A Brush Dance for Feel Good Friday

THIS is why we hate that we missed CelticFest Mississippi this year. Here, sent to us from our friend Valerie Plested (the talented fiddler of Legacy and one of the people who put this together every year), is a brush dance with Mairtin de Cogain leading the ceili dancers, joined by his brother Eamonn. Enjoy!

Legacy for FGF!

Crossposted from LWC:

Here are our friends from Jackson (and Orlando), Legacy, who are performing tomorrow at ClanJamFry, the Memphis Scottish Festival, which is taking place at Evergreen Presbyterian Church from 10 AM-5 PM tomorrow. Joining them will be Memphis' own Sallymacs.

For more on this Celtic weekend in Memphis, see the post below; now sit back and enjoy Legacy.

Feel Good Friday Goes to the Dogs!

A huge crowd-pleaser at the Highland Games is always the Border Collie Demonstrations. These dogs are so smart that it is a thrill to watch them work!

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Note that these are working dogs and must be kept busy. A bored Border Collie is a destructive Border Collie. The herding instinct is very strong and they will attempt to herd anything that moves, like small children. Beautiful, intelligent dogs that too often end up in shelters. Don't take one on, unless you are equipped to deal with them properly.

CelticFest Mississippi Is Coming!

This week's installment of Feel Good Friday brings us one week closer to CelticFest MS. As I look forward to make the short trek to the Mississippi Agriculture & Forestry Museum, I want to share this snippet from Tim Britton, Uillean piper extraordinaire.



Tim is one of the headliners for this year's event and a perenial favorite. For more information about the event, see the festival website. If you are attending the event, make sure to come to the host hotel, Cabot Lodge Millsaps, for the seisuins that last until the wee hours (sometimes they run into the staff putting out the breakfast bar).

See you there!

CelticFest Mississippi! Coming Soon!

With the coming of September, we enter the busy season for the Cracker and I. After we work the Memphis Music & Heritage Festival (which, alas, has every kind of music, but Celtic), we head to Jackson, MS for a great weekend of music and craic at CelticFest Mississippi. Headlining this year is the group Trian, Captain Mackey's Goatskin and String Band, Tim Britton and Brendan Nolan. In addition, there are great regional performers, dance groups and music & cultural workshops.

For Feel Good Friday, I chose this video of Máirtín de Cógáin and Jimmy Crowley singing "I Know My Love". As Captain Mackey's Goatskin and String Band, joined by Don Penzien and Valerie Plested of Legacy, they emphasize the songs about soldiers and soldiering.


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CelticFest Mississippi is completely run by a group of dedicated volunteers. Among those volunteers are Don Penzien and Valerie Plested two-thirds of the group Legacy. Here is Legacy performing at a house concert.

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If you are in the area, join us for this great weekend!

Feel Good Friday

This week's selection finds us with Gerry O'Beirne. I've had the pleasure of seeing Gerry at festivals and at a MAMA concert. He is a fabulous musician and even more fabulous songwriter. He played with EJ Jones and Rosie Shipley in The Willow Band, with Patrick Street and in smaller groups as well. He also produced CDs for the Poor Clares and Clandestine. If you want to learn more about Gerry, visit his website.

This is Gerry at a house concert, performing his beautiful song, "Holy Ground".

Bagpipe-A-Rama

My pick for Feel Good Friday is this selection from Teribus, a pipe and drum ensemble that is quite unlike the usual marching pipe and drum groups. Teribus, from what I understand, is rather fluid in its make-up, but in this instance is E.J. Jones, Richard Kean, and Kevin Hartnell on drums. E.J. and Richard are two of the best pipers I've heard. Both have played with the traditional pipe and drum bands and have won numerous prizes at those competitions. E.J. has played with numerous bands over the years, including Clandestine, The Rogues, Jiggernaut and The Willow Band. I've seen Richard with Jiggernaut and Poor Man's Fortune, but also know that he has played with Needfire and a medieval band whose name escapes me. Kevin Hartnell is with The Rogues. There's a whole backstory about bands named Clandestine intertwined with The Rogues, but you'll have to research it on your own.

Feel Good Friday!

Let's Rock!

After reviewing some videos of a SixMileBridge concert that was to become their live album, I find that they were all a little too long for this forum. I still highly recommend checking out that footage.

I settled on this clip of Jiggernaut that was a quasi-reunion at NTIF this past March. It features Wolf Loescher signing his song "Amazing Grace (Again)". Anyone who has ever been to a Highland Games or a Pipe Band Competition will appreciate this song.



Jiggernaut was founded as a sort of Celtic rock supergroup. Killer vocals by Deanna Smith-Scotland, great musicians, originals and traditional songs with a rock sensibility. Jiggernaut is one group that the Cracker & I don't miss while at NTIF!

Feel Good Friday?

Okay, so emotions are not so happy right now, with all the uproar about Farrah and Michael, both of which have little to do with Celtic music and culture. Anyway, I'm taking advantage of the melancholy mood to share an old favorite. Here is the Tommy Sands singing his song "There Were Roses".



Actually, my favorite is Robbie O'Connell singing, but it wasn't available.

Feel Good Friday--The Elders

A selection from the Kansas City-based band, The Elders. Enjoy!

Feel Good Friday - Celtic Style

This week, I'm going back a bit, to Cathie Ryan with Cherish the Ladies. The Cracker and I have had the immense pleasure of hearing Cathie live at festivals and concerts. She is truly a wonderful singer and makes you feel like you're in an intimate environment, even when it's a huge hall. My favorite venue to see her in was at the Celtic Classic, in the Icehouse. Man, what awesome acoustics! Plus she had the full band with her.

Unfortunately, I only heard about the set the evening before. It was Seamus Kennedy's set, but he was joined by Ed Miller, Cathie Ryan, some former Clandestine members (this was right after they took a break) and a few others for a great big sing-a-long. I cannot remember what group I was listening to, but I'm sure it was equally great.

Anyway, here's Cathie Ryan:

Feel Good Friday Returns!

Sorry for the long absence. Life got in the way a bit. Here are the Poozies!

Feel Good Friday!

Please enjoy this selection by Smithfield Fair from the Scottish Festival in Arlington, TX. "Long Ships" is always a crowd pleaser and encourages participation.


The Cracker & I are on the road to the North Texas Irish Festival today. We have a full weekend of good music, good food, good friends, good craic! Hope to see you there!

FGF - Celtic Style

I saw this band at the Folk Alliance last Feb. and enjoyed the little that I got to see. Here are The Strangelings.

Feel Good Friday

This week I'm moving away from the holidays and onto a great Celtic rock band from Kansas City--The Elders! The Cracker and I had the pleasure of seeing them at NTIF twice. I would have given almost anything to see them in Bethlehem at the Classic this year, but we just couldn't make that happen. I'm sure the town of Bethlehem didn't know what hit them! Anyway, here's a personal favorite of mine, "Packy Go Home". Enjoy!

Feel Good Friday--Holiday Style!

In order to get you into the holiday spirit, here are our good friends Smithfield Fair singing "Deck the Halls".

A Man's A Man for All That

I'm a little early for Feel Good Friday, but since it's the holidays, here you go. I've chosen the Robert Burns classic "A Man's a Man for All That" as sung by Jim Malcolm, formerly of Old Blind Dogs. What a voice that man has!

Feel Good Friday!

After last week's hanky-fest, I've chosen a slightly more upbeat song for FGF. This is a favorite of the Cracker, since we saw Robbie O'Connell many years ago at CelticFest Mississippi. Sorry the video quality is not better, but the song is worth it.

FGF Celtic-Style

Okay, folks, get out your hankies. I've chosen Smithfield Fair's Greyfriar's Bobby, about a Edinburgh constable and his loyal canine companion.



This wonderful song is based on a true story.

Feel Good Friday again

The lovely Lauren has chosen Mairtin de Cogain and the Fuchsia Band for our FGF selection this week, enjoy!