Celtic MP3s: June 2003

Welcome to the Celtic MP3s Archive and thank you for subscribing to the Celtic MP3s Music Magazine. Below you will find Celtic MP3s from bands I've featured over the years. Some MP3s are time sensitive. So download them now. All of the latest MP3s are available for at least a month. As always, if you like an MP3, then please help the artist out and buy their CD.

"Willow Reels" by The Willow Band

So what happened to Clandestine? Well, they broke up and each artist has gone their separate way. Piper E.J. Jones has joined together some of the top Celtic musicians on the scene to form The Willow Band, also featuring Irish singer/songwriter, Gerry O'Beirne, and Irish/Breton fiddler, Rosie Shipley. Together they combine great music, engaging personalities, and a fun show.

You can catch a glimpse of their top-notch performance on E.J.'s solo CD, "The Willow" which features a beautiful set of reels, written in a Monterrey CA hotel room after day on the road with Clandestine. It's intricate and melodious and features highlights E.J.'s competition piping and beautiful visualizations of Central Texas bonfire at night.

Hometown: Houston, Texas
Similar Artists: Clandestine, The Rogues, Battlefield Band, Jiggernaut, Turlach Boylan, Cluan, Glen Road, Istanpitta, Richard Kean, Ed Miller, Sarah Dinan, Tartanic.

Website: The Willow Band
Download MP3: "Willow Reels"
Buy CD: The Willow

--posted by Marc Gunn of the Celtic MP3s Music Magazine, Subscribe for Celtic Free Music Downloads, Sunday, June 29, 2003

"Big John McNeal" by Heidi, Stef & Bow Triplets

Heidi, Stef & Bow Triplets play great Celtic music. Traditional songs and tunes plus original compositions combining their own multinational backgrounds with the Celtic styles to which this band is deeply comitted. They can be heard live in various countries in Europe. They recently released an album called "One Spot on Earth" that highlights their growing talent.

bow triplets - one spot on earth

"Big John McNeal" is one such example of fantastic fiddling. This traditional fiddle piece adapts itself wonderfully to the bluegrass style. The original fiddle tune composed by Peter Milnes was titled "John McNeal." Jay Ungar learned if from the Canadian fiddler Bud Snow who said the tune was widely known in Canada as "Big John McNeal". The original tune was written in Aberdeen, Scotland by Peter Milne. Milne died in an Aberdeen mental institution in 1908 (possibly the first recorded case of Fiddle Fever"). And once you listen to this song, you'll get another case of "fiddle fever"!

Hometown: Switerzrland
Similar Artists: Turlough O'Carolan, Christy Moore, Altan, Chris Newman & Maire Ni Chathasaigh, Altan, Cherish The Ladies, Boys of The Lough, Bothy Band, De Dannan, Martin Carthy, Incredible String Band

Website: Heidi, Stef & Bow Triplets
Download MP3: "Big John McNeal"
Buy CD: One Spot On Earth

--posted by Marc Gunn of the Celtic MP3s Music Magazine, Subscribe for Celtic Free Music Downloads, Sunday, June 29, 2003

"The Day We Set Sail (To Go and Hunt the Whale)" by Tale/Theo Niessink

When I first heard Tale/Theo Niessink, I was really uncertain what this was all about. Theo Niessink a.k.a. Tale is a singer/songwriter from The Netherlands. His music originates from a number of different styles, among them folk rock, Americana, Irish folk and blues. The songs he writes are very lyrics oriented, and the music is often used to emphasize both the story and the character of the songs. But it wasn't until I got his album that I really fell in love the music. Now his album "Sweet Lady of Flowers" is one of my favorite.

So what's so different about Tale? Well, vocally you can really hear his influences, including bands like Shan MacGowan, The Dubliners, and Bob Dylan. Dylan is really who I think about the most when listening to him. "The Day We Set Sale" is a wonderful Celtic folk song that shines Tale's Dylan-esque sound while still highlighting the great storytelling of the seafaring tradition, but this time with the whales winning the fight.

Hometown: The Netherlands
Similar Artists: Shan MacGowan, The Dubliners, Bob Dylan

Website: Tale/Theo Niessink
Download MP3: "The Day We Set Sail (To Go and Hunt the Whale)"
Buy CD: Coventina's Well

--posted by Marc Gunn of the Celtic MP3s Music Magazine, Subscribe for Celtic Free Music Downloads, Monday, June 23, 2003

"The Band o'Shearers" by Ed Miller

Ed Miller is a product of the great folk revival of the 1960's. He perfroms songs of Scotland new and old and has an amazing repetoire, not to mention he is an amazing performer. I was fortunate to see him once again the Texas Scottish Festival performing with fiddler John Taylor, including several songs by legendary Scottish songwriter Brian McNeill, who helped produce Ed's latest album, "Many's The Fine Tale".

ed miller - many's the fine tale

One of the more beautiful and memorable traditional Scottish songs from the album is "The Band O'Shearers". No, it's not a song about sheep. This is one of many, usually happy, songs associated with the harvest in northeast Scotland, when men and women worked together in the fields, the men shearing the crop with scythes and the women stacking it.

Hometown: Austin, Texas
Similar Artists: Adam McNaughtan, Hamish Henderson, Brian McNeill, Archie Fisher, Al O'Donnell, Jimmie Hutchison, any good Scots or Irish singer.

Website: Ed Miller
Download MP3: "The Band o'Shearers"
Buy CD: Many's The Fine Tale

--posted by Marc Gunn of the Celtic MP3s Music Magazine, Subscribe for Celtic Free Music Downloads, Monday, June 23, 2003

Celtic MP3 Archive

"Willow Reels" by The Willow Band

"Big John McNeal" by Heidi, Stef & Bow Triplets

"The Day We Set Sail (To Go and Hunt the Whale)" by Tale/Theo Niessink

"The Band o'Shearers" by Ed Miller

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