Altan are an Irish folk music band formed in County Donegal in 1987 by lead vocalist Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh and her husband Frankie Kennedy. The group were primarily influenced by traditional Irish language songs from Donegal and have sold over a million records.
Omnium Gatherum is a six-piece melodic death metal band from Finland, founded in the autumn of 1996. Although the band mainly follows the path of the melodic death metal genre, much of their work shows strong influences from progressive metal, especially their later albums.
Adam Stemple is a Celtic-influenced American folk rock musician, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is also the author of several fantasy short stories and novels, including two series of novels co-written with his mother, writer Jane Yolen.
Tummel is a Swedish/Danish klezmer band formed in 1997. Tummel plays music that combines traditional klezmer sounds with influences from jazz and the folk music of Sweden and the former Yugoslavia.
Local Ground is the ninth studio album by Irish folk music group Altan, released in March 2005 on the Narada label.
The Reptile Palace Orchestra is an eclectic worldbeat band based in Madison, Wisconsin which specializes in lounge, klezmer and other Eastern European music. It began in 1994 with a gig at the Club de Wash, and since that time has become a notable fixture in the Madison music scene. Membership has varied, but the current line-up consists of Maggie Weiser, Biff Blumfumgagnge, Seth Blair, Kia Karlen, Bill Feeny, Robert Schoville, Greg Smith and Ed Feeny, and included Sigtryggur Baldursson of Sugarcubes/Björk fame on their first 2 Omnium releases, Iguana iguana and HWY X
Redwood is an album by Lúnasa that was released in 2003 on Green Linnet Records. It was their fourth major release, and their last album on Green Linnet Records. The band conceived the album in October 2001 whilst staying in a Californian lodge; the band aimed to record an album that would capture the band's live feel whilst at the same time retaining the sonic quality that the band feature on their albums. The band took a ten-day break from their February 2002 American tour to record the album at Prairie Sun Recording Studios in California. It is characterised by a more relaxed sound than previous albums, and less guest musicians.
Dáithí Sproule is a guitarist and singer of traditional Irish music. His niece is the singer Claire Sproule.
T with the Maggies is the debut album from Irish Celtic-folk supergroup T with the Maggies. It was released on 29 October 2010 in Ireland and on 22 February 2011 in the United States.
"Stop Stop Stop" is a song by British pop group The Hollies that was written by group members Allan Clarke, Tony Hicks, and Graham Nash, and was a rewrite of an earlier song by the group. It was first released as a single and later appeared on the album For Certain Because in the United Kingdom.
The Widening Gyre is the twelfth studio album by Irish folk music group Altan and their eleventh studio album of original material, released in February 2015 on the Compass Records label. It was released to critical acclaim.
Boiled in Lead is a rock/world-music band based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and founded in 1983. Tim Walters of MusicHound Folk called the group "the most important folk-rock band to appear since the 1970s." Influential record producer and musician Steve Albini called the band's self-titled first album "the most impressive debut record from a rock band I've heard all year." Their style, sometimes called "rock 'n' reel," is heavily influenced by Celtic music, folk, and punk rock, and has drawn them praise as one of the few American bands of the 1980s and 1990s to expand on Fairport Convention's rocked-up take on traditional folk. Folk Roots magazine noted that Boiled in Lead's "folk-punk" approach synthesized the idealistic and archival approach of 1960s folk music with the burgeoning American alternative-rock scene of the early 1980s typified by Hüsker Dü and R.E.M. The band also incorporates a plethora of international musical traditions, including Russian, Turkish, Bulgarian, Scottish, Vietnamese, Hungarian, African, klezmer, and gypsy music. Boiled in Lead has been hailed as a pioneering bridge between American rock and international music, and a precursor to Gogol Bordello and other gypsy-punk bands. While most heavily active in the 1980s and 1990s, the group is still performing today, including annual St. Patrick's Day concerts in Minneapolis. Over the course of its career, Boiled in Lead has released nearly a dozen albums and EPs, most recently 2012's The Well Below.
BOiLeD iN lEaD, sometimes referred to as BOLD NED, is the first album by Twin Cities-based folk-punk band Boiled in Lead, self-released on its own label, The Crack. It received widespread critical praise after its release; record producer and musician Steve Albini called it "the most impressive debut record from a rock band I've heard all year." It is more strongly centered on a blend of alt-rock and traditional Celtic folk than the band's subsequent albums, though the Hungarian dance tune "Arpad's Guz" gives a hint of the band's later eclecticism. Boiled in Lead's first vocalist, Jane Dauphin, plays a larger role here than on Hotheads, her second and final album with the band, singing lead on most of BOiLeD iN lEaD's songs and helping anchor its sound in traditional folk. Bassist Drew Miller also performs lead vocal on a few songs, including "Byker Hill", but after this album would stay strictly an instrumentalist.
Hotheads is the second album by Twin Cities-based alt-rock/world-music band Boiled in Lead. Like its predecessor BOiLeD iN lEaD, it is strongly centered on a blend of alt-rock and traditional Celtic folk, and has been called its "most roundly Celtic" album.
Old Lead is an album by Minneapolis Celtic rock band Boiled in Lead. It collects the band's first two studio albums, 1985's BOiLeD iN lEaD and 1987's Hotheads, along with two tracks recorded during the Hotheads sessions.
From the Ladle to the Grave is the third album by Minneapolis Celtic rock band Boiled in Lead. It was the band's first recording with drummer Robin Adnan Anders, whose influence helped push the band further beyond Celtic rock into explorations of other world traditions. These included Bulgarian, Russian-Jewish, and Turkish music, as well as their version of The Hollies’ “Stop! Stop! Stop!” which interpolated a traditional Egyptian melody. The song "Cuz Mapfumo" simultaneously paid tribute to Chicago-based Irish musician Cuz Teahan and Zimbabwean Thomas Mapfumo.
Orb is the fourth album by Minneapolis Celtic rock band Boiled in Lead. It was produced by Hijaz Mustapha of British worldbeat band 3 Mustaphas 3. Orb found Boiled in Lead exploring a wider range of traditional music styles than ever before, moving beyond the confines of the Fairport Convention-influenced Celtic rock of previous albums and adding material from Albania, Romania, Macedonia, Sweden, Appalachia, and Thailand. The album's title reflects this, suggesting an embrace of a truly global musical perspective. Bassist Drew Miller attributed the widening of the band's sound to the eye-opening realization that their European audiences were just as comfortable with American musical styles as with any European forms. "We came to the decision that since we're Americans, there's no reason we have to play all Irish material. So we don't." Brett Durand Atwood of Gavin Report praised the album's eclecticism, calling it "a one-world sonic showcase for the tunes of our brothers, sisters, and ancestors." Besides the many world-music influences, Orb also delves into punk rock and psychobilly with guitarist/vocalist Todd Menton's "Tape Decks All Over Hell."
Antler Dance is the fourth album by Minneapolis Celtic rock band Boiled in Lead. It was the band's first recording with vocalist/guitarist Adam Stemple, who replaced Todd Menton after his departure in 1992. Founding bassist Drew Miller has called this personnel change the most significant shift in the band's history. Fiddler Josef Kessler also replaced the departed David Stenshoel. Stemple's addition to the band led to a heavier, more heavy metal-influenced sound, as well as a strengthening of the band's ties to the science fiction and fantasy community. Two songs on Antler Dance were co-written by fantasy novelist and Stemple's Cats Laughing bandmate Steven Brust, and "Robin's Complaint" was written by Stemple's mother, novelist Jane Yolen. The album also includes covers of Boney M.'s "Rasputin" and Bruce Springsteen's "State Trooper", originally from his album Nebraska.
Songs From the Gypsy is the sixth album by Minneapolis Celtic rock band Boiled in Lead, and its second with lead singer/guitarist Adam Stemple. It is a song cycle based on a Hungarian folk tale, written largely by Stemple and his Cats Laughing bandmate Steven Brust several years prior to Boiled in Lead's recording. Brust, who is best known as a fantasy novelist, collaborated with writer Megan Lindholm on a novel, The Gypsy, based on the songs. Boiled in Lead's album is considered the soundtrack to the novel. Brust had previously co-written two songs on Boiled in Lead's 1994 album Antler Dance, and had released a 1993 solo album, A Rose for Iconoclastes.
The Well Below is a four-song EP by Twin Cities-based Celtic rock band Boiled in Lead, its eighth collection of new material. It includes a cover of Appalachian folk singer Roscoe Holcomb's "Wedding Dress" as well as the band's take on Irish songwriter Christy Moore's murder ballad "The Well Below the Valley."
