Marc Gunn's "Celtic MP3 Music Magazine"

Changing the way you hear Celtic Music
A weekly ezine of legal free Celtic MP3 downloads
May 27, 2005 -- 7000+ subscribers


HIGHLIGHTS....
- Celtic Music News
- Feature: Moonrakers
- CD Feature: Moloney, O'Connell & Keane
- Feature: Eric Benson with The Boatrights
- New Celtic Links
- Manage your subscription

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Support artists you like & Buy.
Then, forward this newsletter to a friend.
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1. Celtic Music News
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Greetings Celtic Music Lovers,

I just got done confirming a CD release party for the Brobdingnagian
Bards at the Cactus Cafe. Slowly I am booking more such CD release
parties to celebrate our new CD, Brobdingnagian Fairy Tales which
will be released in July. It sounds fantastic. This weekend is the
last listen through. We'll make final changes and then it's off to
the printers. Yay!


This week in the magazine, we're taking a more traditional look at
Celtic music. First up is an outstanding traditional Irish music
group from Oxford in the UK. Their latest CD has received a lot
of praise and for good reason. It heavily emphasizes the harp with
some dashing flute and cittern mixed in giving it a light airy
and just spectactular sound.

On the vocal side of things is Eric Benson with The Boatrights
performing a moving seafaring song. He tells a touching story
with his handsome and sympathetic voice and soothing folk feel
on guitar and whistle. This is a delightful song that I'm certain
you'll enjoy.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend and read on for more news.
Marc Gunn, Bard

PS. I've heard that a few email programs are having trouble with
the links in the ezine. If you're one of those people, please let
me know what email program you're using and that you are having t
hese problems.

---

CELTIC MUSIC NEWS PODCAST
http://www.celticmusicnews.com/
Aaron Drake hosts the weekly Celtic Music News Podcast. If you
want to hear some great new Celtic music, interviews, and get
some Celtic music news, drop by the website.

This week: Podcast #21 with Tommy Byrnes, Empty Hats, Eric Benson,
Paperboys, Young Dubliners, and Black 47

Remember, you don't have to download these files by hand. Get
a copy of iPodder (http://www.ipodder.org/ )
and let it download your Podcast every week.

---

Free Irish Music Downloads
To make it easier for you and others to access the latest and
greatest music downloads, I got a new domain specifically for
the Celtic MP3 Archive: http://www.freeirishmusic.com/

Bookmark it, add a link on your website, tell your friends one
and all. Help me get the word out on this incredible new
resource.


Submit Your Celtic Links
http://www.celticmp3s.com/cgi-bin/celtic_music1/add.cgi
The Things Celtic Music Directory continues to grow every week.
But I need your help to help it grow. If you have a Celtic website,
submit it to the Directory and lets fill it with the most quality-
filled links online.


CDBaby Coming to Europe!
http://members.cdbaby.com/about/celtic/
I love CDBaby. The site may have a scary logo, but there really is
no better place online to find independent music, and the
independent Celtic music category is no different. All of the top
indie Celtic groups are on this website, and the site is getting
ready to explode.

I got a message from the founder, Derek Sivers, last week that
CDBaby will soon open offices in Europe and Japan. This should
mean it will be a LOT cheaper for Europeans to order CDs through
CDBaby. And with any luck, we will soon have a lot more CDBaby
artists in Europe, like one of my favorites, Heidi, Stef, and
Bow Triplets. http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/heidistefbow/from/celtic/

If you're interested in distributing your music online and you're
in Europe, drop by the site and see how you can become a part
of this incredible service.

---

If ye like what you read and hear,
please forward this newsletter to your friends.

Latest News & CD Reviews
http://www.celticmp3s.com/magazine/

Celtic MP3 Archive
http://www.freeirishmusic.com/



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CELTIC BAND FEATURE #1
=========================

"Sweetheart Reel" by Moonrakers

Moonrakers is a UK-based 3-piece Celtic band with harps, flutes,
cittern, guitar and female/male vocals. They specialise in
traditional and in-the-idiom contemporary tunes and songs,
with a particular emphasis on harp music. Jon Bennett is also
an award-winning songwriter. Their latest album "Both Sides"
has had huge praise from many quarters, and was declared by
Dai Woosman (Living Tradition) as "the best album I've heard
this year".

Hometown: Oxford, UK
Similiar: Poozies, Kim Robertson, Cheftains, Martin Simpson,
Golden Bough, Incredible String Band

Homepage: http://www.moonrakers.net
Download: http://www.moonrakers.net/albums.php
Buy CD: "Both Sides"
http://www.moonrakers.net/albums.php



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CELTIC CD FEATURE
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"Kilkelly" by Moloney, O'Connell & Keane
by Phil Hall

Artist: Moloney, O'Connell & Keane
http://celticmp3s.com/bands/2005/01/irish-voluntee
rs-by-mick-moloney.shtml
Album: Kilkelly
Year produced: 1988

The main reason to seek out this recording from the short-lived trio
of Mick Moloney, Robbie O'Connell and Jimmy Keane is the title song.
Written by Peter Jones, it follows a series of letters from a father
in Eire and his son in America. The father's struggle to survive in
the midst of famine and poverty are truly heartbreaking, and the
distance (both geographic and emotional) between parent and child
results in a shattering climax. This is easily one of the most
compelling compositions in modern Celtic music, and it is impossible
not to come away from it without sore tear ducts.

Beyond "Kilkelly," however, is a fairly strange and often lopsided
recording. Another song, "Peter Pan and Me," details the loss of
innocence during the seemingly endless troubles, but unlike
"Kilkelly"
it comes across as trite and mechanical rather. Two straightforward
instrumentals, combining reels and jigs, are okay but not
particularly
memorable.

But then there is the epic offering called "The Green Fields of
America." Billed as an "operetta," this lengthy but excessively weird
piece attempts to trace the experience of the Irish in America
through
various reels, dances, jigs, folk songs and ditties. It is not so
much
an operetta as it is a musical Mulligan's stew tossing in bits and
pieces of "The Sailor's Hornpipe," "No Irish Need Apply," "The Night
That Paddy Murphy Died" and even "The Notre Dame Fight Song" plus the
Bing Crosby novelty tune "Two Shillelagh O'Sullivan." It is a mess,
to
be certain, and often it seems as if the Irish-American odyssey was a
mix of treacly melodrama and bad vaudeville.

Moloney, O'Connell & Keane only recorded another album before
disbanding. It would seem the brilliance of "Kilkelly" was something
of a fluke, albeit an extraordinary fluke.


Buy the Album: Kilkelly
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000005CN4/thebards?ref=nosim


---
Celtic MP3s Music Magazine writer, Phil Hall is contributing editor
for Film Threat, book editor for the New York Resident, author of
"The Encyclopedia of Underground Movies" (MWP Books) and a proud
child of Wales.



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=========================
CELTIC BAND FEATURE #2
=========================

"The Wind in the Riggin'" by Eric Benson with The Boatrights

Celebrating his Celtic heritage, and with vocal nuances once
called "Delightfully celebrative, and yet at times, wistful."
Eric Benson has found himself singing with a swing orchestra,
playing front man for a "techno-pop" band, and providing voice
talent for various radio programs.

The Boatrights have made their mark on the Celtic music circuit
with an innovative musical and vocal style that brings a new
element of Celtic inspired music to their audiences.

Throughout their career, they have had the honor of sharing
the stage with some of the most recognized names in Celtic music
such as Alex Beaton, The Rogues, Wicked Tinkers, Men Of Worth,
and 6 time Grammy award winning group The Chieftains.

Hometown: Caledonia County, Vermont
Similiar: The Boatrights, Tannahill Weavers, Woods Tea Company,
Joe King, Cathy Ryan, Sydney Mac Ewen, Terry Scott Taylor,
Bing Crosby

Homepage: http://www.ihbi.org/stonework.html
Download: http://www.ihbi.org/tracks.html
Buy CD: "Stonework"
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/ebenson/from/celtic/



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NEW TO CELTIC MP3S MUSIC MAGAZINE
=========================

The Noble Faire Pagans (added: 28-Apr-2005)
http://tnfp.proboards27.com/index.cgi
Those of The Noble Pagan board has started a Ren guild
called The Noble Faire Pagans..There goal is to repersent
the pagan life styel of the dark and middle ages at ren
faire and festables. I would like to invite any one to
join..

Fantasy-Ireland's Guide to Irish Celtic Symbols (added: 29-Apr-2005)
http://www.fantasy-ireland.com/Irish-Celtic-symbols.html
Historical, national, cultural, mythical, spiritual...there
are plenty of symbols that represent the forty shades of the
Emerald Isle, and then some! We are here to help you sort
them all out!

Midwestirishradio.com (added: 9-May-2005)
http://www.midwestirishradio.com/
A dedicated internet Irish radio station broadcasting
24hours a day 7 days a week. "Giving you a taste of Ireland
wherever you are in the world"

How to Pour and Drink the Perfect Guinness (added: 10-May-2005)
http://radio.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2005/4/22/609822.html
It's the beer that drinks like a meal -- Guinness. But
pouring the perfect Guinness is an art form, let alone
drinking it. Advice on Guinness perfection from experts at a
pub in London England in podcast form.

Pontrhydfenfigaid Celtic Music Society (added: 12-May-2005)
http://www.blacklionhotel.co.uk/Music-Society.html
The Pontrhydfendigaid Celtic Music (PCMS) is a not-
for-profit community group which aims to: Promote
traditional Welsh music and music from other Celtic nations.
We provide one professional 'Celtic Music Night'
performance each month as well as one open music session
where people can bring instruments and practise and develop
their musical skills.

Laura McGhee.com (added: 23-May-2005)
http://www.lauramcghee.com
Scottish /fiddler /singer. who sings and writes in celtic
tradition with a contemporary twist.



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6. ABOUT THE CELTIC MP3s MUSIC MAGAZINE
http://www.CelticMP3s.com/
=========================

"Celtic MP3s Music Magazine" is a weekly publication by
Bard Marc Gunn of the Brobdingnagian Bards, The Original
Celtic Renaissance. Help spread the word about great
Celtic Music Online!

Learn more about
http://www.marcgunn.com <-- Bard Marc Gunn
http://www.thebards.net <-- Brobdingnagian Bards

Promote your music with Celtic MP3s
http://www.celticmp3s.com/promote/

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