Happy (Belated) St. Patrick's Day, Everyone!!
First off, let me please humbly apologize for the HUGE delay that this episode has weathered. Thank you so much for your patience! I truly hope you find the show well worth the wait. :):)
Whether you hear this on St. Paddy's itself or tune in during any other time of the year, I hope this day brings nothing but joy to you and yours, and that you enjoy this slightly super-sized episode as much as I do. (And that's after listening to it a million times during its arrangement, so that's saying something! ;D)
This show is chock-full of fantastic music, made by some unbelievably skilled & gifted musicians!
Some of this is work I've collected over many, many years (through places like myriad renaissance festivals, Thistle & Shamrock shows, and a good few Celtic festivals), while other pieces were acquired more recently; explicitly for play on this show. Celtic music has been a part of my heart for as long as I can remember, and I hope its soulfulness, passion and playfulness always will. :)
Finding and playing the best of pod-safe Celtic music for you seems a superb way to celebrate St. Patrick's Day (musically speaking)- but for me, this music can make any day of the year an occasion. Plus, what a gift! I have found more phenomenal music in searching for pieces for this podcast than I can count! What a delight to've found sublime chanteuses like Maria Dunn, Beth Patterson and the ladies of Maidens IV!! And what a blessing to be able to share such personal favorites as The Rogues & Lothlorien, as well as a more recent favorite; the enthralling, enchanting power of Omnia!
Each of these pieces hold their own magic and beauty, whether it be sweet & lilting or raucous and irreverent. And don't just relegate this lovely brand of tune-age to St. Paddy's! Celtic music goes beautifully at pubs, renaissance fairs, faerie-themed events, barn dances, and all kinds of events where merry-making is called for- even funerals on occasion- so keep it in mind the next time you go out with family & friends!
Whether you're Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Manx or Scots-Irish (like yours truly), if you're English, German, Italian, Asian, Greek, Indian, American, Black Irish or French, may the luck of the Irish always be with you, and may you find your own pot of gold in pleasures big and small on this clover-filled, merrily-jigging day! (Just be careful with the Guinness, Harp Lager & Goldschläger, please! We want you around to celebrate the NEXT St. Paddy's, too! ;D)
Now let me pick my fiddle back up again, and have a merry St. Pat's!! (Or whatever day you choose to celebrate it on. ;))
Track List
Key:
Band name = Artist Website
Song Title = Band MySpace (Both where available- both soon to come!)
*Bold Italic = Background Accompaniment
NOTE: For those of you who may not know, the beginning of the word "Celtic" is pronounced with a hard "c,"making the word sound like "ˈkel-tik."
If you use it beginning with an "s" sound (or what's called "a soft c"), that refers to the pro. basketball team from Boston; not the groups of Indo-European peoples & languages predominantly found in Wales, Ireland & the Scottish Highlands. (Although other parts of the world still identify strongly with their Celtic roots, such as Caledonia in Spain, Newfoundland in Canada, Brittany in France, as well as much of the American south; especially those in and around the Appalachian & Rocky ountains.)
Don't believe me? Listen to some of the folk music from these areas (including much of old as well as new American Country- from Bluegrass on), and see if you don't hear a Celtic lilt to many of fiddle tunes & melodies!
Other grand links for those of you who love Celtic music:
(But go to these and all the other bands' pages listed in the Tracks section! I really mean it when I say in the show that there's so much good music made by these and other artists that I could create a whole other podcast (or two) from the tremendous work that's out there!!)
Tapadh Leibh. all!
Yours Forever in Song,
DJ Selchie
