Traditional Celtic Music:
General Comments,
Resources, and Links

Updated: February 4, 2001

The purpose of this page is to list resources that span several Celtic cultures and are not necessarily specific to S.F. Additional resources are contained in the pages devoted to specific celtic traditions.

General Comments on Celtic Music

Most traditional Celtic music one hears is Irish, and much of it sung in Irish (aka Gaelic). For many reasons, including the strong culture of Irish traditional music in America in the 19th and early 20th century, more of it has survived than other Celtic music. However, there is a substantial and growing interest in traditional Scottish music, sparked by such groups as Silly Wizard and Capercaille. Traditional Scottish music is particularly thriving in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia where it seems everyone plays fiddle and step dances--well.

Smaller revivals are going on with the smaller Celtic cultures in Brittany, Wales, and Galecia (Spain). These other Celtic cultures definitely have their own sound (a taste for which I haven not fully acquired) and their own instruments.

WWW Resources

The Ceolas Irish Music Archive is the traditional Celtic music site on the Web. It is a gem with tons of information and links, as well as clips of music from various artists.

Traditional Music Magazines

There are a few magazines that regularly give good coverage of traditional Celtic Music. All of the ones listed below are available at Down Home Record Store, El Cerrito.

• Dirty Linen This American magazine has comprehensive coverage of roots music around the world. It has fairly good coverage of traditional celtic music from various traditions. I particularly enjoy the short, but well-written CD reviews.
• Irish Music For those with strong interests in traditional Irish music, I recommend this monthly magazine. This is published in Ireland, but one can subscribe in the States. For more info. e-mail them at slaffey@iol.ie or check out their new WWW site.
• Folk Roots published in the U.K.,
• Living Tradition published in the U.K.

Where You Can Purchase Traditional Celtic Music

• Down Home Music Store, 10341 San Pablo Ave, El Cerrito, CA (510 525-2129) has the best selection Irish, Scottish, Cape Breton and other Canadian music in the Bay Area including a lot of hard-to-get imports.
• Amoeba Records in the Haight in S.F. (but not the Berkeley store) and Virgin Records have fairly good collection of Irish CDs. .
• Tayberry Records This mail-order store in South Carolina, has a huge collection of Celtic Records.
• Devine Celtic Sounds, P.O. Box 5983, Glendale, Arizona 85312. This is another excellent mail-order store that also appears at a lot of Celtic festivals. (602 938-8132)
• Portland America - a mail order store from Maine.

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Scottish Music | Cape Breton Music | Scarff's homepage |

Please send me your comments or suggestions: jim@sfcelticmusic.com