 | This article has multiple issues. Please helpimprove it or discuss these issues on thetalk page.(Learn how and when to remove these messages) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
|
| Celtic fusion | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins |
|
| Cultural origins | 1970s, United Kingdom, Ireland and United States |
| Subgenres | |
| |
Celtic fusion is an umbrella term for any modern music which incorporates influences considered "Celtic", orCeltic music which incorporates modern music. It is a syncretic musical tradition which borrows freely from the perceived "Celtic" musical traditions of all theCeltic nations, as well as from all styles of popular music, it is thus sometimes associated with thePan-Celtic movement. Celtic fusion may or may not include authentic traditional music from any one tradition under the Celtic umbrella, but its common characteristic is the inspiration by Celtic identity.
The oldest musical tradition which fits under the label of Celtic fusion originated in the rural American south in the early colonial period and incorporatedScottish,Scots-Irish,Irish, andAfrican American influences. Variously referred to asroots music, American folk music, orold-time music, this tradition has exerted a strong influence on all forms of American music, includingcountry,blues, androck and roll. The connections between traditional Scottish and Irish music and Rock music are deep and go back to the origins of American music. As Elvis Costello put it:
"I started with rock n' roll and... then you start to take it apart like a child with a toy and you see there's blues and there's country... Then you go back from country into American music... and you end up in Scotland and Ireland eventually."[1]
Another manifestation of this syncretic tendency emerged inNew York City in the 1890s, as bands performing traditional Irish music for the largeIrish immigrant community there began incorporatingbig band influences, adding brass and reed instruments and performingquicksteps,foxtrots, and other popular contemporary dance tunes.
More recently, there has been a flowering of several distinct genres of Celtic fusion. These can be roughly broken down as follows.
The genre of Celtic electronica blends traditional Celtic influences with modern electronic music. Artists such asMartyn Bennett,Lorne Cousin,Mouth Music, Mark Saul,Saint Sister andValtos (band) whose backgrounds are in traditional Celtic music tend to favor traditional instruments, melodies, and rhythms, but augment them with drum machines and electronic sounds. Others, likeDagda,Brigid Boden andNiteworks approach the fusion from a background in electronic music that eschews traditional instruments and incorporates traditional melodies played on synths into a New Age-influencedtrance sound.Peatbog Faeries have experimented with Celtic electronica, mainly onFaerie Stories.
The first Celtic-identifiedhip hop group to gain mainstream notoriety wasHouse of Pain, aLos Angeles based hip hop group which incorporated rhymes about theIrish-American experience into their music. With a few exceptions, however, their actual instrumentation did not incorporate traditional "Celtic" instruments, though they did use time signatures typical of Jigs on several songs - a major deviation in a hip hop market where virtually everything is done in 4/4 time.
Marxman, an Irish-Jamaican hip hop group, whose explicitlynationalist andMarxist politics gained them notoriety and infamy in the United Kingdom in the 1980s, incorporated traditional instruments into several songs on their first album, but largely abandoned them on their second album for a moreelectronica- andblues-oriented sound that would later form the basis for the emergence oftrip hop.
Sinéad O'Connor contributed vocals to several of Marxman's songs and even tried her hand at rapping on her 1994 albumUniversal Mother with a track about theGreat Irish Famine (1845-1849).
Starting in 1998Manau, a French hip hop group ofBreton origin, created the first truly consistent fusion of Celtic music and hip hop in two critically acclaimed albums incorporating a wide range of traditional instruments and melodies and combining them with hip hop beats. In one of their songs they used part of an arrangement of a traditional tune (Tri Martolod) byAlan Stivell, and were subsequently sued by him for copyright infringement.
1998 also marked the release ofSeanchai and The Unity Squad's second album, Rebel Hip Hop.[2] The sound was equal parts folk-punk, rock, and old-school hip hop and marked the first time Celtic hip hop had been performed exclusively with live instruments instead of samples. The album was selected as the Hotpress "Album of the Year" and received positive reviews but failed to break into the mainstream. The band has released 4 more albums since and are still active, playing primarily at Rocky Sullivan's in NYC which is owned by Chris Byrne, the band leader.
Many Celtic fusion artists integrate musical traditions from all over the world into their sound. The clearest example of this isAfro Celt Sound System, the members of which bring to the band strong backgrounds in either African or Irish musical tradition. The Irish fusion groupSkelpin incorporates Spanish flamenco, Middle Eastern, and American soul elements and instruments into its music.Delhi 2 Dublin[1], a band based in Canada, is known for fusing Irish andIndian music.Salsa Celtica is an 11-member "world fusion" project based inEdinburgh, Scotland that mixes salsa with Scottish bagpiping and world influences.[3] Other artists such asLoreena McKennitt,Red Cardell, the American Rogues, andCatya Maré take inspiration from numerous diverse traditions around the world, although their focus may be on Celtic music.
Modern acts such asClannad,Nightnoise,Melanie O'Reilly, andRaggle Taggle orRoland Becker (in the eighties) combine Celtic music with jazz. The jazz can range from thebig band swing style to thesmooth jazz style.
O'Reilly's musical partner has a side project called Temro[4][5] that improvises over Irish traditional music in sophisticated harmonic and rhythmic environments.
Ensemble Ériu is an Irish band which blends the minimalism and improvisatory spirit of jazz around Irish traditional melodies.[6]
Norman&Corrie, comprising Scottish drummerCorrie Dick and multi-instrumentalistNorman Willmore of Peatbog Faeries perform Shetlandic fiddle music reimagined as contemporary electronic-fringed jazz. The band released their debut album Twa Double Doubles in 2024.[7]
Celtic metal is a subgenre of folk metal that emerged inIreland during the early 1990s. It fuses the intensity ofheavy metal with traditional Celtic music, incorporating instruments such as thetin whistle,bodhrán, anduilleann pipes. The genre is characterised by its blending of metal's aggressive elements with the melodic and rhythmic structures of Celtic folk, often drawing on themes from Irish mythology and history.
The genesis of Celtic metal is closely linked to the Irish bandCruachan, formed in 1992 by Keith Fay. Inspired by the English bandSkyclad and the Irish rock groupHorslips, Cruachan sought to merge black metal with Irish folk music. Their debut album, Tuatha na Gael (1995), is considered a seminal work in the genre. Around the same time, other Irish bands likePrimordial andWaylander also began exploring similar musical territories, each bringing their unique interpretations to the fusion of metal and Celtic music. These bands laid the foundation for what would become a vibrant subgenre within the metal community.
Over the years, Celtic metal has expanded beyond Ireland, with bands from various countries incorporating Celtic elements into their music. Swiss bandEluveitie, for example, combinesmelodic death metal with Celtic melodies and instruments, even using lyrics in the ancientGaulish language. Other notable bands include Spain'sMägo de Oz, Germany'sSuidakra, and Canada'sLeah, each bringing their cultural perspectives to the genre.Celtic New Age artists such asEnya,Clannad,Afro Celt Sound System,Catya Maré,Iona, andGary Stadler incorporate traditional melodies and lyrics with synths and pads to create a mellow relaxed fusion that has proven highly marketable. Enya, for example, is one of the best-selling musicians in the world.
Celticpop artists such asThe Corrs,Nolwenn Leroy,Mimori Yusa and Gwennyn incorporate pop music elements into traditional tunes.
Celtic punk ispunk rock mixed with traditionalCeltic music. Celtic punk bands often play traditional Celtic folk songs, contemporary/political folk songs, and original compositions.[8] Common themes in Celtic punk music includepolitics, Celtic culture (particularlyGaelic culture) andidentity,heritage,religion,drinking andworking class pride.
The genre was popularised in the 1980s bythe Pogues. It is considered part of the broaderfolk punk genre, although that term is often used in North America for acoustic forms of punk rock rather than a mixture of traditional folk music and punk rock. The genre was reinforced in the 2000s by bands such asDropkick Murphys andFlogging Molly.
The typical Celtic punk band includesrockinstrumentation as well as traditional instruments such asbagpipes,fiddle,tin whistle,accordion,mandolin, andbanjo. LikeCeltic rock, Celtic punk is a form of Celtic fusion.[9]
While popular around the world, Celtic punk is often criticised for certain non-Irish bands appropriating and misrepresenting Irish culture (perpetuating 'Plastic Paddy' stereotypes) with an excessive focus on drinking and fighting.[10][11] Other folk-punk bands that incorporate traditional folk material, such asThe Dreadnoughts andCordelia's Dad, have expressed disdain at being called 'Celtic punk' despite Celtic material making up a very small portion of their overall material (either due the common occurrence of non-Celtic folk songs being called 'Celtic,' or due to the misunderstanding that all traditional folk music mixed with punk rock is Celtic punk).[11][12]Other Celtic punk artists areThe Real McKenzies,Neck, Smiting Shillelagh,Flatfoot 56,The Tossers, The Vandon Arms, The Molly Maguires,Mutiny, andBlack 47 (who also incorporate hip hop influences). The genre is most popular in Ireland, Scotland,England, the United States, and Canada.
Punks singing in Celtic languages began to emerge in the late 1970s in Wales, where groups such as Ail Symudiad (Second Movement) and Y Trwynau Coch (The Red Noses) began performing in fast-paced idioms reminiscent of the Jam; a rather harder sound was adopted byYr Anhrefn (Chaos) in the 1980s.[citation needed] The 2000s saw in Scotland the emergence of several Gaelic-language punk bands, such asMill a h-Uile Rud and the genre is also represented inBrittany with the band calledLes Ramoneurs de Menhirs.
The fusion of Celtic music andreggae is a hybrid started by the bandEdward II and The Red Hot Polkas, an example of Celticdub, The Trojans, an example of Celticska, and followed on by PaddyRasta, an example of Celticfolk reggae, and the Celtic Reggae Revolution. Other collaborations includeThe Chieftains andZiggy Marley, Sharon Shannon and Bréag.
Modern Celtic rock acts includeThe Waterboys, Jethro Tull/ Ian Anderson, Rathkeltair,Alan Stivell,Gaelic Storm,Sinéad O'Connor,The Cranberries,The Proclaimers,Red Cardell,Peatbog Faeries, Lenahan, Lordryk,Croft No. 5,Enter the Haggis, Callanach,The Dreaming,Shooglenifty,Spirit of the West, the American Rogues, Homeland,Ashley MacIsaac,Mudmen,Wolfstone,The Paperboys, andGreat Big Sea.
Other established hybrids include bands like, again, Celtic Reggae Revolution, PaddyRasta, Pubside Down, and (again) Sinéad O'Connor.
As might be expected from musicians playing a style of music defined by its fusion of disparate elements, many bands combine multiple styles.Shooglenifty, for instance, incorporates reggae, rock, and jazz into their musical style;Croft no Five did the same with rock and funk. Bands likeNa’Bodach are stylistically disparate between works on the same album, where a rock influenced song may be followed by funk or bluegrass thereafter.Rare Air, an '80s Canadian band, had two bagpipes, with rock guitar and Caribbean-influenced drums.
"Irish Folk, Trad and Blues: A Secret History" by Colin Harper (2005) covers Horslips, The Pogues, Planxty and others.Cunliffe, Barry, ‘The Celts: A Very Short Introduction’ (Oxford, 2003). Maier, Bernhard, ‘The Celts: A history from earliest times to the present’, K. Windle trans, (Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 2003).
