# Traditional Irish Music? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 17, 2013, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/traditional-irish-music/669100 "2013-09-17T22:12:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/traditional-irish-music/669100/1 "2013-09-17T22:12:43Z")
I already have 2 albums by The Commitments. It’s great Irish music and I love it, but it isn’t what I usually think of as traditional Irish music. I’m thinking of instrumental versions of songs like Drowsy Maggie, Yankee’s Revenge, Leather Britches, Lark in the Morning, etc. played on fiddle, guitar, tin whistle, bodhran, mandolin, etc. So, can anyone recommend some names of groups that play this kind of music? Any album names? Tis a foin ting if you could be helpin’ me. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/traditional-irish-music/669100/2 "2013-09-17T22:44:12Z")
[Altan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altan_(band)) is my favorite. Definitely worth a listen. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/traditional-irish-music/669100/3 "2013-09-17T23:38:28Z")
Thank you, Saintly. I’ll check them out. Anyone else? ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/traditional-irish-music/669100/4 "2013-09-18T00:10:01Z")
Do The Chieftains count? Love their stuff! (Their weirdest is The Chieftains in China, where they have some fun messing around with traditional Chinese/Irish fusion. Kinky. But it works!) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/traditional-irish-music/669100/5 "2013-09-18T00:12:57Z")
[The Chieftans](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chieftains) are probably the most famous and most highly regarded group for traditional Irish music. In addition to their many albums of traditional music, they’ve done collaborations with artists in many other genres. A couple of my personal favorites among their collaboration albums are [Santiago](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santiago_(album)), celebrating the Celtic music of Galicia in Spain, and [Down the Old Plank Road](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Down_the_Old_Plank_Road:_The_Nashville_Sessions), crossovers with Country music artists. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/traditional-irish-music/669100/6 "2013-09-18T01:17:24Z")
Do you want vocals or just instrumentals? Because the absolute best Irish singing came from the late Tommy Makem. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/traditional-irish-music/669100/7 "2013-09-18T02:04:46Z")
I prefer instrumentals. Don’t the Chieftains do a lot of vocals? ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/traditional-irish-music/669100/8 "2013-09-18T02:22:42Z")
You might also find traditional Cape Breton (in Canada) music interesting and enjoyable. It’s definitely a branch of the same tree. To a lesser extent, the same is true of Newfoundland music. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/traditional-irish-music/669100/9 "2013-09-18T02:30:59Z")
Solas! Lovely songs, but they play plenty of reels and jigs, and a few airs as well. They’ve cycled through several lineup changes, and most people have a favorite among the singers, but I think every iteration of the band, and every album, has been solid. Winnie Horan is some kind of fiddle goddess. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/traditional-irish-music/669100/10 "2013-09-18T03:02:25Z")
If it matters–Solas are not strictly Irish themselves (though the music is), some members and the band itself originating in America. Among contemporary Irish groups, along with the great Altan already mentioned, you should check out De Dannan and Lunasa. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/traditional-irish-music/669100/11 "2013-09-18T04:45:41Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > I prefer instrumentals. Don’t the Chieftains do a lot of vocals? No, actually mostly instrumental. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/traditional-irish-music/669100/12 "2013-09-18T06:02:24Z")
This article was posted on Mefi the other day and I thought it was a pretty good sampler. You can’t go wrong with the Clancys or the Chieftans but be sure to listen to the Dubliners’ too. [http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/weekly\_article/irish-folk-the-bluffers-guide.htm](http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/weekly_article/irish-folk-the-bluffers-guide.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/traditional-irish-music/669100/13 "2013-09-18T06:52:06Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > You might also find traditional Cape Breton (in Canada) music interesting and enjoyable. It’s definitely a branch of the same tree. To a lesser extent, the same is true of Newfoundland music. And if you like bagpipes, give Hevia a twirl. I would have recommended Luar na Lubre but they do a lot of singing. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/traditional-irish-music/669100/14 "2013-09-18T07:39:40Z")
You might like [Battlefield Band](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TX5RbEXjdPI), a traditional Scottish group. ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/traditional-irish-music/669100/15 "2013-09-18T09:08:20Z")
The Dubliners Ronnie Drew Luke Kelly Paddy Reilly Jim McCann The Wolfe Tones ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/traditional-irish-music/669100/16 "2013-09-18T10:26:59Z")
^ Names of renown, but more for songs. ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/traditional-irish-music/669100/17 "2013-09-18T10:30:11Z")
Ouch. Didn’t read the OP properly. My apologies. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/traditional-irish-music/669100/18 "2013-09-18T11:41:53Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > I prefer instrumentals. Don’t the Chieftains do a lot of vocals? They do a mix. Also, Boys of the Lough. Apparently they’re not that well know but they’re quite traditional. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/traditional-irish-music/669100/19 "2013-09-18T16:06:27Z")
You might want to check out [The Thistle & Shamrock](http://www.thistleradio.com/), which is the NPR music show for Celtic music. They play a very wide range of music and styles, but it’s a great way of learning about different performers, and it will give you a lot of ideas about what to listen to next. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/traditional-irish-music/669100/20 "2013-09-18T16:07:46Z")
Fiona Ritchie talking is musical in itself. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/traditional-irish-music/669100.md?page=2)