Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Bob Kelly on June 4, 2010 at 8:32pm

pretty much the dubliners, Clancy brothers and the chiftans.

Permalink Reply by Jared J. King on June 4, 2010 at 9:20pm

If you haven't heard Sharon Shannon, you're doing yourself a great disservice. She's amazing.

Permalink Reply by Jim Strickland on June 8, 2010 at 7:56pm

Try this (local to me) band www.kreellers.com

Permalink Reply by Jared J. King on June 9, 2010 at 12:23pm

Enjoyed the little bit that I could hear. You know that when they have a tubby, bald dude with a beard for a lead singer, it's gotta be good stuff. Thanks for the recommendation.

Permalink Reply by Nick H on August 19, 2010 at 6:49pm

Bothy Band, if you like trad.

Try some Irish Diaspora music. Newfoundland traditional music is so close to its Irish roots that many think the music is Irish.
Here's probably the biggest name out of Newfoundland, Great Big Sea, doing an old Newfie folk song with the Chieftains.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOw3w-00Jqw

Here's the song Sonny's Dream (well known in Ireland as sung by Christy Moore). It was written by Newfoundlander, Ron Hynes. Here's him singing it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byQBsH-iQQs

The now split up "Fine Crowd" singing what I think was the greatest Newfie song ever recorded "Theresa Maria"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLEZdlGLigc

16 for a while by Celtic Connection (I think an American band has since covered this tune)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsXPP-yoPE0&feature=related

Here's a great band that played in Newfoundland in the 1970s-80s. They played Newfie trad but they themselves emigrated from Ireland. Band was called Ryan's Fancy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5LbZlnG27s&feature=related

Some other good Canadian Trad would be
Kilt from Nova Scotia. Here's a video someone made (weird video) with their great cover of a KISS tune.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqrbiwpISRA

Spirit of the West from British Columbia with their classic "Home for a Rest" (great flute solo)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPJD3qcIL7s

Leahy from Ontario
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpt2FkXM7cA

And finally although being a Newf I love my own music, I got to say that the greatest trad musician Canada ever produced came out of Ontario. Stan Rogers. Really, he had a few albums before his untimely death. Buy them all. It's one thing to hear a guy play old trad songs but here's a guy whose written songs we'll be singing a 100 yrs from now

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVY8LoM47xI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-PQbdmQRwc&feature=related (he's singing this one with Ryan's Fancy)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fT-aEcPgkuA (song starts at about 1:40)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RiNCw7Q0yA&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27ZiixkruCY&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imSFwqq4cO0

Permalink Reply by Jared J. King on August 20, 2010 at 4:54pm

Thanks for the comprehensive list. You're right. If someone didn't know much about Newfie, it'd be easy to mistake it for Irish. Plenty there to appreciate.

Permalink Reply by BOFH on August 22, 2010 at 10:44pm

If you like The Pogues you will probably love Flogging Molly, (the singer used to be in Fastway!), and I also love The Dropkick Murphys, they're a Boston Oi band but have good punk interpretations of some traditional songs.

Permalink Reply by Jared J. King on August 23, 2010 at 12:34am

Yeah, I like Flogging Molly to some extent. They're just too damn angry most of the time for me.

And, I'm not really a fan of the Dropkick Murphys. I like a couple of their songs, but that's as far as I go. I find it mostly to be music played by people who like to pretend they're Irish on St. Paddy's day. I get my fill of them on that one day a year.

Permalink Reply by Jared J. King on August 28, 2010 at 5:59pm

I'd be remiss if I also didn't mention that, if you're really looking for some good Irish-influenced punk, the Street Dogs. Seriously. If you haven't heard them, look them up on whatever music service you use (I'm a grooveshark.com user). You won't be disappointed.

Oh, and I forgot to mention, they're a Boston band, too. They're from the North Quincy neighborhood, according to one of their songs.

Permalink Reply by Johnny Carrillo on October 21, 2010 at 12:44pm

I recently checked out Mumford & Sons. Their a bunch of englishmen, but their music definitely has a irish feel in some of the songs with their Mandolin & Bodhran usage. Certainly not traditional by any means, but really enjoyable.

http://www.ilike.com/artist/search?artist_qp=mumford+%26+sons&x...

Permalink Reply by Bryan M Finn on December 15, 2010 at 4:20am

Mumford and Sons are terrific. I started listening to them a couple months back and they still get the most play on my IPod. As for some good Irish music I would recommend Greenland Whalefishers. The lead singer sounds almost exactly like Shane MacGowan in his better years. The Tossers are another great band probably my favorite Irish folk group at the moment. They hail from Chicago and write some of their own stuff along with some traditional Irish songs and they're hard to beat instrumentally. I would also recommend The Cherry Cokes if you have an open mind. They're actually from Japan but they handle a tin whistle and mandolin with the best of them. The lead singer has a bit more of a punk edge to his voice but they're good fun for a night of drinking.

Permalink Reply by Jared J. King on December 15, 2010 at 12:37pm

I'm highly gratified that people keep coming back here and posting new things every once in a while. I really enjoy the exposure I get by all of your recommendations. Keep them coming!

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