Gwyneth Glyn is a singer and performer hailing from Wales. Her music borrows from the ancestral local folk tradition, going for a memorable, lush and understated sonic palette that brings the staples of folk music to a modern audience...
Sarah Copus is a talented award-winning performer. She sings and writes her own songs, but she is also an accomplished harpist. In her particular case, music is something that truly runs in the family. She has been making music for many years alongside her parents, who are in a new age prog bands. However, in 2016 Sarah took the next step forward and decided to try her hand at a solo career. Even under the young age of 18, she managed to hit the Billboard charts with not one, but two albums, which generated positive responses, airplay and rave reviews on a global scale.
Sarah also performs in Gaelic, and is heavily involved with the Texas Celtic music community, often performing with talented local musicians and attending events, festivals and venues on a regular basis.
Sarah is only 13, yet she already has a stunning debut album under her name and a recent recording called Moorland Winds. This record features powerful renditions of stunning classics, performed with a lot of passion, respect, and humility. The artist herself stated that she decided to record these songs out of her love for these timeless melodies, and her desire to help preserve them for new generations of listeners.
The result is a record featuring some well-known folk songs, but also some performances that have a deep, personal touch and a strong connection with the artist. Sarah managed to showcase her musicianship on this release, not only by highlighting her versatility as a harpist, but also by exposing her vocal chops, with great harmonies, a really nice range, and some amazing arrangements. On this record, other talented musicians also appear, including Sarah’s parents, Randy and Pamela (on guitar and whistle, respectively), as well as Rick Holt (Bodhran), Nathan Kennedy (Fiddle) and James Song (violin).
The album is currently available worldwide via iTunes, and you can learn more about this young talent directly on Sarah’s official website:
1. Wind On The Moor 2. Rights Of Man - Off To California 3. Fields Of Gold 4. Merrily Kiss The Quaker - The Mist Covered Mountain 5. Foggy Dew 6. Gleanntain Ghlas Ghaoth Dobhair 7. Hut On Staffin Island - Paddys Trip To Scotland 8. Star Of The County Down 9. Walking In The Air 10. Buttercup Spree - Garrett Barrys - Clare Jig 11. Down By The Salley Gardens 12. Dawning Of The Day 13. Harvest Home - Boys Of Bluehill 14. She Moved Through The Fair
Born in Montana, Lindsay Straw has always been a fan of great ballads and mellow folk-inspired music. Her passion finally started turning into something serious when she enrolled within the ranks of the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston. This is where she had the opportunity to meet fellow talented musicians and explore traditional folk music from the most fascinating European and American traditions.
Lindsay managed to stay quite busy in Boston, working with fellow students in The Ivy Leaf, a band with a passion of trad folk and Celtic melodies. Her solo work is particularly notable for her mellow vocals, stunning harmonies and intricate musicianship, bringing the songs to life with delicacy, yet energy and verve.
Her recent studio effort, The Fairest Flower of Womankind, Lindsay managed to collect stories, old folktales and ballads with a common thread: portraying strong, positive and inspirational female figures through her interpretations, and by bringing these melodies back to life for a modern audience. Armed with her guitar and bouzouki, Lindsay collaborates with a host of talented musicians, enriching her performances with stunning layers of accordion, fiddle, concertina and a lot more. While the arrangements remain strongly based on the sheer, heartfelt energy of her bare vocals and instrumental, other musicians truly add an additional dimension to her work, making for a genuine, colorful and tantalizing sound.
The production of this release is crisp, tasteful and understated, placing emphasis on the performance value and capturing Lindsay’s emotional performances, as well as the great chemistry she has managed to developed with her band members and studio collaborators for this particular project.
The Fairest Flower of Womankind is actually Lindsay’s second studio album, following her well-received debut release, My Mind From Love Being Free. It is interesting to see how Lindsay worked on these recordings differently. On her first album, the idea was simply to create a collection of great songs and beautiful melodies. On this second effort, her vision could almost be compared to creating a concept album, since all the songs have been selected and rearranged with a common thread line in mind, namely Lindsay’s connections with these songs as a woman.
5 Stars from Celtic Radio!
The Fairest Flower Of Womankind
5.0 Stars!
Track List
1. The Forester 2. The Maid On The Shore 3. The Female Rambling Sailor 4. Basket Of Eggs 5. Fair Annie 6. Geordie 7. Young Beichan, Part One 8. Young Beichan, Part Two 9. The Outlandish Knight 10. The Crafty Maid's Policy/Fingal's Cave/Sheepskins & Beeswax 11. William Taylor 12. Sweet Lovely Joan 13. Blow Away The Morning Dew
Rose Baldino and Brian Buchanan have been making music for many years, and they happened to cross paths about a decade ago, somewhere in the backstage of a theatre in rural Pennsylvania. Ever since then, they shared quite a few musical adventures, touring around the country, although they finally decided to collaborate in 2014.
Also busy with his band “Enter the Haggis”, Brian immediately struck up great stage chemistry with Rose, and moved to Philadelphia, where the pair started “House of Hamill. The young duo have over 25 years of collective experience as musicians and songwriters, and they both excel at a wide variety of instruments, from fiddle to classical violin and guitar. Their songs are always on the edge of traditional and innovation, as they clearly enjoy what they are playing and their performances are electrifying. The pair debuted earlier in 2016, with “Wide Awake”, an album chockfull of mesmerizing melodies that redefine what’s traditional, with personality and verve.
One of the most striking aspects about the songs on the album, and the performances of this talented pair of musicians, is definitely the rare ability to truly touch the audience with their enthusiasm and deep passion for the craft. With so much experience, Rose and Brian are true naturals, and they know what it takes to keep the audience engaged, whether on a stage or in the recording studio.
On songs such as “Heart Shaped Box” or “Daydream”, the duo explores some really uplifting melodies with some fun and heartfelt executions. Tracks such as “Guns Of The Magnificent Seven” and “Fierce Cottage” are absolutely electrifying with energy seeping through each note, even during the most mellow moments. The latter song is particularly striking for its tense, dark atmospheres, combined with the uplifting rhythm section and the masterfully executed fiddle leads and rhythm guitar arrangement.
House of Hamill channels the diverse background and wealth of talented skills of both musicians involved within this project. They achieve a truly interesting blend of folk, which is rather separated from the pair’s other projects and bands, but yet it still retains that common denominator: passion, heart and feeling behind everything they do.
5 stars from Celtic Radio for this Celt-Folk Dream Team!
Wide Awake
5.0 Stars!
Track List
1. The Pinnacle 2. Nightmare 3. Memory 4. Fierce Cottage 5. Daydream 6. Guns Of The Magnificent Seven 7. Flashback 8. Son Ar Rost 9. Wide Awake 10. Heart Shaped Box
An exciting new musical featuring a talented cast of Irish musicians and more.
We can't think of a single ship that is more famous and talked about than the legendary Titanic. The oceanic vessel has been the protagonist of one of history's most popularized shipwrecks back in 1912, and the story of the boat that didn't manage to make it across the Atlantic ocean before crashing into a floating iceberg acquired major popularity with the modern crowd thanks to the popular "Titanic" feature film by direct James Cameron (also known for blockbuster films such as Avatar, The Terminator or Aliens).
If there is something that captures an audience even more than the energy of a great film, is probably the humanity of a stellar live performance.
Now, the famous story of the ocean liner is also a musical that hosts the talent of some of Ireland's best folk musicians and dancers, making for a dazzling show of sounds, stories, light and magic. As many of the passengers of the Titanic were Irish, folk music is a great way to tell the story of the many souls who lost their lives on their way to the new world. These people were hoping to find a better life for themselves, perhaps starting families of their own or supporting loved ones by working from the land of opportunities and sending money home. However, Titanic Dance is not the story of tragic loss of life: it is a joyful celebration that will charm, dazzle and entertain audiences of all walks of life.
The CD, Music from the Show, is a wonderful collection of Irish music perfectly played and a tribute to the success of the show. Expect to hear some lovely Irish traditional dance music, beautiful vocals and flutes to bring this CD alive in the memory of Titanic. If you appreciate shows like “Riverdance” or “Lord the Dance” then chances are you are going to find “Titanic Dance” irresistibly entertaining!
Find out more and learn about this unique performance. Stay tuned, because this time around, the most famous ship in the history of seafaring might finally make the jump over the pond after all: Titanic Dance is currently looking to arrange American performances to reach out to a whole new crowd!
5 Stars from Celtic Radio!
Music From The Show
5.0 Stars!
Track List
1. Queenstown 2. Water Is Wide 3. Boiler Room 4. Dames Dans Le Soleil 5. Calm Waters 6. I Know My Love 7. Carpathia 8. Steerage 9. Forbidden Love 10. Lahardane Waltz 11. The Scramble 12. Nearer My God To Thee / The Parting Glass