Céad Míle Fáilte
It is Todd, your intrepid editor, once again. In this issue we have a new episode of our very own Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. The other featured podcasts are Traveling in Ireland & Mostly Folk. We also have a list of new CDs. The featured articles include ones about the Top Ten Rock Tracks, who owns Scotland, and a living memorial. The highlighted festival is the North Texas Irish Festival taking place this weekend Feb 28 – Mar 32 at Fair Park in Dallas, TX. We hope you enjoy this issue. Until next time, slàinte mhath!
IRISH & CELTIC MUSIC PODCAST #699: KINNFOLK INTERVIEW
- Kinnfolk, The Byrne Brothers, Nathan Gourley, Joey Abarta, and Owen Marshall, Rover's Way, Ed Yother, Hounds of Finn, Charlie O'Brien, Misty Posey, Brendan Monaghan, Ockham's Razor, The Langer's Ball
- A special thanks to our new and continued Patrons of the Podcast: Thomas Cochran, Akronczyk
IRISH & CELTIC MUSIC: BEST OF 2024 PLAYLIST
- Every week, Patrons of the Podcast vote in the Celtic Top 20. Those votes are tabulated two weeks later. The most-popular songs are added to these playlists.
- You can vote for your favorite by following the link in this week's show.
Listen on Youtube
CAST YOUR VOTE IN THE CELTIC TOP 20
- Every year, I publish the Celtic Top 20. This is your pick of the best, most-popular songs of the year. But to make the show great, I need you to vote for your favorite songs in each episode.
- Just list each of the bands performing those favorite songs to quickly and easily cast your vote.
WHAT'S NEW WITH CELTIC MUSIC
& CULTURE ONLINE?
NEW CDS
- Windsong of the Twilight Vale – by Eldarae Willowsong
- The Fox and the Harev – by Anna Eggersberger
- Elegy of Souls – by Umbra Animae
- Cosmos – by Jean-Éric Manseau
- Hidden World – by David De Michele
- Middle Earth (The Shire) – by Derek & Brandon Fiechter
Attn Bands: Go to 4celts.com to submit your band to the podcast.
TRAVELING IN IRELAND: CLIFFS OF MOHER IN 2025: SAFETY AND TIPS
- The Cliffs of Moher, Ireland's most popular natural attraction at the edge of the Burren landscape, are experiencing partial trail closures due to necessary repairs on specific trail sections. However, the visitor centre and several trails remain open, with options for guided tours providing safe and comprehensive experiences.
THE TOP TEN CELTIC ROCK TRACKS THAT CAME OUT OF IRELAND
- THE history of folk rock and Celtic rock in Ireland is deeply interwoven with the country’s cultural and social fabric.
- In effect, traditional music was given a new pair of legs when Celtic rock arrived on the scene.
- Now, with the release of a new acoustic album from Thin Lizzy — sadly without the presence of Phil Lynott — it seems an ideal time to tease out what happened in the aftermath of the Clancys, The Dubliners and The Chieftains, with an overview of what developed musically in Ireland and why.
M3OSTLY FOLK: EPISODE 715
- John McCutcheon, David Lindes, JC Clements, Aliza Hava, Jim Brewer, Dan Smith, John Calvin, Brent Mason, Kim Beggs, Marian Mastrorilli, Tom Paxton, Lucy Kaplansky
WHO GETS TO OWN SCOTLAND?
- The Loch Tay area of the Scottish Highlands has long attracted visitors in search of stunning scenery, outdoor adventure and a glimpse of Taymouth Castle, a lavish neo-Gothic estate that sits in the shadows of the green Grampian Mountains.
- Built in the early 1800s by the once-powerful Campbell clan, Taymouth Castle has had a bit of a bumpy road. After the Campbells sold it in 1922 to pay off gambling debts, it served as a hotel, a World War II hospital, a training site for nuclear war preparations and a drama school.
A LIVING MEMORIAL: WITCHES OF SCOTLAND TARTAN HONOURS THE VICTIMS OF WITCH HUNTS
- Tartan is more than patterned cloth in Scotland. Specific tartans were linked to clans and regions, and the designs carry symbolic meaning.
- Modern tartans are registered for organisations, individuals, and commemorative purposes in the official Scottish Register of Tartans and the newest entry is special.
43RD ANNUAL NORTH TEXAS IRISH FESTIVAL
- You can see it if you shade your eyes just right! We are so excited for this one for a number of reasons. When this wonderful festival was first conceived of, it was an event created by musicians who loved Irish traditional music, for musicians and an audience who also loved Irish traditional music. We are still one of the only large Irish festivals in the country who place a huge significance on the traditional music of Ireland. We definitely go on tangents now and then, out to Scotland and the Maritimes and we embrace the rock and roll of it all sometimes, but traditional music has always had most of our focus. We have come home to that this year, and in a big way. As you will see if you navigate over to our Headliners page, we have some Irish trad music royalty headed our way. A pretty fabulous representative of Scotland as well, and local favorites from the Air Force are coming back to us this year.
- Some of the entertainment acts are Altan, Celtic Aire, Cherish the Ladies, The Consequences, Beyond the Pale, Boxing Robin, Cleghorn, Emerald Accent, Jiggernaut, Kinfolk, Plunk Murray, Rathmore, River Driver, Skeleton McKee, The Whalers, & North Texas Celtic Strings.
WHAT ARE YOU DOING WHILE LISTENING?
You can send a comment or a picture of what you're doing. You can also send a photo from one of your trips to a Celtic nation or anywhere around the globe.
Slainte!
Todd Wiley & Marc Gunn, The Celtfather
February 27, 2025
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