How to become an Irish music fan

When you decide to expand your musical taste into another genre, the easiest way is to just go out and buy as many cd's as possible. The downfall, other than the cost, is how do you know what to buy. Youtube is a great source for many different songs done by many different artist. Still you nee a little guidance. Two different people in the last couple of days have asked me about Irish music. So here is a little guide to becoming an Irish music fan.

Growing up in the Irish culture you first hear the songs being sung around a table at partys. When you can match a song with a type of music you like voila, you're a fan, (think Whiskey in the Jar, traditional song + rock and roll [Thin Lizzy or Metallica ] ). This doesn't happen often so most times you are left to the finding of a friend. The problem here is what if your friends taste in music is different than yours? So I will give you a few suggestions here to start you off on your way to becoming an Irish Music fan.

The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem

When the folk music craze hit the US in the 60's the Clancy's did the same thing in Ireland. Standing together in their fisherman knit sweaters and singing all the old tunes. This is a great place to start and it will give you a strong background.

Makem and Clancy

As the years went by so did the band. Tommy Makem and Liam Clancy went on to record as a duo, they still did the Irish favorites but added songs like, The Dutchman, and Eric Bogles song, The Band Played Waltzing Matilda.

Planxty

In the early 1970's Planxty emerged as a traditional music band. Jigs and reels where mixed with songs for a complete package of Irish music

The Chieftains

As far as traditional music goes the most well known band is the Chieftains. since there inception in 1962 the Chieftains have brought Irish music to the entire world. Six time grammy winners the band has recorded with many artist that you would never consider to be Irish music fans. My favorite album is Irish Heartbeat, with Van Morrison and next would be Another Country, recorded in Nashville with Ricky Skaggs, Emmylou Harris, Chet Adkins, Willie Nelson and others. The Long Black Veil, was recorded in 1995 and featured artist like Tom Jones, Mick Jagger, Sting and Sinead O'Conner to name a few.

The Wolfe Tones

For over thirty years the Wolfe Tone brought there brand of rebel songs to America and beyond. The ballads and folk songs were mixed in with songs of rebellion from the 1916 uprising, civil war and through the troubles in the north. Songs like Kevin Barry, Boys of the Old Brigade, Men Behind the Wire and Rock on Rockall.

The next generation of Irish music

The blockbuster film, Titanic, exposed many people to a little know band at the time, Gaelic Storm. the steerage band playing An Irish Party in Third Class, brought them popularity and success. The band tours many Irish Festivals around the country (including the Irish 2000 Festival in September at the Saratoga County fairgrounds).

Flogging Molly this band mixes rock and roll and Irish into a whole new type of experience. This is the new Irish, that includes bands like Dropkick Murphys from Boston and New York City's Seven Nations and Black 47.

Irish Festivals are a great place to see different types of bands all at once. Most festivals give you a choice of traditional music stages and contemporary music stages. They also usually feature a local stage. Nice place to see the bands that play in your home town all year round.

Bands that you can see in the next few months that are just a short drive from Saratoga include,

Enter the Haggis, Prodigals, Shilelagh Law, The Screaming Orphans and Celtic Cross.

Don't forget our own local bands, Hair of the Dog, The Fighting 86's, Who's Your Paddy, The Brothers Flynn, and what ever form Kevin McKrell has put together.

So you see there is a lot to choose from if you want to dive into Irish music. Set aside a few hours and let your fingers go wild on youtube and enjoy.