I’m looking for Celtic rock bands: traditional instruments coupled with rock tempos and (optionally) guitars. Instrumental or vocal, I’ll take either one. I like the Celtic themes to the lyrics, but that’s by no means mandatory.
I’m a fan of MacKeel (my favorite), Slainte Mhath, and Wolfstone. Most of Horslips’ stuff doesn’t have the driving beat I’m looking for, although they have some that I like. Some of Jethro Tull’s stuff even qualifies.
Any suggestions?
Alan Stivell comes to mind.
Steeleye Span, Clannad, The Chieftains, De Dannon, Fairport Convention
Definitely check out Tempest.
I’m not sure if this is what you had in mind, but the Pogues are one of the best-known bands to fuse punk rock attitude and energy with traditional Irish folk and drinking songs. They had mostly traditional instrumentation, but they rocked hard and kicked ass. More recent Irish-punk hybrids, all heavily influenced by the Pogues, include Flogging Molly, the Dropkick Murphys, and Black 47. I like them all.
To add to that list of punk-fusion celtic bands: The Tossers. I opened for Streetlight Manifesto with them last night, what a great show, those guys have got it down!
Of your original list, Dropkick might be a bit too punky for his tastes, but Flogging Molly is right up his ally.
How can you go wrong with Thin Lizzy? While not everything has a celtic feel to it, a good number of songs do. They don’t normally use the traditional instruments, but the guitars have a good celtic sound to them and they sometimes use traditional songs in their songs. You might also want to check out Gary Moore’s Wild Frontier album.
This isn’t a specific answer, but if you haven’t done so already, check out some of the free radio stations at Live365. Look under the heading Irish. That heading is a bit of a misnomer; the stations listed under Irish play all manner of Celtic music; just check out their descriptions to see. It’s a good way to get exposure to bands you otherwise might not hear. On a side note, just yesterday I heard a hilarious song to the tune of Scotland the Brave; the Tartan Terror’s Scotland’s Depraved.
Gaelic Storm has a great sound and puts on one hootenannie of a live show.
I second the POGUES. I got to see them live (in England) in '90.
You might want to start with their album Hell’s Kitchen. There are several other very good ones, though.
Oops – make that *Hell’s Ditch. *
While they usually include traditional Celtic instruments, their sound is generaly boozy, fast, and sometimes almost punk. Maybe you’re looking for something more folk-sounding. (Many Pogues songs are worth hearing just for the lyrics, IMHO).
Clandestine and Slainte.
I don’t know if this is the sort of thing you want, but they’re very good.
Kíla
My local faves for Celtic rock are the lunatics of the band Fathom.
Thanks for all the suggestions, folks! You’ve given me a lot to check out.
And Biffy the Elephant Shrew, I can’t believe I forgot about Tempest! I saw them live at a Scottish Highland Games years ago and absolutely loved them. I got one of their CDs and lost it, and then forgot the name of the band. Thanks for re-introducing me!
I have heard Stairway to Heaven on bagpipes. It rocked surprisingly well, but I have no idea who did it. Anyone know?
Baltimore’s mayor’s own band. . .now defunct as he runs for governor.
Have to mention the Corrs. I’d clasify them as standard pop + some traditional stuff. May not be the best sounding band, but one of the best looking…
Brian
Sorry I haven’t provided links but add to the list an American band I recently fell across, Carbon Leaf, an English folk rock group The Oyster Band and possibly although, AFAIK no longer doing their stuff The Men They Couldn’t Hang and The Levellers. Oh and The Saw Doctors have a raw energy of their own.
PS crowmanyclouds love their music though I do I feel your selection miss out a bit on the ‘rock’ element the OP is looking for 
:smack:
How could I forget Carbon Leaf? I’m especially fond of The Boxer.
And then there’s Great Big Sea, of course.
And then there’s the short attention span that had this sitting as a previewed post all morning, now that I see that Cat Jones beat me to the punch…