Celtic Music Review

Dancing to the Tannahill Weavers

2010-11-14T15:11:00.000-07:00

My youngest son, Ian, was just dancing around to the Tannahill Weavers on his I-pod, thought I would share some of their music.

Dougie MacLean - Little Ones Must Walk On

2010-10-15T10:44:00.002-06:00

Little Ones Must Walk On written and performed by Dougie MacLean

Best version of Amazing Grace!

2010-07-18T15:46:00.000-06:00

Utah Highland Games

2010-06-13T20:36:00.002-06:00

I took my family to Disneyland this year and missed the Utah Highland Games for the first time in five years. I heard that it was bad weather again this year. Here is a post of the Wicked Tinkers from 2008. Sorry I missed you guys.

Flogging Molly- What's Left of the Flag

2010-05-12T20:17:00.000-06:00

Flogging Molly

2010-05-06T21:40:00.001-06:00

Of the Celtic Punk genres I appreciate that Flogging Molly has stayed true to some traditional sound as well as good vocals that demonstrate an ability to sing and not scream.

Thunderstruck on the bagpipes

2010-04-25T21:35:00.001-06:00

I mentioned a while ago that playing thunderstruck on the bagpipes has become a new fad. There are many examples on You-tube. Here are a few of my favorite. The first is from the talented Stuart Liddell and the second I like because it blends into the Pumpkin's Fancy, another great pipe tune. Stuart used to play with the SFU pipe band.

Molly's Revenge

2010-04-13T21:19:00.000-06:00

This is a great Celtic band that brings traditional Celtic music into the next decade with blazing bagpipes and a hard sound. Their piper moves a lot and my kids have named him the "Hyper Piper". Here is a good example of their sound.

Enter The Haggis performs "The Litter and the Leaves"

2010-04-11T19:23:00.000-06:00

In their newest album Enter the Haggis leads with the Litter and the Leaves; a great anthem song. It is one of the more traditional Enter the Haggis songs in this line up. With each new album Enter the Haggis matures in their song development and it is nice to have Litter and Leaves keep in their old tradition of Celtic rock.

Aaron Shaw on the Tonight Show

2010-04-09T21:46:00.000-06:00

It took me a while to find it. I kept looking on You Tube with no success. I had to just go to NBC's website and you have to watch the entire episode, however Aaron is within the first few minuets. The link is: http://www.nbc.com/the-tonight-show/ and you have to click on April 7th, 2010.

As I was looking around for the clip I found a few others that where rather funny. Here is one that I liked.

Aaron Shaw of the Wicked Tinkers Plays Bagpipes on American Idol!

2010-04-07T21:22:00.000-06:00

I just watched this. Aaron Shaw of the Wicked Tinkers plays bagpipes as a backup to Lee DeWyze on American Idol. Great Job Aaron! I hear a rumor that Aaron might be on the Tonight Show! Stay up and watch!

Wicked Tinkers and Tempest

2010-04-03T21:46:00.001-06:00

This is a short clip but I have always liked it.

Enter the Haggis - Down with the Ship

2010-03-28T20:19:00.003-06:00

One of my favorite Enter the Haggis songs is Down With The Ship. I like how personal this clip is; the band in their hotel room. Plus the song is much better than other clips of Down with the Ship you can play on the internet. The unfortunate thing about his clip is "no bagpipes" I guess they thought that the other people trying to sleep would not appreciated the bagpipes blaring from their room. Too bad. I do recommend that you hear the song with bagpipes. I like their live album version of the song.

The Young Dubliners

2010-03-14T21:09:00.001-06:00

This weekend the Young Dubliners keep coming up on our Slacker station and the kids really liked them. Here is a clip of them on CBS. Here is a link to our Slacker Celtic Radio Station

Prydein - Run Runaway

2010-03-12T07:52:00.001-07:00

Here is one of our favorite Celtic rock bands singing Run Runaway from their latest album Prydein's cover of the 1981 Slade tune "Run Runaway" on their album Loud Pipes (save lives).

Natalie MacMaster & Live Cape Breton Radio Online

2010-02-27T16:23:00.000-07:00

I was just looking at Natalie MacMaster's website and she has a link to a live Cape Breton Radio you can listen to online. If you have never heard Natalie she is one of the best Celtic fiddlers playing today. Here is both a link to an example of Natalie's playing and a link to her radio station. Also remember our Slacker and Pandora stations.

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Wicked Tinkers - Tribal Bagpipe Music

2010-02-21T19:52:00.000-07:00

Wicked Tinkers blends screaming bagpipes with the best drummers out there. I decided to share an overall clip from Wicked Tinkers with Craig Ferguson but I am also including a clip of Tempest and Wicked Tinkers. Wicked Tinkers come to the Utah Highland Games every summer and I can't wait to see them live again soon. Hope to see you all at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi UT this June.

Battlefield Band - traditional excellence

2010-02-20T20:16:00.000-07:00

The Battlefield Band is one of the most recognizable names in Celtic music. They have been playing for over thirty years and they still produce the best in show. I have always loved this clip where Alasdair White puts his fiddle done and plays bagpipes with Mike Katz.

Bagpipe Comedian

2010-02-19T19:34:00.001-07:00

Playing "We Will Rock You" or "Thunderstruck" on the bagpipes has become very popular as of late. For example the Red Hot Chili Pipers has really popularized both. However I first heard Thunderstruck played by Johnny Bagpipe, a comedian who uses bagpipes as part of his act. Check him out:

The Little Beggarman

2010-02-18T20:35:00.000-07:00

My kids and I have always liked The Little Beggarman by the High Kings. You Tube used to have a version where they demonstrated three Irish Chorus/Lilt's. However I can not find the full version on You tube any more. Here is the Gaelic words for the lilt:
Row-ten Dow-ten Did-dl-ee ow-ten
Row-ten Dow-ten Dah, an a
Row-ten Dow-ten Did-dl-ee ow-ten
Dee-ten Die-ten Doh, di-ther-ah
Dom Dow-ten Row-ten Dom a
Row-ten Dee-ten Dah, Fea-ther-a
Do a di-ther-ah Row-ten Dow-ten
Fid-dle-ee Aye-ten Dah!
Yam Dom Rum-a Dom
Um Dom Rum-a Di-ther-a
Yam Dom Rum-a Dom
Dom-a da-Do a Di-ther-ow

First Bagpipe Rock Song/Band? AC/DC - Long Way to the Top

2010-02-14T20:32:00.000-07:00

As far as I can tell it was Bon Scott who first played Rock on a Bagpipe (now called bagrock). The story goes that Bon Scott started out playing drums for a pipe band and after he joined AC/DC decided to add his pipe band experience to their song list. Here is Bon Scott playing on Band Stand.

Olympics Opening Ceremony has a Celtic Flavor

2010-02-13T13:01:00.000-07:00

I am glad to see that they had some of BC's Celtic roots displayed in the opening Ceremony for last nights 2010 Winter Olympics. I wished that with the world class Simon Frasier bagpipe band in BC that they would have had them play. Also if they were going to show some Celtic Rock/Punk bands that they would have had Enter the Haggis play. Or Natalie McMaster for their fiddling,

If you have never listened to Enter the Haggis check out one of their anthem songs Gasoline.

Celtic Internet Radio

2010-02-09T14:14:00.005-07:00

I started two Celtic Radio stations on the internet, Slacker.com and Pandora.com. I had heard so much about Pandora music project yet found that I needed to use Slacker for both my new Sony Blu ray player and my Black Berry. After setting up both I found that Slacker had a bigger Celtic selection of music. Here are links to both:

Slack er

P andora

Old or New Battlefield Band

2009-02-08T18:53:00.001-07:00

I have often wondered who is my favorite, the new or old Battlefield Band. One of my favorite old albums is Home Ground. One of my favorite new albums is Dookin. They still sound great, although the music style has changed some. It is ironic I am saying it but, I miss their old “rock and roll” quality they had in the Home Ground album. It is ironic because I prefer traditional Celtic folk music. I am not as fond of some of the new hybrid Celtic music that explores roots into every other music tradition that Celtic can be found in. I guess that a little rock does appeal to me. As is evidenced by my listening to the Red Hot Chille Pipers.

The other day I got an email from Temple Records saying that the Battlefield Band did a concert with old and new members of the band. That would have been great to see.

I should make this next comment a different post but I sure do miss the old Tannahill Weavers. Back when they had Doggie Maclean and Ian MacInness. The loved their old hard hitting sound they had until the early nineties.

The Purpose of this Blog

2009-01-18T20:17:00.001-07:00

My whole life I have loved music. My great grandparents came from Scotland and Ireland. We had a lot of folk music in my home growing up. Around the time I started college I feel in love with Celtic music again. Now as I raise my own children the music we listen to is a bonding experience for the whole family.

As a family we decided to create this site to share what we listen to and how it helps us as a family be close. We will review some of our favorite songs and groups and invite feedback from you. You will also find links to Amazon and I-Tunes so you can easily access songs and albums you are interested in. Thanks for reading