Program Highlights and Schedules for April - June 2011

11-14

4/7/11

New Releases

Join host Bryan Kelso Crow for a sampling of some of the best tracks from new and recent releases from both sides of the Atlantic.

11-15

4/14/11

Musical Michiganders

The state of Michigan is rich in its folk and traditional musicians and dancers, including Scottish and Irish traditions. We honor some of these musical Michiganders in this week's program.

11-16

4/21/11

Child Ballads VIII

This is the eighth in our occasional series spotlighting the Child Ballads, collected and published by Professor Francis Child in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Some of today's leading singers, like Andrew Calhoun, continue to find ways to arrange and perform these classic narrative ballads to keep them interesting to contemporary audiences.

11-17

4/28/11

A Proper Sort of Tea Party

Tune in this week to learn how to make a proper cup of Irish tea, from none other than Cork singer Mairtin de Cogain. We will also explore musical references to this most popular non-alcoholic beverage of the British and Irish Isles.

11-18

5/5/11

New Releases

The top of the month means it's time to see what's new in the Celtic music genre. You can count on hearing "all the best" on Celtic Connections.

11-19

5/12/11

The Outside Track

The 5-member young Celtic band The Outside Track visits our studio for some individual interviews and some live ensemble playing. The band features two Scottish women, two Canadian women, and a German-born but Irish-raised male guitar player. Their two CDs to date offer some of the most musical and lively arrangements we've heard in a long time. Not to be missed!

11-20

5/19/11

Songs from the Sam Henry Collection

Northern Irish folk song collector Sam Henry was born in Coleraine in 1878 and died in 1952. He collected songs throughout his life, published many in the Belfast newspapers, and eventually published the words in a massive collection called Songs of the People. Many of these songs continue to show up in recent recordings by Celtic musicians, who attribute Sam Henry's book as their source. We feature some of these songs in this week's program.

11-21

5/26/11

30 Years Back: The Best of 1981

Each year we look at the state of the art in Celtic music as of 30 years ago, and this year's survey takes us back to 1981, when everything was still on vinyl. Tune in to hear some of the classics that sound as fresh today as they did 3 decades ago.

11-22

6/2/11

New Releases

Time once again to sample new and recent releases from Ireland, Scotland, and North America.

11-23

6/9/11

Twin Fiddles

The sound of two fiddles playing in unison or in harmony is always exciting, and with piano or guitar backing, who could resist the urge to dance! This week we sample a number of twin fiddle tracks from Celtic and North American fiddlers.

11-24

6/16/11

Old Favorites

Songs and tunes from favorite albums of the past several decades will be featured this week.

11-25

6/23/11

Summer Festival Preview

Singers, instrumentalists, and bands are on the run trying to hit as many of the summer Celtic festivals as they can, and we will catch up with as many as we can for a preview of some of the major festivals for 2011.

11-26

6/30/11

Music of the American Civil War

Much of the music that was popular in both the north and the south during the Civil War came over with Irish immigrants in the years of the Great Hunger, which preceded the Civil War by just over a decade. This week's program features music from the first half of the 1800s which formed a context for music that emerged during the Civil War, including songs by homeborn composer Stephen Foster.