Celtic Music: Lenses
Lenses by MobyD about Celtic Music
This lens points to other lenses I've made highlighting Celtic music performers as well as radio shows, both broadcast and Internet, that play the traditional music of the Celtic lands. Celtic music covers a lot of territory and many performers. Each lens spotlights one small part of the whole. These lenses can serve as a starting point for your explorations. All URLs in this series will start with "http://www.squidoo.com/CelticMusic-" followed by the name of the performer or subject. For ex...

Celtic Music: Clannad
Clannad - A Musical Family Business
Clannad, like many other Celtic artists and groups, began with traditional material. They later expanded into rock, jazz, ambient, and world music. They come from Gaoth Dobhair (Gweedore), a part of County Donegal in the northwest of the Irish Republic between Northern Ireland to the East and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Enya is a member of the family, and recorded and performed with the group for a few years before leaving to pursue her own highly successful solo career in the early 1980s...

Enya Video Showcase
Ireland's best-selling solo artist got her start in the family business
Enya first gained notice as a solo artist with her work on the BBC Scotland series The Celts. The music was released as Enya and later remastered and released as The Celts. Her four latest albums of new material have each won a Grammy Award for "Best New Age Album." Enya was born Eithne Patricia Ni Bhraonain, part of the very musical Brennan family of Gaoth Dobhair (Gweedore), County Donegal, Ireland. Several of her relatives formed the well-known Irish band Clannad, and Enya performed on th...

Celtic Music: Loreena McKennitt
The Celtic roots run deep
Loreena McKennitt was born in Manitoba, Canada, where she first became interested in Celtic music. She moved to Stratford, Ontario in 1981 and still lives there when not touring and exploring. Her interest in the Celtic people, their history, and geographic spread over Europe and other lands began in 1991 and has fueled her musical journeys ever since. Photo credit: Richard Houghton, Copyright Quinlan Road, by courtesy of Karen Shook on behalf of Quinlan Road.

Celtic Music: De Dannan
Dé Danann/De Dannan
De Danann was formed in 1974 in Spiddal, County Galway by Frankie Gavin (fiddle), Alec Finn (guitar, bouzouki), Johnny "Ringo" McDonagh (bodhrán) and Charlie Piggott (banjo). They took their name from the mythical Irish tribe Tuatha De Danann. Along the way, for reasons not made clear, the group decided to change the spelling of the name to De Dannan, which is how it appears on Ballroom and following recordings. (The original spelling, as well as the tribe name, has the accent over the "e" ...

Celtic Music: Lúnasa
Lúnasa - an immediate hit with Irish traditional music fans
Lunasa takes its name from the ancient Irish harvest festival of Lughnasadh. The first album from this dynamic quintet became an instant best-seller in Ireland and was nominated one of the top ten best albums in the USA by the Irish Echo.

Celtic Music: Capercaillie
A great mix of Scottish traditional and contemporary sounds
"Their seductively contemporary sound and production, their mastery of traditional instruments (along with a willingness to look beyond them) and the voice of Karen Matheson have helped Capercaillie re-model the Celtic landscape..." Q MAGAZINE - Quote from Capercaillie's website

Celtic Music: Silly Wizard
One of Scotland's Top Traditional Bands of the '70s and '80s
Silly Wizard, at times a four- five- or six-piece group, performed a wide range of traditional music and some of their own compositions for seventeen years. They recorded nine albums and toured extensively in the UK, Europe, and the United States.

Celtic Music: Danú
Award-winning Group Firmly in the Irish Tradition
Danu was formed in an Rinn, County Waterford, Ireland in 1996. They performed at the Festival Interceltique de Lorient in France, then decided to stay together to perform and record. While not afraid to experiment and expand their repertoire, Danu remains firmly committed to Irish tradition. They are the only group to have been named Best Traditional Group twice in the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, and their version of Tommy Sands' "County Down" won Best Traditional Song in the same awards listings.

Celtic Music Video Showcases NEW!
Have Your Own Celtic Music Concert Any Time
I've searched YouTube for some of the best videos available for the artists listed below. In some cases, there are more videos available. When that's the case, I've attempted to select the best ones. Some of the videos are professionally produced for TV shows, music videos and DVDs. Others are videos shot by amateurs in the audience. Of that latter group, I've only included videos that has good sound quality and at least passable video without too much camera motion. All performers with a s...