Celtophilia

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Battlefield Band is one of the most iconic Celtic bands in existence. In various incarnations they have been writing and performing for over thirty years. The discography page on their website is longer than my arm and includes more than twenty albums, not counting solo projects by members. Battlefield Band was a group of innovative musical pioneers in 1969 when the band was formed, and they are not content to rest on their past laurels today. Their latest CD, Zama Zama … Try Your Luck, is one of the sharpest and most cohesive albums that I’ve ever listened to, in any genre. Inspired by gold and humankind’s obsession with obtaining it, Zama Zama … Try Your Luck narrates a tale of greed, necessity, and consequences that spans from the legendary Golkonda diamond mines to the Klondike gold rush to the current global financial crises. Don’t let the serious subject matter fool you, this album is far from being a dry political treatise set to song. The music matters here, and the music is passionate, relevant, and not to be missed.

Ku’ula-kai is a bloody amazing instrumental, featuring straight up kickass whistle, bagpipe, fiddle, guitar, and accordion playing. Immediately after playing it the first time, I played it again. Leaning back in my chair with my eyes closed, I found myself smiling and happier than I had any right to be.

Three Brothers is an original song written by Alan Reid, who is a founding member of Battlefield Band. Alan plays accordion and provides lead vocals on this track, which tells the story of (you guessed it) three fictional brothers caught up in the Alaskan Gold Rush. This is balladeering at it’s best, and one of my favorite songs from the album. I used to dislike the accordion, before I figured out that I was incredibly close minded and wrong. Accordions are awesome, if you don’t believe me, give this song a listen and it might just convince you.

I almost always listen to albums in order, because I think that artists put a lot of thought into the arrangement of songs so that there is a progression, and I want to experience the music in the context that was intended. That was a lot of waffle just so I could say in this case I didn’t do it. I had to skip straight to Plain Gold Ring. I am a rabid Nina Simone fan, and I couldn’t wait to hear Battlefield Band’s interpretation of a song I’ve listened to Simone sing hundreds of times. I wasn’t disappointed. While there is a distinct traditional Scottish flavor to the Zama Zama rendition, particularly Alasdair White’s excellent fiddling, it retains the plaintively soulful quality of the original. This is my favorite type of cover, one that stays true to the spirit of the song while also making it sound like something straight out of the band’s own repertoire.

If I have any criticism of the album, it’s that I’m not the biggest fan of instrumentals, and they do represent about half of the songs on the CD. have been thoroughly scolded for my preferences in that department, yet I remain addicted to lyrics. It’s a weak attempt at criticism anyway, as the instrumentals are among the best I’ve heard and I enjoyed some of them immensely.

Zama Zama … Try Your Luck is a remarkable album - musically, lyrically, and in every way. I wanted to write about every last song on the CD, and the only reason I didn’t is because I decided that none of ya’ll would want to read “Zama Zama … Try Your Luck: Bonnie’s Exhaustive Analysis With A Twinge Of Fangirl Enthusiasm” when you could be listening to the album instead. So, do that! Really, do, and then come back here and we can talk one another’s ears off about it - sounds like an incredible good time to me.

* Zama zama is a South African term for illegal gold miners. I highly recommend this article, Dying For Gold, for background on the dangerous and often fatal process of illegal gold mining in South Africa.

** Battlefield band’s current line up consists of Alan Reid, Mike Katz, Sean
O’Donnell, and Alasdair White.

I’m not a person to preach. It’s not my style, really, and I don’t like doing it. However, the images filling up my television screen the past few days demand action. The devastation in Haiti is unfathomable. In so many ways, the scenes from Port-au-Prince remind me of other places that all of our Celtophilia family have visited in Jamaica. The faces remind me vividly of the people I met there, and for a short time, ministered to and cared for deeply. The poverty and desperation, the homes built from scrap plywood and salvaged tin, all take me bodily and hurl me back in time. When I see the suffering of these people who have lost what meager belongings they had, I feel like I know them.

It is easy to feel helpless. Like so many people, we struggle to pay our bills. We don’t have the fortune of celebrities, major corporations, or internet millionaires on our side. Despite this, I feel the weight of a moral responsibility to make an effort, however small, to help these people. I don’t mind saying, I feel that every person in the world who doesn’t have to wonder if they’ll sleep in the street tonight, or where their next meal will come from should really feel this responsibility as well.

To this end, I have created several new designs to add to the Celtophilia store, to support the relief efforts in Haiti. There are t-shirts, coffee mugs, water bottles, stickers, buttons, and magnets. You can check out the new store items on the Support Haiti Relief Page. If you like them, please consider making a purchase. $3 from the price of each item sold will be donated to the Unicef US Fund, to support disaster relief. We will take no profit from these items. If you don’t like them, please, please find some way to help. Unicef is taking donations. The American Red Cross is taking donations. Every other charitable support organization in the world is taking donations. Give them a dollar, if that’s all you can part with, but do something.

Celtophilia Store Support Haiti Relief Page.

For those of you who don’t know already, there’s a new Podcast on the Irish Music scene, doing some fantastic things to get the word out about all the great music coming out of the Minneapolis/St. Paul area in Minnesota. The TCIrish Music Podcast, being produced by Michael Sturm and Charley Beekman of The Langer’s Ball, is part of the larger Twin Cities Irish Music site, which caters to all things Irish Music in the Twin Cities. Bands, Pubs, Dance Schools, and upcoming music events can all be found on the site. This is a great new resource for folks looking for Irish music in the area, and Celtophilia wishes them the best in this undertaking! We were lucky enough to get Michael and Charley to take a moment from their busy day to answer a few questions for us. Enjoy!

Celtophilia: So, who are Michael Sturm and Charley Beekman, and why would we want to listen to them spinning Irish music on a weekly basis?

TCIrish: It’s not so much that you are listening to us, we just happened to be the ones that put it together and decided to put in the time and the effort. When you tune into the Twin Cities Irish Music Podcast, you are listening to the huge amount of talent that is in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, and really all of Minnesota. When we play our band, The Langer’s Ball, then you are listening to us! But TCIrishMusic.com isn’t really about the hosts, there isn’t a ton of witty banter or commentary, it’s about the musicians and the music.

Celtophilia: Why did you feel it was important to put together a site and podcast specifically focusing on Celtic music from the Minneapolis/St. Paul area?

TCIrish: Just look at the bands page, We’ve got some huge talent in Minnesota, From Boiled In Lead & The Wild Colonial Bhoys, to having players like Dean Magraw, Laura MacKenzie, Daithai Sproule of Altan, Martin McHugh & Paddy O’Brien! Plus some great troubadours like Tom Dahill, I think that Minnesotans are extremely lucky to have this level of music going on almost every night of the year, and usually for free. Our Goals with the Podcast are to let people know what their missing by staying home, because they didn’t have a place to turn to find out where to go, and they didn’t have a podcast to let them know just how good the music is! Whether you want a Ceili Band, or trad music, a session or to hear some pub tunes, The Twin Cities has it all. Plus, take a look at the top 20 list from PaddyRock.com for best CD’s of 2009, Both The Wild Colonial Bhoys and our Band, The Langer’s Ball are on it! That means 10% of the best Celtic Rock & Punk albums of last year came from our city. That’s why we think people will tune in.

Celtophilia: I really like the inclusion of several instrumental tracks in Episode 1, which of course are fundamental to the Irish music tradition. How important is it to you to include the more trad-focused music along with more modern arrangements?

TCIrish: Like we said, Minnesota has it all, and I want to include it all. At first we thought we’d put together a really rockin’ podcast, but then where do we draw the line? It’s all really great music, and all these people are our friends and colleagues. There just isn’t anyway we couldn’t include the great trad and folk music as well as the rock and pop and everything in between. And if our listeners are like us, there is a place for all the music.

Celtophilia: You’ve assembled quite a lineup for Episode 1, can you give us some names to look forward to in the coming weeks?

TCIrish: Well, we’re adding musicians as they get back to us to give permission, so who you’ve heard so far is who has replied to our request for permission. However, we just finished episode 2 and since episode 1 came out, we’ve added The Wild Colonial Bhoys, The Sweet Colleens, The HiBs, and a few others, beyond that, you’ll just have to tune in every Monday at 8:00pm Central.

Celtophilia: It seems like you are really trying to create an all-inclusive site for Irish culture in the Twin Cities, with pubs, gigs, bands, dance schools, etc. How can anyone who is interested in being included contact you?

TCIrish: We are trying to make it all-inclusive. We’d like our site to be the one that anyone can turn to and find out what is going on and where, no matter what Irish Music related activity they want. On every page on the website it lists our email, which is info@TCIrishMusic.com, and we’d love to hear from anyone, especially touring bands as they come through the area. Our goal is to get people out to see and support the music, and to make the Twin Cities synonymous with Irish Music like Chicago and the blues or New Orleans and Jazz. In just the 1st week we’ve been live, we’ve had well over 500 unique visitors to the site, we just started a facebook page, and I just checked it it’s at over 520 friends since just last Saturday, this tells me that this is something that has been a long time coming and well needed.

Again, huge thanks to Michael and Charley for taking the time to answer our questions, and we are looking forward to many episodes of the podcast in the future. If you want more info about the Twin Cities Irish Music website and podast, check them out over at www.TCIrishMusic.com.

Slainte,
Mike