Irish Music - The Roots of everything we hear (musically) in english

Truth is, and I'm keeping this brief and to-the-point, All American folk music sung in english has roots from the irish/scottish/welsh settlers in America in the late 1800s. The progression is quite simple, actually, and unless a song was translated from german or what not, if it's in english it's a good bet the irish had something to do with it.

Bluegrass was a result of the scots-irish settlers in the mountains around where I now live. the irony of it all is thatwhile there isa tremendous populace of celtic ancestry in the Carolinas, the awareness is long forgotten. Contrast this to the [still] traditional pubs of Boston or Atlantic Canada.

"The Water is Wide", an appalachian tune, is a prime example of such inspiration. The contemporary pop number "You Raise Me Up" (a female sentimental favourite) is also derived from the source of the emerald isle. Other staples, even a lot of blues, originally broke away from traditional roots music like "Wild Rover" or "Molly Malone." Those two songs are, in all honesty, fairly recent in history.

Go back farther to gaelic aires like "Buchaill on Eirne" (boy of ireland) and you find roots in the ancient druid times. Others like the melody "Slane" (now commonly referred to as the hymn "Be Thou My Vision") are nearly a millennium old. Many often cite crooners like Bing Crosby as an irish musician, which isn't all true. While irish, his music is far from, much like U2 or Van Morrison.

At the forefront of modern celtic music (ireland specifically in this hub), we see the super band Chieftains, the rough and tumble Dubliners, the clean shaven (often dorky) Clancy Brothers, or (a bit later) fusion kings known as the Pogues. After the Pogues, the list becomes an endless supply of modern wannabes (I use this term endearingly, since many have broken far away from that restraint).Great Big Sea, though not irish, began after being inspired by the Irish Descendants and Ryan's Fancy, two newfoundland bands that pull a vast majority of songs from either the "New Ireland" or the old country itself.

Break down into America and the commonly referred to bands seep into rock moreso than folk. Flogging Molly and the Dropkick Murphy's are perfect examples of how far irish music has come in America. I have been hard pressed at shows with my band to find anyone (even people unacquainted with the genre) who does not sing along with either of these bands' songs we cover occasionally.

Some stark conclusions about much of Americana - let's face it, bands like the Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Van Morrison, Neil Diamond, John Prine, even the Beatles, owe a heavy allegiance to the music of the celts, even if not entirely the irish sect of it.

Ireland has been around for thousands of years and has done phenomenally well at preserving its history through song and dance. Some great tunes I'd like to recommend for the holiday would be traditional pub fare like "Whiskey in the Jar" or "I'll Tell Me Ma."

Want more ideas? I have a few hubs written on modern bands who are in the celtic music genre, and perhaps they'd give a little more insight into the history and future of irish music.