In the (something) is the Kenny G of (something) thread, there were some digs at Celtic folk music. I’m just wondering - is Celtic music generally unpopular?
(I’m not whining. I’m just wondering.)
(For the record, I do like much Celtic music.)
" I do like much Celtic music."
There you go. Unless you think you’re a special exception.
I think there are always people who like to gripe about any type of easy listening music, and Enya is as big a target as anyone.
Personally, I’m not a big Enya fan but I love the Clancy Brothers.
Folk music in general tends to get a lot of disdain, especially when the lowest common denominator parts become more widely heard. “Riverdance” did Celtic music no favors, but a few musicians made some bucks off it, so good for them.
I’ve loved Celtic music for decades. Like everything else 90% ranges from meh to crap, but the other 10% is wonderful.
Like most other musical “fads,” Celtic got massively over-done. So much so that Sturgeon’s Law became the default most people thought of when they thought of Celtic. Which is a pity, because there is some great music being made by “Celtic” artists.
Oh, I wasn’t aware Enya was lumped in with Celtic music. I thought she was New Age. When I heard about Celtic music, I was thinking of folk music.
Intriguing.
I never heard of any criticism of Celtic anything until Michael Flatley.
I love Celtic music and would love to go to the Fall Colours festival in Cape Breton…
There’s the “Celtic” that’s misty New-Ageish folderol. Then there are the Chieftains & the Dubliners. And the Pogues…
I like House of Pain.
There’s also those awful Celtic Fire people they keep showing on PBS.
I think that what I meant by this is that I like much Celtic folk music.
Celtic Music? You mean there’s something other than “The Irish Washer Woman?”
It’s funny - Public Radio has a great Celtic music show, “The Thistle and Shamrock” but Public Television has pretty much shit over the genre with their Celtic woman fundraising specials.
Riverdance didn’t help either - some good music, mostly generic Celtic Muzak. (Dancers were talented, but it’s so damn repetitive. boring)
Celtic music has influenced American roots music among other things. The music group the Chieftains has acknowledged the far-flung intertwined influences on their cds.
Just listen to Caledonia by Dougie Maclean. If you don’t think it’s great, I don’t want to know you.
Hi, Annie-Xmas. I love Dougie Maclean’s music!
I think this is one of those “what do you mean by _____” questions. For a lot of people, smooth jazz IS jazz, and ergo widely hated; you wouldn’t say the same about John Coltrane and Duke Ellington. I wouldn’t think groups like Gaelic Storm or The Chieftains would go down as “widely hated” in many circles, but for many, lighter-weight fare IS Celtic music, and that’s gonna draw some scowls.
I LOVE Celtic music, don’t know the ‘good’ kind from the ‘awful’ kind, but so?
My elderly mother has a lifelong dislike of the Irish stemming from high school decades ago and she certainly hates Celtic music. She said, “I don’t know why it’s in all the movies like its something special! Why is it in that Titanic movie?” I said, “what did you expect to hear? Polka music? Accordians? A Tarantella?”
“Celtic music” is a pretty broad category.
There’s Celtic rock, like, say, Black 47 or Rogue’s March or (arguably) Great Big Sea, from Newfoundland.
There’s traditional Celtic music, as performed by Altan (my favorite) or perhaps the Chieftans.
There’s great stuff to sing along with in a pub, like the Clancy Brothers, or the Irish Rovers and the like.
And then there’s Celtic Woman, and Enya, and stuff like that. Which I don’t like. Therefore it is crap.
Who doesn’t have Dropkick Murphy and The Pogues on their Saint Patrick’s Day iPod playlist they listen to once a year?
Of course Enya is an easy target. She is pretty much the definition of whispy new-agey vocals used to associate a movie scene or commercial with rolling green hills and glens or just anything vaguely Celtic looking.