Celtic Fiddle Fire

Ive been a fan of acoustic music all my life and have been privileged to hear some amazing fiddle players live from the time I was very young. In my not at all humble opinion, Duncan Chisolm is the absolute best Celtic fiddle player in the world. He plays with the amazing Scottish Folk Rock band Wolfstone, but his solo work is where his playing gets a chance to shine...here is a 2007 performance with Ivan Drever, one of the founders of Wolfstone

Not Yer Granny's Edinburgh

Sort of a Wordless Wednesday..but My DH will tell you Im never wordless!

Edinburgh is my favorite city in the world, and I have some other lovely photos of it...quite like picture postcards actually. These however are the interesting ones!

We just survived one of the weirdest months I have ever been through..I promise to do a blog post on it once I get all caught up with things, but just to give you a preview, my wild October included Ian being stuck in Edinburgh unable to get back home due to a green card issue. That's been sorted now, he's home (YAY!!), and I can look back and happily recall the last time I got to visit Scotland. These photos were taken when I was there with Ian in 2005. You can click on the photo to go to the original Tabblo- that will allow you to read the very cool captions I wrote;)

Lorriane's Wedding

Ian finally finished the tiara for his daughter, Lorraine. She is getting married in a Scottish Castle, complete with kilts, bagpipes and maybe even a ghost or two...

Lorraine wanted a sort of goth but not too goth look, and we were delighted to find these gorgeous ivy leaf charms at one of our favorite bead suppliers. Ian worked forever to modify the leaves so they would work in the design, but it was well worth the effort!!

This design also has an optional Celtic Weave band that can be added:



THIS IS NOW AVAILABLE IN MY ETSY SHOP:
Elven Forest Ivy Leaf Tiara

A Lovely Evening

Ian & I are honored to be able to host Ian's friend Jim Malcolm in concert this evening. Jim is a scholar and a gentleman and has an AMAZING voice...not to mention his guitar playing, etc. We have had a fun couple of days hangin with him and talking history, folk music and life in general. Here is a video from You Tube of Jim singing one of my all time favorite Robert Burns songs celebrating the common man:



I love the whole song, but especially the last verse:

Then let us pray that come it may
(As come it will for a' that)
That Sense and Worth o'er a' the earth
Shall bear the gree an' a' that!
For a' that, an' a' that,
It's comin yet for a' that,
That man to man the world o'er
Shall brothers be for a' that.

~so be it:)

Look Mum We Have a Music Myspace

UPDATE (June 26, 2013)~ we have pretty much abandoned Myspace, but you CAN find us at our alive and kicking Glenfinnan Facebook page- please stop by;)

Glenfinnan is a village in Scotland famous for many things~ Bonnie Prince Charlie's gathering of the clans at the start of the Jacobite uprising of 1745, the rail viaduct featured in the Harry Potter films, the opening line of Highlander "Im Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod from the village of Glenfinnan on the shores of Loch Shiel", and other great and wonderful events in Scots lore. Its also the place I always had in my mind's eye when I dreamed of visiting Scotland as a teenager. AND its easy to pronounce, so it made a great name for our Celtic band when we decided to switch from Tandragee (try it, if you are from Kansas you will never pronounce it correctly)

Our piper, Liam has been working on our Myspace and it actually has music on it!! Now I just need to get the band website up to speed...sigh. Anyway, go and have a look if you are interested in very homegrown and pretty rough around the edges Celtic folk music from the Heartland.

NOTE: Ian made the banner from a photo I took when I finally got to Glenfinnan. We arrived just before sunset, and it looked just like the photo in the book I dreamed over when I was a young girl. Yes, I did cry and hug Ian~ a lot;).

Runrig: Fanciful Magick-ing Inspiration

RUNRIG is an amazing Scottish band from the Western Isles. They make great music to create by, such incredible passion!!

If you have never heard them before, give yourself 10 minutes and enjoy this magical set...there are actually two songs on this video, and the second is even more incredible than the first so listen all the way through:)



If you are in Europe this year you may have a chance to catch them live...visit their official website here:

www.runrig.co.uk