My wife loves Ross Ainslie to death. Big time. Really, really big time. If Vana was any weaker an album, I’d be in trouble because I can’t pretend when I write about music. So I’m totally grateful to Mr. Ainslie for giving the world an hour of music one cannot but love. Relief 😀 In … Continue reading Album Review / Ross Ainslie: Vana
Author: celtbritfolkfan
A ”better late than never” review / Hamish Napier: The Woods
I hate the word organic when it’s applied to the marketing of food. It can mean a variety of things and most of them would be misleading to the customer who tries to make a responsible choice. So I use organic here after careful consideration, and I use it with the word lush. This for … Continue reading A ”better late than never” review / Hamish Napier: The Woods
As darkness descends, light
I love music and I love to write. So it was more than natural for me to start this blog a couple of years ago. I had a pretty high level of ambition at the start, as I wanted both to review new music and create a kind of a contemporary Celtic and British folk … Continue reading As darkness descends, light
Album Review / Lauren MacColl: Landskein
A long time ago, in a land far, far away... That's how it feels when I remember a day this past winter, just over half a year ago. Me and my wife were in Glasgow for our second Celtic Connections and we had managed to get tickets to Lauren MacColl's solo recital at the City … Continue reading Album Review / Lauren MacColl: Landskein
Artist Intro: Flook
Photo by Naoki Fujioka, from the Flook web site Since you’re reading this, you’re almost certainly already more or less familiar with Flook, so I feel kind of foolish writing this. But in the unlikely but theoretically possible event you’ve never heard of them... Flook are an Irish-British contemporary folk band founded in 1995. The … Continue reading Artist Intro: Flook
Album Review: A John Doyle Double Feature
John Doyle, Ireland’s great gift to guitar in folk music, has obviously been a busy guy lately. His latest solo effort, Path Of Stones, came out in the spring and the collaboration album with a certain Mr. McGoldrick was released just a wee moment ago. Since I was not writing here too much during spring, … Continue reading Album Review: A John Doyle Double Feature
Artist Intro: Fiona J. Mackenzie
Fiona J. Mackenzie photo at wikipedia Fiona J. Mackenzie is a Gaelic singer who has advanced not only Gaelic music but Gaelic culture and art in general. Her recorded output features a fine serving of Gaelic songs and singing, updated but not too modernized for our time. I have not been able to find her … Continue reading Artist Intro: Fiona J. Mackenzie
Album Review / Napier, Frame & Vass: The Ledger
"Every week in the late ’50s and early ’60s The Scotsman published a traditional Scottish folk song with lyrics and melody alongside an explanatory article by folklorist Norman Buchan. My Grandfather, Findlay Cumming, cut them out of the newspaper and pasted them into a ledger..." Those are Findlay Napier's words on Bandcamp, telling how he, … Continue reading Album Review / Napier, Frame & Vass: The Ledger
Album Review / Sam Sweeney: Unearth Repeat
Wood. Living, rough, hewn, shaped into houses, burned for warmth we need. People and their stories; villages and towns and other places they live in. People whose language I don’t always speak but we understand each other anyway. Those are the feelings and mental images I get from British fiddler Sam Sweeney’s new album Unearth … Continue reading Album Review / Sam Sweeney: Unearth Repeat
Album Review / Joy & Andrew Dunlop: Dithis
The vastly gifted Scottish siblings have released their first album together. They have collaborated more before on Joy’s albums but this is the first full joint release. Joy naturally takes care of all vocals and Andrew, a classical pianist, brings in a few other instruments to color his beautiful piano performance. I have to admit … Continue reading Album Review / Joy & Andrew Dunlop: Dithis
