanwhile they have released a self titled album, well worth you time.

You may get a taste of their music and backgrounds in this video.

Photograph is by Kerry Dexter. It was made at the Celtic Connections Festival, with the permission of the artists, the venue, and the festival, and is copyrighted. Thank you for respecting this.

You may also wish to see
music of Donegal: Altan: The Poison Glen -Gleann Nimhe
holiday gift list: Irish music
Dermot Byrne and Floriane Blancke's web site

-->If you'd like to help support Music Road,
here is a way to do that, through PayPal. Note that you do not have to have a PayPal account to do this.Thank you.

Celtic Connections 2012: the music continues

Celtic Connections, in Glasgow, Scotland, is one of Europe’s and the world’s premiere winter festivals, bringing hundreds of artists for sharing of tune and song, in venues ranging from a rock club to a cathedral, from a quiet song session in a concert of the concert hall building to a grand performance onthat same buildnig’s main stage. As the music continues, here’s a bit of what all that looks like












artists in these images include Archie Fisher, Caroline Herring, members of the Lothian and Borders Police Pipe Band, June Tabor, and Corinna Hewat.

photographs were made with permission of the artists and the festival, and are copyrighted. thank you for respecting that.

you may also wish to see
Music Road: Caroline Herring: Golden Apples of the Sun
Music Road: Scottish music a different way: The Unusual Suspects
Music Road: Celtic Connections 2011: images, part two
and

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

-->Your support for Music Road is welcome and needed. If you are able to chip in, here is a way to do that, through PayPal. Note that you do not have to have a PayPal account to do this. Thank you.

Masters of the Irish Harp

If you have an Irish passport, there’s a harp on it. If you’ve coins from Ireland in your pocket, there are harps on those too. Then there are the pubs, the beer, and the tea towels: the harp is a powerful symbol of Ireland.

The power of the sound of the harp is a focus on Lyric RTE fm’ s collection Masters of the Irish Harp. There are sixteen cuts on the album, with music which ranges from Bach to O’Carolan, from newly composed works to those which come from ancient sources.

It is a varied and wonderful range of players represented on Masters of the Irish Harp as well.
You’ve met a number of them here along the music road, while others may be new to you. It goes from Grainne to Grainne in terms of players, opening with Grainne Hambly’s sparkling take on The Geese in the Bog and closing with Grainne Yeats’ reflective Carolan’s Farewell to Music. Both harps and harpers range across background, from concert harp to clarsach, from classically trained players to those from traditional background, and many who cross borders among those fields. Some of the pieces are newly recorded for this project, while others are selected from the artists’ previously released recordings. It is a well chosen and well sequenced collection, with appeal for those who know the Irish harp and its players well and for for those who are new to the sound of the Irish harp.

It’s certainly worth listening all the way through and as sequenced. That said, notable tracks include Maire ni Chathasaigh’s Reel for a Water Diviner, Cormac de Barra’s Monaghan Jig, Michelle Mulcahy’s Green Mountain set, and Siobhan Armstrong's Da Mihi Manum.

follow this link to listen to excerpts from the tracks Masters of the Irish Harp and follow the link below which is called Elsafty Armstrong Browne to see a video of Siobhan Armstrong playing the wire strung Irish harp

you may also wish to see

Music Road: Scotland on the harp: Corrina Hewat
Music Road: harps and Celtic Connections
Music Road: Elsafty Armstrong Browne

silence and music

Musicians often have a practice of taking a moment of reflection before going on stage. This may be, literally, a moment, which isn’t apparent to anyone but the musician, or it may be a shared time with others working the gig. That moment of interior silence, of centering, then flows out into the music. Here are three moments of stillness within the sound.
















the artists here are
Cathie Ryan, with bodhran
Laoise Kelley, with harp
Lauren MacColl, with fiddle

photographs taken at the Tron, in Glasgow, Scotland, and Glor Music Center in Ennis, Republic of Ireland and were made with permission of the artists, and are copyrighted. thank you for respecting this.

you may also wish to see

Music Road: Celtic Connections 2011: images
Music Road: Cathie Ryan: Songwriter
Music Road: artists of the decade

and

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