Churchfitters - 'Amazing'
The Celtic Music Radio CD Album of the Week is 'Amazing', the brand new CD album by Churchfitters.
The group Churchfitters was founded in 1978 by singer/songwriter Anthony McCartan from Belfast and multi-instrumentist Geoff Coombs from Essex.
Rosie Short joined soon after its formation having previously been playing in a London-based traditional Irish outfit. During the years that followed, the group frequently changed its line-up making a point of always including members from diverse musical backgrounds in order to maintain a fresh and original approach to Irish music.
In 1993 the duo decided to move to Brittany and was joined by Rosie's brother Chris who had been in London playing in World, Irish and Bluegrass groups. From their base in Brittany they then toured as a trio throughout France and Europe until Anthony's departure in early 2004.
With the arrival of Boris Lebret (double bass and percussion) and Topher Loudon (vocals and guitar), the group's tradition of breaking with the more classic treatment of Irish music has been upheld. And the unique and unmistakable sound of the Churchfitters continues.
To find out more about Churchfitters, visit their official website at churchfitters.com.
Patrick Street - 'On the Fly'
The Celtic Music Radio CD Album of the Week is 'On the Fly', the most recent CD album by Patrick Street.
Now in their third decade, Patrick Street are considered "the Irish supergroup" with musical heritages dating straight back to The Bothy Band, Planxty and De Dannan.
The new CD
indicates the opening of an exciting new chapter for the group, as well as a
change in one of its longest-running line-ups.
Andy Irvine has been with Patrick Street since the group formed 22 years
ago. Well established as one of Irish music’s leading singers, his compelling
canon of material draws across time and borders.
Renowned accordion player
and founding member Jackie Daly has decided to step down from the
“Street,” and leaves us with some dynamic playing on the album. Meanwhile,
respected multi-instrumentalist and newest member John Carty makes his
Patrick Street recording debut.
'On the Fly' is the band’s eleventh release and perhaps the most profoundly
traditional, with many of the tunes rooted in the rural music of County Sligo.
Both John Carty and Kevin Burke spent their early years there, soaking up
music that the wider world learned mainly from recordings.
Now considered
two of the finest fiddlers of their generations, they team up here for some
thrilling sets of tunes. John’s imaginative phrasing and Kevin’s silky tone
joyfully portray the rhythmic ebb and flow of the swift, rolling Sligo music on
which they were raised.
To find out more about Patrick Street, visit their record label website at greenlinnet.com.
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Peter Paul Parker - 'Stepping Up'
The Celtic Music Radio CD Album of the Week is 'Stepping Up', the brand new CD album by Peter Paul Parker.
Peter Paul Parker who comes from Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey, describes himself as an 'acoustic rocker' who is into most kinds of music from Motorhead to Mozart.
Studying bass guitar and musical theory at Basstech in Acton enabled Peter to enhance his natural talent and improve his chances as a gigging musician. His first big break was playing bass guitar with the original members of Thin Lizzy at a Phil Lynnot tribute gig.
To find out more about Peter Paul Parker, visit his official website at peterpaulparker.com.
Four Men & A Dog - 'Wallop The Spot'
The Celtic Music Radio CD Album of the Week is 'Wallop The Spot', the brand new CD album by Four Men & A Dog.
Four Men & A Dog made a name for themselves with their eclectic and vivacious blend of traditional Irish music with a wide spectrum of other genres, including rap, Southern rock, jazz, blues, bluegrass, polka, country swing, and even salsa.
They made their debut performance as a band in 'Murphy's Bar', Dungiven, County Derry in 1990 before going on to steal the show at the Belfast Folk Festival later that year, with a high-energy approach that combines furious traditional dance tunes with irreverent new music and inimitatible covers.
The energy, verve and commitment that the five lads have approached this latest project, makes
'Wallop The Spot' a must have for all fans of the award-winning band. The thirteen tracks on offer include deliciously arranged Jigs and Reels, spicy Polkas and exceedingly palatable songs.
To find out more about Four Men & a Dog, visit their official website at fourmenandadog.com.
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Frank Carlier - 'Americana 101'
The Celtic Music Radio CD Album of the Week is Americana 101, the brand new CD album from Frank Carlier.
Frank Carlier defines himself as a hillbilly from West Virginia, and makes no bones about it. But he is much more than that.
He is a viper’s nest of ironies and dichotomies, to use what Carlier would call $20 words.
To find out more about Frank, visit his official website at frankcarlier.com.
Hear tracks from the current featured album throughout this week on Celtic Music Radio 1530AM and here online.
Nick Keir - 'Fishing up the Moon'
The Celtic Music Radio CD Album of the Week is that brand new offering from Nick Keir entitled 'Fishing up the Moon'.
Nick Keir was born in Edinburgh and studied at the University of Stirling where he gained a degree in literature. In 1973 he and Tony Ireland founded the now legendary folk-rock band Finn macCuill.
In the late 1970s he had a spell with 7:84 Theatre (Scotland) writing and performing the bulk of the songs for the shows "Joe's Drum" and "Swings and Roundabouts" and in 1982 he was invited to join The McCalmans.
In 2004 , together with the group, Nick was inducted into the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame on the occasion of being awarded the Lifetime Achievement Prize at the Scottish Folk Awards, and in 2005 the group received the Danish Folk Music Prize at the Skagen Festival. Away from the McCalmans Nick is in great demand as a soloist, Nick still lives in Edinburgh.
To find out more about Nick, visit his official website at nick-keir.com.
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Rattle the Boards - 'The Parish Platform'
Our CD Album of the Week is the recently released 'The Parish Platform' by Rattle the Boards.
Playing together since 1992, Rattle the Boards have been praised as one of the best traditional acts in Ireland's music scene.
Group members Pat, John and Benny, were all members of the Knocknagow Ceili Band who were based in Clonmel, Co.Tipperary and spend many years playing for dancers throughout Ireland. Benny is also leader of the International supergroup "Danu" and has toured all over the world.
In 1999 Rattle the Boards released their debut album to much acclaim. With many performances in Ireland and Europe over the past years, Rattle the Boards have grown into an act very much sought after.
To find out more about them, visit Rattle the Boards official website at rattletheboards.com.
Landermason - 'The Reason'
Our CD Album of the Week is 'The Reason' by Landermason.
Released last year, 'The Reason' is a 14 track album which skilfully encompasses both the folk and jazz genres.
The mood of the CD is everchanging as beautiful songs are interspersed with lively jigs and catchy up tempo jazz tracks. All material on the album on the album is original with the exception of track 4, a striking arrangement of the traditional North East song 'When the Boat Comes In'.
Fiona Lander and Paul Mason were performers on the Danny Kyle Open Stage at Celtic Connections 2008. To find out more about them, visit Landermason's official website.
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Annie Grace - 'Take Me Out Drinking Tonight'
Our CD Album of the Week is 'Take me out drinking tonight' by Annie Grace.
***** “A gem-studded collection of songs...
a contender for 2004's best-of list." - Sunday Herald
Annie Grace will be Gordon Hotchkiss’ guest on his programme on Wednesday evening at 7pm.
Annie grew up in the Highland town of Fort William and music played a large part in her formative years - she began learning to play the bagpipes at the tender age of ten.
In February 2004, Annie released her solo debut album 'Take me out drinking tonight' to an overwhelming response, including a 5 star review in the Sunday Herald. The album, a sparkling collection of contemporary and traditional material, shows Annie at her mature and confident best, living up to her reputation as a superb singer and exponent of the whistle.
Find out more about Annie Grace from her official web site www.anniegrace.co.uk
Bow Triplets - ‘Fair Play to You’
Fair Play to You is the brand new CD album from the Irish-Celtic band who hail from Switzerland - Bow Triplets, and is our featured CD Album of the Week.
With the heartiness of an authentic Irish pub band, and the intonation and technical precision of a symphony orchestra, the Bow Triplets present a sound that has familiar warmth combined with an intellectual stature that creates the recipe for an incredible listening experience.
The Band is a multinational project, well established in Switzerland and abroad through many years of performing and the production of four original CD albums and four compilations. World wide media describe the Bow Triplets as a top notch Celtic band, their traditional interpretations as well as their own compositions get frequent airplay in many radio stations around the world. The musicians come from Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland and Germany.
Find out more about Bow Triplets from their official website.
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Ben Sands - ‘Roots & Branches’
To celebrate the performance of Ben Sands at the Live at the Star, St Andrews in the Square, this week’s CD album is Ben Sands 'Roots & Branches'
The album was produced by Ben and Colum Sands, recorded and mixed by Colum Sands at Spring Recording Studios, Rostrevor, Co. Down, Northern Ireland during the summer of 1998.
Ben hails from the frontier town of Newry, County Down on the East coast of Ireland. He has been touring and recording with his sister Anne and brothers Tommy and Colum since the late 1960s. "The Sands Family" have just finished recording their 16th album - "Keep on Singing" and is due for release in April 2008.
Find out more about Ben from his official website.
Lorna Lavelle - ‘A Thousand Miles Behind’.
This week's Album of the Week is 'A Thousand Miles Behind', the new CD from singer-songwriter Lorna Lavelle.
Lorna Lavelle launched her debut CD album ‘A Thousand Miles Behind’ on 24 March during an exclusive interview on Bill Morris’ evening programme.
After being told for many years, like far too many other women, that she couldn't or shouldn't sing, not even a floor spot, two events happened in quick succession to change that.
Folk legend, the late Bobby Eaglesham, asked her to perform with him at his Edinburgh Festival Fringe shows and independently John McCreadie asked her to collaborate in a new project with him. The path leads from here through the following events, to "A Thousand Miles Behind".
Working with John as a duo, lead to bookings at folk clubs and festivals, but more importantly for Lorna, at sessions, singers she'd admired all her life would say 'Lorna Lavelle for a song.'
The next important development was when Gillian Smith and Gordeanna McCulloch took her under their wing as part of Eurydice and here she learned the harmony singing, so evident on these recordings.
With her new found confidence Lorna felt able to work with other musicians she met on her travels, without her "safety net", some of the fruits of which can be heard on these tracks.
Lorna decided to record some demos, so next Ken Caird came into the mix - recording engineer, multi-instrumentalist, and braw cook!
It became apparent, very quickly, that what was being produced was much more than just a demo session, and so the album was born. 'A Thousand Miles Behind' has given Lorna a chance to pay tribute to the songs, writers and performers that she has loved all her life.
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David Ferrard - ‘Broken Sky’.
This week's Album of the Week is 'Broken Sky', the debut CD from singer-songwriter David Ferrard.
David launched the CD album at the Edinburgh Folk Club venue - The Pleasance Cabaret Bar, The Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh on
Sunday 6 April.
Edinburgh is David's home town and the launch of Broken Sky will be with musicians who play on the album and musician friends, including Roy Bailey, Laura Boosinger & Josh Goforth, James Ross & Michelle Burke, Sandy Butler, Karen Dietz, Kim Edgar & The Cast.
David Ferrard will also be the guest of Gordon Hotchkiss on his 'Hotchkiss Hotchpotch' programme on Wednesday evening (19:00-22:00 BST). Gordon will be chatting to David in the Celtic Music Radio studio about his Broken Sky album and his career to date and future projects.
Find out more about David Ferrard and get the CD from his website at: www.davidferrard.com
Box Club - ‘Box Club’.
This week’s CD album is the debut release from Box Club, a Glasgow band featuring some of Scotland's finest young players:
Mairearad Green, Gary Innes, Angus Lyon and John Somerville all on accordion, Duncan Lyall on Bass, Mike Bryan on guitar and Martin O’Neill on Bodhran.
Bursting with energy and enthusiasm, Box Club are ready to take the music world by storm. With a front line of four young virtuoso accordion players and a remarkably strong rhythm section, this inventive outfit from Glasgow can’t fail to impress.
Four accordions together could be considered a bold experiment but it is one which works extremely well when in the hands of such accomplished musicians.
Find out more about Box Club and get the CD from their website at: www.boxclub.co.uk
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The Duhks - ‘Migrations’.
The Duhks are a band of five skilled, high-energy, tattooed twenty-somethings from Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada.
The Duhks have won admirers as diverse as David Crosby and Dolly Parton, which isn't surprising given their blend of soul, gospel, North American folk, Brazilian samba, old time country string band, zydeco, and Irish dance music. All of these interwoven acoustic styles are blended with attack on the new album ‘Migrations’
Their unique sound has also earned them a Grammy Award nomination in the Best Country Vocal Performance by a Group or Duo category, one Juno Award, two additional Juno nominations, two Folk Alliance awards, and an Americana Music Association nomination for Best Emerging Artists.
Find out more information about The Duhks and CD ‘Migrations’ at their official website www.duhks.com
Karine Polwart - ‘This Earthly Spell’.
The bittersweet new album from Karine Polwart ‘This Earthly Spell’ released on 7 March is sure to be one of the biggest selling CDs this year.
The bittersweet, cascading harmonies of “The Good Years” sets the tone for Karine Polwart’s new album ‘This Earthly Spell’. And it’s been a good year indeed for The Scottish Borders based singer, who gave birth to her first child in 2007, and still managed to record enough material for not one but two new albums on her own label imprint Hegri Music.
Find out more information about Karine Polwart and ‘This Earthly Spell’ at her official website www.karinepolwart.com
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Various Artists - ‘Ballads Of The Book’.
To coincide with Aye Write! Glasgow’s book festival, this week’s Celtic Music Radio ‘Album of the Week’ is 'Ballads Of The Book'
The album turned into a significant artistic event with live performances at Glasgow's Celtic Connections, an all day festival as part of Triptych and a sold out show as part of Edinburgh's International Book Festival.
Ballads of the Book is a 17 track CD featuring:
Idlewild, Sons And Daughters, King Creosote, Vashti Bunyan, Mike Heron, Alasdair Roberts, Trashcan Sinatras, Emma Pollock and Aereogramme with writers Edwin Morgan, Alasdair Gray, Ali Smith, AL Kennedy, Robin Robertson, Ian Rankin, John Burnside, Alan Bissett and Louise Welsh.
Hailed as an artistic triumph, the album effortlessly showcased the breadth of talent currently operating in Scotland today.
Find out more information about ‘Ballads Of The Book’ from Chemikal Underground Records here.
Johnny Coppin & Mike Silver - ‘Breaking the Silence’.
This week’s CD is the long awaited ‘Breaking the Silence’ album by singer-songwriter's Johnny Coppin & Mike Silver.
Now based in Launceston, Cornwall, Mike Silver has been writing and playing music for more than 30 years, enjoying a quiet success story throughout the UK and in various territories around the world.
Find more information about Mike Silver on his official website at www.mikesilver.co.uk
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WoodworX - 'Two Short PlanX'.
Celtic Music Radio ‘Album of the Week’ is by a band called WoodworX and is called 'Two Short PlanX'
This CD was in fact released in 2004 on Poke Records. The group's mainstays are ex-pat Australians Toni Wood (ex Tangled Web, Roseville Fayre) who has been living in Glasgow for some eight years and Brian Heywood (ex Cluster of Nuts Band, enQ, etc).
The pairing is joined on this album by a mixture of British and Australian folk and rock musicians, and the music they create is a beautiful blend of folk styles that draw of both Australian and Scottish traditional sources.
The album is notable for the excellent standard of song writing and musicianship and particular attention must be given to some sublime fiddle playing of Tom Fairbairn.
Find out more about the band on their website: www.woodworx.org
Ockham’s Razor - ‘Ten Thousand Miles to Bedlam’
Celtic Music Radio ‘Album of the Week’ is by US band Ockham’s Razor and is called ‘Ten Thousand Miles to Bedlam’
Their CD arrived by post to the Celtic Music Radio studio a few weeks ago and was released at the end of last December.
Ockham’s Razor formed in the spring of 2006 and began introducing audiences in the Pacific Northwest to their exciting, youthful style of Irish and Folk music in June 2006 at the Fremont Summer Solstice Festival.
The musical backgrounds and influences of the members of Ockham’s Razor is widely varied which helps create a blending of genre’s into the music the band creates.
With the back beat of an African hand-drum, a guitarist raised on Metallica and the Indigo Girls, a classically trained Violinist with flowing blond, curly hair, a Scottish tin whistler with a green mohawk, the bluegrass influence of the mandolin and banjo and entrancing pulse of the bass, Ockham's Razor isn't your father’s Irish band.
You can hear tracks from this CD album througout the daily daytime programming from Monday 18 February, Click on LISTEN LIVE
Find out more about the band on their website: www.ockhamsrazormusic.com
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Mary Kathleen Burke - ‘A Song In Her Heart’
Celtic Music Radio ‘Album of the Week’ is from Mary Kathleen Burke and her debut album ‘A Song In Her Heart’ - released on Greentrax Records last week.
You can hear tracks from this CD album througout the daily daytime programming from Monday 11 February on Celtic Music Radio on 1530AM and Online.
You can find more information on local singer Mary K Burke at the following link: www.marykburke.co.uk
Jenna Reid - 'The Laughing Girl'
Celtic Music Radio starts its ‘Album of the Week’ feature with the launch of Jenna Reid’s brand new CD titled 'The Laughing Girl' which she launched on the 26 January 2008 at the Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow.
You can hear tracks from this superb Shetland fiddler throughout the daily daytime programming from Monday 4 February on Celtic Music Radio on 1530AM and Online.
You can find more information on Jenna at the links below:
www.jennareid.co.uk/
www.myspace.com/jennareid
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