Tag Archives: Celtic

Bap Kennedy: The Sailor’s Revenge

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An Irish singer-songwriter’s Americana

Americanalong ago ceased to be an American phenomenon. The Irish singer-songwriter Bap Kennedy was tuned into American country music long before he discovered some of its roots in his own culture. Though his music traditional Celtic flutes, pipes and whistles, they’re easily merged into the music of an artist whose debut was produced by Steve Earle and whose album, Lonely Street, memorialized the influences of Hank Williams and Elvis Presley. His latest outing was produced by Mark Knopfler, and he’s supported by musicians drawn from bothIreland andAmerica, including the wonderful fiddler John McCusker and legendary guitarist Jerry Douglas. Knopfler’s guitar is also a strong presence as mood setting background for the vocals and other instruments, rather than an instrumental voice.

Douglas provides texture and a twangy solo on “Please Return to Jesus,” with Kennedy singing the memorably phrased “But to be on the safe side / When I’ve had my final day / I have left instructions / To help me on my way / Just above my heart / There’s a small tattoo / Please return to Jesus / … thank you.” It’s the hesitation before “thank you” that really sticks the chorus. The eleven original songs range from theTexassongwriting tradition of “The Right Stuff,” to the blue collar lament “Working Man” and Paul Simon-styled title track. The slip-note “Maybe I Will” is drawn from the country school Nick Lowe’s attended the past several years, but Kennedy’s weariness is more majestic than wrecked, as though he’s exhaling a life’s toil, thinking about something better and wearily setting his shoulder back to the grindstone. Wonderful stuff. [©2012 hyperbolium dot com]

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Enter the Haggis: Gutter Anthems

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enterthehaggis_gutteranthemsCeltic-flavored rock from Toronto

This Toronto quintet has been kicking around for nearly ten years, releasing CDs and touring clubs and festivals with their Celtic-flavored rock. There are tin whistles and bagpipes here, but they’re threaded into guitar-bass-and-drums that rock in 4/4 time as well as spicing up hearty jigs and reels. Purists may puzzle over the band’s eclectic influences, but their anthems and love ballads fit easily into the current streams of rock, pop and country. The combination of fiddle, electric leads and power chords on “The Death of Johnny Manning,” for example, isn’t far from what Nashville’s producing these days. Other tunes will remind you of more riotous fellow travelers such as the Pogues and Dropkick Murphys, and old-timers will hear echoes of 1970s Irish rockers Horslips.

The band writes about their travels, memories and interior philosophical monologues, but they’re most regularly inspired by their homeland. They profile farmers battling invasive oil companies, ruddy coastal fishermen, and northern musical pioneers, representing a stalwart side of the Canadian character typically lost in pop culture shorthand. The band’s live performances have honed a group sound that transcends their individual performances. There’s a pair of instrumentals that drives this home, but even the vocal tracks stretch out far enough to show the group’s musical wares. Enter the Haggis treads a middle ground between Celtic tradition and punk-excess, combining the flavors of the former with the rock ‘n’ roll energy of the latter. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

MP3 | The Little and the Leaves
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