Best of the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast

It is truly amazing the amount of GREAT music that is submitted to the Irish and Celtic Music Podcast every day. We're talking world-class musicians, many of whom don't get nearly the attention they deserve. That's why I started creating compilation CDs. I wanted to showcase some of these amazing artists in ways that they might not be able to do on their own.

This compilation is a lot like listening to the Irish and Celtic Music Podcast. It features an exciting mix of some of the coolest independent Celtic groups out there.

You'll hear rousing drinking songs like Sligo Rag's "The Whiskey Never Lies", bristling tunes like FIMM's "Sweeney's Buttermilk", powerful ballads, like Patrick's Head's "Auld Triangle", and traditional Irish goodness like Jed Marum's performance of "Star of the County Down". You'll find brilliant jigs from Jamie Lavel and Ashley Broder, and even some harp music from Anne Roos.

There are progressive songs like Beth Patterson's performance of "Ye Jacobites By Name" and the carefully crafted Celtic comedy of Ceann with "Almost Irish", a song that is brilliant satire from the lyrical composition to the perfectly out of tune penny whistle that makes light of the musical culture of Celtic ex-patriots in America.

All in all, this is an album that you don't want to miss out on. You NEED this for your St. Patrick's Day celebrations year 'round. And you will enjoy it for many years to come.

Track Listing:

1. "Sweeney's Buttermilk" by FIMM
   from Roiboos e Disappunti
   
   
2. "The Whiskey Never Lies" (Burns, ASCAP) by Sligo Rags
   from The Whiskey Never Lies
   
   
3. "The Girls Set" by Banshee in the Kitchen
   from Live at Painted Sky
   
   
4. "Star of the County Down"
   by Jed Marum with Hugh Morrison and Mason Brown
   from Sands of Aberdeen
   
   
5. "Hot Days" (Siegl/Brabec/Trad.) by Poitin
   from Hot Days
   
   
6. "Chi Mi Na Morbheanna/Sleepy Maggie" by MacTalla Mor
   from The New Colossus
   
   
7. "Almost Irish" (Halloran) by Ceann
   from Almost Irish
   
   
8. "Considine's Grove" by Anne Roos
   from A Light in the Forest
   
   
9. "Boys Of Tandragee/Tuesday Morning/Checkered Blanket" (Trad./Lewin-Tiarks) by Athas
   from Athas
   
   
10. "Ye Jacobites By Name" (Burns) by Beth Patterson
    from Hybrid Vigor
    
    
11. "Loch Lomond" by Jesse Ferguson
    from New Old Songs
    
    
12. "The Mason's Apron" by Rattle the Boards
    from The Parish Platform
    
    
13. "Jig Jag" by Jamie Laval and Ashley Broder
    from Zephyr in the Confetti Factory
    
    
14. "Rocks of Bawn" by Maidens IV
    from Emerald Fire
    
    
15. "Auld Triangle" (Behan) by Patrick's Head
    from Arse Biscuits
    
    
16. "Ormond Sound/Liberty Joe's/Broken" (O'Brien/Hurley/Trad.)
    by Pitch the Peat
    from Far From Home
    
    
17. "Wild Mountain Thyme" (McPeake) by Marc Gunn
    from Slainte!
    

Live At the Cactus Cafe: Cat Songs and Celtic Music

The "Weird Al" of Irish music returns with a live version of his top-selling CDs "Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers".

Combine Cats and Celts and you have Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers, a CD for the wonderfully demented kitty cat fantastic. Listen to music you've heard on St. Patrick's Day or by The Dubliners, The Clancy Brothers, The Wolfe Tones, and The Irish Rovers. Then laugh as all your favorite Irish Drinking Songs are rewritten with lyrics about cats. Your love of Celtic music will never be the same!

"Live at the Cactus Cafe: Celtic Music and Cat Songs" is a live CD recorded for the CD release of The Dubliners' Tabby Cats second CD of cat parodies, "Whiskers in the Jar". It features Marc Gunn performing some of his favorite cat songs with Cedric the Fiddler and Michelle Hedden.

But that's not all. You will also hear Marc embrace his Celtic roots with a nice mix of Celtic and folk songs. Plus, Cedric of the Bedlam Bards takes the lead on a couple songs turning it into an all out live musical experience unlike anything you've heard before.

Track listing:

1. Intro
2. Catnipped Kitty (Gunn)
3. Jasper Tabby Kitty Cat-y (Gunn)
4. Danny Boy (Gunn)
5. Beer, Beer, Beer (Trad.)
6. Intro to The Sparrow
7. The Sparrow (Trad., trans by Hans Flentge)
8. Lord of the Pounce (Gunn)
9. River's Jig (Trad.)
10. When Kitty Eyes Are Smiling (Gunn)
11. Roll the Old Cat Chariot Along (Trad.)
12. Old Dun Cow (Trad.)
13. Intro to Kaylee and Firefly, the TV Show
14. Kaylee (Hazlerig)
15. Kitty Martin (Lynn McKinney)
16. The Bridge (Gunn)
17. Johnny Jump Up (Trad.)

The Dubliners' Tabby Cats are Marc Gunn (autoharp, vocals), James "Cedric" Hazlerig (fiddle, mandola, vocals), and Michelle Hedden (bodhran). Recorded live at the CD release of "Whiskers in the Jar" as a benefit for Thundering Paws, an animal sanctuary in Austin, TX. Thanks to everyone who has turned Irish drinkings for cat lovers into its own mewsical genre.

Photos by Mark Scott. Graphic design by James McDaniel II, www.celtophilia.com
Mage Records, PO Box 4396, Austin, TX 78765, www.celticmusic.org

Happy Songs of Death

In memory of Michael Younger.

"Happy Songs of Death" is a joyful juxtaposition of the morbid and the comic that celebrates murder ballads, the Black Death and starving to death. Celtic songs, American songs - and notably several of Marc Gunn's original compositions all affirm that death is just the other side of life! Artists through the centuries have found inspiration in these same themes. Join Marc Gunn in a fresh look at all things mortal.

"Life does not cease to be funny when people die anymore than it ceases to be serious when people laugh." - G. B. Shaw

This album began many years ago when I was introduced to the music of Italian musician Angelo Branduardi. He had a delightful little song called "La Pulce D'Acqua". One day, I decided to translate it and found out the title meant "the flea of the water". Intriguing, I thought. So I tried translating more and a wild idea came to me. This song was about the Black Death!

In fact, it wasn't, according to some Italian friends who actually understood the meaning of it. I was disappointed by that, but thought it would be cool to write an upbeat song about death. Then while chatting with Andrew McKee, my former bandmate with the Brobdingnagian Bards, the title arose--Happy Songs of Death. It took me four years or so for the album to come about, but here it is.

The songs are an upbeat mix of traditional folk songs and original songs about death. There are murder ballads, people rising from the dead, war, my own song inspired by the Black Death, and a general celebration of the dead.

I was so excited about this album that I had TWO CD covers designed for it. One by Ingrid Houwers who desiged by Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers CDs and the other by Nikki O'Shea who designed my What Color Is Your Dragon? CD and the Bards Comic.

Track listing (not in order):

1. Isn't It Grand, Boys?
2. Won't You Come with Me? (Gunn)
   
3. Twa Corbies
   
4. Clementine Blues
   
5. Johnny Jump Up
   
6. Jug of Punch
   
7. Red, Red and Black (Gunn)
   
8. Whiskey, You're the Devil
   
9. High Jeannie High
   
10. Rosin the Bow
    
11. Foggy Dew (Kearney/O'Neill)
    
12. Waxies Dargle
    
13. I'll Drink from Dusk 'Til Dawn (Gunn)
    

Thanks to everyone who happily embraced this somberly delightful idea. Special thanks to those who passed on to greater things.

All songs traditional, except as noted. Instruments: Marc Gunn (autoharp, vox), Ari Koinuma (guitar, mandolin, percussion, bkg vox), Jamie Haeuser (bodhran, bkg vox), Mike Younger (bkg vox). Produced by Ari Koinuma. Graphics by Ingrid Houwers and Nikki O'Shea.

Buy MP3 Album!
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$15. The take-it-with-you version.

St. Patrick's Day Gifts

I updated the St Patrick's Day gift page of the St. Patrick's Day Music website. The page highlights the Mage Records Celtic CDs that are best to own for St. Patrick's Day. Yes. I know that is ALL of them. But I limited the list. :)

Heart's Ease: Instrumental Autoharp Music

Take a breath...listen. Listen to an instrument that in the hands of Marc Gunn, becomes a pathway to fairy fields and drifting clouds, to magical realms and deepest dreams.

The autoharp -- conventionally known as the instrument of middle schools and German engineers -- is transformed into an expression of heart, spirit and soul, with Celtic roots and fairy branches, and the capacity to erase all but the calm, happy and comfortable end of a day.

Listen...

Heart's Ease began about five years ago while I was recording Soul of a Harper. I recorded my first solo instrumental tunes, and I loved them. At the time, I thought about recording an instrumental album inspired by the fae folk. My first tunes were named that way. But two years ago, I started back on the path, starting with "Stardust Serenade", a song inspired by the movie Stardust. The others came in bursts with fans and friends naming the tunes.

This is a relaxing album of peaceful heart-felt emotion. Imagine sitting in a warm bubble bath, a candle burning, and you'll have an idea of how to enjoy this peaceful CD, perfectly named Heart's Ease.

Track Listing:

1. Stardust Serenade
2. Heart's Ease
3. She Vanished in the Mist
4. Songwind
5. The Mage of Mirth
6. Desire
7. Amber Wednesday
8. Fairy Tale Waltz
9. Summer's End
10. Wildflowers of Party Field
11. Return to Lonely Mountain
12. Song of Assisi
13. Phoenix Tears
14. Of Twilight Shores

Buy MP3 Album!
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Buy the CD!
$16. The take-it-with-you version.

Celtic Christmas Music Website

The Christmas music is already starting to flood the stores and radio stations. I figured it was time to update my Celtic Christmas Music website. Now's the time to start shopping for your Celtic Christmas CDs.

Real Men Wear Kilts Updated

The Brobdingnagian Bards new CD, Real Men Wear Kilts is at long last finished. I updated the CD webpage. The CD is not yet available for sale (not until October), but you can pre-order it here.

What Color Is Your Dragon?

I hadn't even officially released A Tribute to Love when I started working on my next solo album--What Color Is Your Dragon? Folk Music with Delusions of Grandeur.

The album started when I realized I have a LOT of songs recorded that are not yet available on full-length albums. I listened to many of them and realized most were filk songs.

So I decided that would be the main focus of this album. I would compile a list of songs on a variety of Sci Fi/fantasy genres including: Lord of the Rings, Bugs Bunny, Firefly, Star Wars, Dr. Who, and Harry Potter. Added to that would be a few songs I wrote a long, long time ago (not necessarily in a galaxy far away) and a few new songs exploring new musical genres (blues, in particular).

The result is my latest album available in August 2008--What Color Is Your Dragon?. The album features 17 tracks of fun music that one fan compared to the Brobdingnagian Bards' chart-topping album, Brobdingnagian Fairy Tales.

That is kind of appropriate because the first song on the album, "Don't Go Drinking With Hobbits" was inspired by real-life event that happened several years ago at DragonCon when I went out drinking with hobbits and by the end of the weekend was so sick I had no voice to sing with. "The Virgin Diet" was a song inspired by another song popularized by The Bards called "Do Virgins Taste Better Medley", as well as the fan-produced magazine that arose from that song, The Medieval Virgin.

I get a lot of emails from fans with song lyrics. Now and then some songs really stand out and I record them. "The Nazgul Song" and "The Lusty Young Sith" were written by fans who decided to parody songs played by Brobdingnagian Bards. The lyrics made me smile so much, I decided they had to be recorded.

Nevertheless, What Color Is You Dragon? has taken on a life of it's own as I dug into my experience to write most of these songs about some of my favorite Sci Fi and fantasy fandoms. This was a wonderful way to share my love of those fandoms in song. I am happy to share this album with you.

Oh! A special thanks to Nikki O'Shea, the Bards Comic artist, who beautifully designed the CD cover. I hope you enjoy the new album.

Track Listing:

1. Don't Go Drinking with Hobbits
2. A Rabbit for Halloween
3. Samwise Gamgee
4. The Virgin Diet (How to Have Fun Losing Weight)
5. How Do You Tell a Woman You're in Love with Her?
6. Pleasant Peasant Pheasant Plucking Song
7. She Said Her Name Was Saffron (Our Mrs. Reynolds)
8. Monkeys Over Mongolia
9. Lusty Young Sith
10. For the Setting Sun
11. If I Were a Horse
12. The Last Chicken in Dublin
13. Pig's Song
14. I Saved the Planet Earth
15. The Nazgul Song
16. Gollum Blues
17. My Father Was a Werewolf

Buy MP3 Album!
$9.99. Instant access. Download the nicely formatted MP3s to your computer.

Buy the CD!
$15. The take-it-with-you version.

Listen to it free online
Absolutely free. The complete CD. All 17 tracks. Completely free to listen to online.

Now playing: marcgunn's station - Marc Gunn - What Color Is Your Dragon?

Going for Brogue: Irish Pub Songs and Sea Shanties with an Accent

Several years ago, I started the Irish Songs & Lyrics website to help musicians like learn new songs by ear. The site features Irish song lyrics, chords, and streaming audio files so you can listen to the songs you want to learn.

Unfortunately, the website stopped growing because we stopped recording. I decided to expand the website in 2006 by recording a bunch of Irish pub songs under a different name--4 Irish Whiskey. To make it more "authentic", I recorded the songs with an Irish accent.

Then a year later, a fan sent me a book of sea shanties. I thought some of those songs would make nice additions to the website, so this time I took on a pirate persona and added new songs to the website.

Now I decided it is time to release the music officially under my own name. I remixed the songs and compiled the two CDs into one. It's called Going for Brogue: Irish Pub Songs and Sea Shanties with an Accent. The CD features 19 Irish pub songs and sea shanties performed by yours truly with a variety of bizarre Irish accents. There's over 68 minutes of music on one environmentally conscience CD. Going for Brogue is raucous fun that shines like the heart of Irish folk music.

Track Listing:

1. A Drop of Nelson's Blood
2. The Holy Ground
3. The Night that Paddy Murphy Died
4. Isn't It Grand, Boys?
5. Botany Bay
6. Old Fenian Gun
7. The Mermaid Song
8. Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye
9. Irish Rover
10. The Humours of Whiskey
11. Whisky in the Jar
12. Fiddler's Green
13. Haul Away Joe
14. All For Me Grog
15. Bonnie Ship the Diamond
16. The Foggy Dew
17. Rattlin' Bog
18. Whiskey, Johnny!
19. Mingulay Boat Song
    

PLUS, when you order the CD you'll have a link on the CD to download a digital pack of graphics for your computer, website and profile, and a 37-page ebook of song lyrics, chords and information about the album.

Whiskers in the Jar: Irish Songs for Cat Lovers

Introducing Whiskers in the Jar: Irish Songs for Cat Lovers! If you love cats and Celtic music, you will love this latest offering from Marc Gunn & The Dubliners' Tabby Cats.

It all began with a phone call. I started meowing in the middle of "Wild Rover". Then I wrote my first cat song. Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers was born. The CD was wildly popular. Before I knew it I had people asking when I would release my next Cat CD. Sure, I had a few songs already written, but not enough for a second CD. I spent the next two years writing some songs and asking fans of the first album to submit some lyrics. The results are now here!

The album features twelve songs and two sets of Irish tunes. The songs are a mix of Irish and Scottish songs rewritten about cats. You'll hear songs about cats eating catnip, waking you up in the middle of the night, staring off into nothingness. You'll laugh as cats take over a dairy farm, splashing milk all over the place or a nice feline friendly twist to the Sylvester and Tweety Bird cartoon. Cats fight off canine pack recruitment and Harry Potter makes an appearance as does cat cloning. No really! It's twisted, but amazing fun.

The CD was produced by Celtic music lover, Rich Brotherton, and it shows. Whiskers in the Jar is an album of purrlicious fun for cat lovers everywhere.

1. What Shall We Do With a Catnipped Kitty
2. Molly Malone, the Cat's Perspective/Planxty Hewlett
3. Kitty at the Door
4. Danny Boy
5. To Catch a Cat
6. Big Strong Cat (My Puddy Tat, Sylvester)
7. Cuddles McGish
8. When the Dairy Farm Caught Fire
9. Kitty's Rambles/Dowd's 9 Lives/Jenny's Chickens
10. The Old Woman and Her Cat (Dundee Cat)
11. Kitty Martin
    
12. Harry Potter and the Rising of the Moon
13. Orange Kitten's Mew
14. Whiskers in the Jar
    

The graphics were designed by Celtic artist, Ingrid Houwers. The final album is coming soon.


Buy MP3 Album!
$9.99. Instant access. Download the nicely formatted MP3s to your computer.

Buy the CD!
$15. The take-it-with-you version.

Listen to it free online
Absolutely free. The complete CD. All 14 tracks. Completely free to listen to online.

Now playing: marcgunn's station - Whiskers in the Jar: Irish Songs for Cat Lovers