You are most welcome to my Celtic and British folk and trad music fan site - so glad you found it! I'm building this site to be a gateway to a wonderful musical universe, especially to those who are now getting interested in it and want to discover the people and the bands in this … Continue reading Welcome to a work in progress…!
Album Review / Karen Matheson: Still Time
Two years ago was the first time we finally got to be a part of Celtic Connections - only in the audience, of course, but still. It was a stupefying 10 days and one of the big moments came right after Blazin’ Fiddles had ended their blast of a gig. As we were leaving King’s … Continue reading Album Review / Karen Matheson: Still Time
Album Review / Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas: Syzygy
I had the great pleasure of experiencing Alasdair and Natalie live a few years ago when they played a couple of gigs in Finland. It was a charming event, with Alasdair’s stories, their musical chemistry and, of course, amazing playing. That set leaned pretty much toward trad and Celtic but that has never been the … Continue reading Album Review / Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas: Syzygy
Artist Intro: The Gloaming
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gloaming#/media/File:The_Gloaming_Union_Chapel_2016.jpg There are some recognizable points where Celtic trad, neofolk and contemporary classical music meet. In Scotland, artists like RANT and Aidan O'Rourke occupy this zone occasionally or often but, in Ireland, The Gloaming have planted their flag decisively in this ground. Formed in 2011 by a group of established and acknowledged Irish and American … Continue reading Artist Intro: The Gloaming
Album Review / McGoldrick, McCusker & Doyle: The Reed That Bends In The Storm
Motörhead. I am sorry if that confuses you - as it indeed may - but it just came to me as I was listening to the last tunes on this album. So please let me explain. The trio is the primal incarnation of a band. Two is a duo, three is a band. Anything more … Continue reading Album Review / McGoldrick, McCusker & Doyle: The Reed That Bends In The Storm
Album Review / Mec Lir: Livewire
...and BANG!!! ...I mean, holy crap - how supercharged can Celtic music be? Jesus Christ... Livewire was probably the first Celtic album I put on after New Year, and it was some launch for 2021, believe me! So okay, you can expect good things from a band consisting of super players (drummer Greg Barry, also … Continue reading Album Review / Mec Lir: Livewire
Album Review / Rowan Leslie: Escaping the Dawn
One thing that keeps astonishing me about the Celtic music scene is the way it produces brilliant young musicians who refresh and vitalize the culture. Some do it by expanding and experimenting and stretching the limits of the music, while others own the old traditions and recharge them as if they invented them. Young Irish … Continue reading Album Review / Rowan Leslie: Escaping the Dawn
Album Review / Trail West: Countless Isles and Endless Miles
As I’m writing this, it’s 90 minutes to the opening of Celtic Connections 2021. The festival is 100 % online only and I’m in our living room in southern Finland instead of Glasgow. 2020 really fucked up and changed so many things without warning. One of the bands affected by the dramatic turn of events … Continue reading Album Review / Trail West: Countless Isles and Endless Miles
Album Review / Tanya Brittain: Hireth
Here we are, in 2021, and the world seems stuck in the same chaos it was last year. But at least Celtic music holds the fort and flies the flag of better things! The Changing Room is a Cornish folk act I’ve enjoyed a lot. Tanya Brittain is 50 % of that brill duo and … Continue reading Album Review / Tanya Brittain: Hireth
Album Review / Rachel Newton: To The Awe
If Adenine aka Ailie Robertson's new trance-like solo harp + electronics album reflects the surreal mood of Anno Covid 2020, then so, in a very different way, does Rachel Newton's new outing. With vocals recorded in Rachel's bedroom wardrobe (she mentions this very fact on the album's Bandcamp page) and the musicians playing their parts … Continue reading Album Review / Rachel Newton: To The Awe
Album Review / Adenine
I have seen Ailie Robertson live on stage a few times, playing her harp with various excellent people in different Celtic and Folk lineups and combinations. And I got to talk to her briefly after the Outside Track’s amazing gig at CC2019 - what a lovely person she is! Being familiar with her previous solo … Continue reading Album Review / Adenine
