Author: CelticRadio (Page 2 of 2)

Celtic Rockers SYR

November 5, 2023 / CelticRadio / 0 Comments

Sentinel by Celtic rockers SYR is an explosive album full of emotion and energy that is destined to draw in curious new listeners as well as fans of the genre looking for fresh voices. Siblings Kyle and Lauren MacCallum are absolutely outstanding with their individual vocals and respective talents on guitar and percussion. Kyle’s definitive cadences are a breath of fresh air for the community, suggesting a sound beyond his years and even can be compared to modern rockstars such as Brandon Boyd from Incubus. Laurel’s dreamy melodies transport the listener to historical Celtic nations and folklore tales that stay alive within.

Rounding up the band is Kelly Vance on bass, Greg Vance with drums, Ben Campbell on guitar and Worth Lewallen on the fiddle. This six piece from Columbia, SC, presents a tremendous single with “Tir n’Aill,” a perfect pub anthem for St. Patricks Day. Other tracks including the deeply personal and poetic “Lay Of The Ashes” demonstrates strong songwriting skills and an emotional story for the band members and listeners alike. The rhythmic closer “To Avalon” feels like a battle cry with hypnotic rhythm and a signature groove that is certain to get anyone restarting Sentinel from start to finish.

The beauty of this record is in its charismatic focus that can be enjoyed by fans who aren’t all too familiar with Celtic folk. Each song, even those with historical influences, provide a genius melody and subject matter that feels like a soundtrack to a movie or action/adventure video game. Sentinel by SYR can be compared to a concert in the comfort of your own home, as well as warm up music to get ready to see the lively group on stage. There’s no wonder why this band has found success in Europe, as well as worldwide. 5 Stars from Celtic Radio!

Want to hear more, then pick up a copy directly from SYR and help support the band. If you would like a chance to win a brand new copy of SYR’s Sentinel CD, then visit our contest page below for details on how to win.

Watch Syr’s Tir n’Aill music video

Festival of Samhain

October 22, 2023 / CelticRadio / 0 Comments

Tune into our special Halloween playlist at the end of this article.

Samhain is a major pagan holiday. Now known as Halloween – it has been celebrated since the times of Ancient Egypt (perhaps, even before). It is a Celtic holiday. Samhain is, in fact, a Celtic word, pronounced sow-in; although, these days, you’ll hear it more commonly pronounced like it’s spelled.

Samhain is the Witches’ New Year. The Celts divided the Wheel of the Year into two halves, a light and a dark half. The light half corresponds to May 1st through November 1st and the dark half is the remainder of the year. Samhain is the third and final harvest. It is symbolic of the death of the god. It is the beginning of the winter, the ushering in of darkness. It is a time for reflection and contemplation.

Samhain is the time when the veil has been lifted between this world and the Next. Traditionally, it is a night when séances occur and contact is initiated with our ancestors. Many pagans celebrate the holiday on October 31st, All Hallow’s Eve (Halloween); but, there are traditions that celebrate the festival on November 1st as well. It is not a time for satanic debauchery as some would like to think.

Many pagans leave offerings of food for the wandering dead on this night. We celebrate the Crone, the aged aspect of the Goddess and her consort, the Horned God, who is ready to return to the Netherworld, only to be born again in the springtime. Samhain is a time of sanctity and piety. It is a time when pagans think over what they have done throughout the year and make plans and use divination methods such as Runes or Tarot to gain insight into the future.

In the Americas, Samhain has largely been forgotten in its origins. The holiday is Halloween, a day for eating candy, trick-or-treating and enjoying the darker side of human horror. All things have their place, of course. Perhaps, by remembering where Samhain originated, it can give you greater insight into the holiday and make it more meaningful for you.

Listen to our curated playlist of Halloween songs and sounds to start the Festival of Samhain. If you have a suggested track to add, please let us know!

Erin Ruth

October 20, 2023 / CelticRadio / 0 Comments

If you are looking to pick up a CD in our monthly giveaway contest, then this month might be just what you are looking for.

Erin Ruth is a musician from San Francisco who plays both Celtic and Folk songs. Her musical abilities started at a young age when she was influenced by Celtic Films brought home by her mother. She was inspired by the 1997 Celtic Moods compilations as well as the Cranberries.

She arrived in San Francisco in 2012 and became part of the Celtic music scene performing with local artists and then venturing off to the West of Ireland to participate in sessions at Galway, Ennis and Coolin. She began recording this album in 2018 because she wanted it to be a celebration of finding a long lost part of herself in California through Irish music.

A Five Star Review
In some ways it is a reflection of many us – discovering Irish and Scottish music is like finding a long lost part of yourself that you did not know exist. Afterall, we do play the music of our Ancestors and this first release by Erin fits right into the type of music we play. A beautiful and inspiring compilation of songs that will have you longing for a trip to Ireland (or Scotland).

We invite you to help support Erin’s music by listening to her music and purchasing her CD:

Visit her facebook profile and then pick up a copy of her new release.

Or, if you would like a chance to win a brand new copy of Erin’s debut CD, then visit our contest page below:

The New Celtic Radio

October 11, 2023 / CelticRadio / 0 Comments

It finally happened – the new Celtic Radio is taking shape. Flash back to November 8, 2003 when we purchased CelticMusicRadio.com – alot has happened since those early internet radio days. We’ve always used this address for our mobile website and even created its own bumper sticker and our promotional flyer. It’s just taken us a little time to focus on developing the site!

Does this mean we are shutting down CelticRadio.net? Certainly not. Many members did not want to see CelticRadio.net go away, so we just completed a 6 month project updating all aspects of our legacy music site.

Our goal for Celtic Music Radio is to offer a modern, easy to use and beautifully rendered site for you to listen to your favorite Celtic music. It will work seamlessly on your mobile device or desktop computer. It is going to be quite simple because we get that you want to hear the music quickly and easily.

For now we have our new player available from the Tune-In section, so give us a listen. Starting today our music announcements and news will come from here and over the next several months look for this site to gradually ramp up.

Our new player technology will allow us to do things not possible in the past, such as offering specialty playlists to augment our broadcasts.

As always, we appreciate the support of our members and hope you will find Celtic Music Radio as enjoyable as we will find developing it.

Have a question or comment? Registration is now open for CelticMusicRadio.com!

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