Sons of Somerled

Celtic music is probably my most favored and has been for about thirty years. I'm not sure where I first heard Steve McDonald. I know his music was playing in a store I went into - quite possibly Brits in Lawrence, KS. I asked who it was and they showed me the Sons of Somerled cassette tape. I bought it on the spot.
McDonald is a native of New Zealand, but his Celtic ballads connect him and thousands of others with Scots blood - no matter how much or how little - to ancestral roots in Scotland.
In addition to Sons of Somerled, I also have Highland Farewell and Stone of Destiny. I was lucky to find a CD of the Somerled album after wearing out the cassette version.

It was listening to Fallen Flowers on the Stone of Destiny cassette that led me to Hollie Smith, McDonald's step-daughter. At age 16, she recorded the Celtic music album Light From a Distant Shore after winning Best Female Vocalist at the National Jazz Festival of NZ. Her voice was so impressive that we used her rendition of Amazing Grace at my mother's funeral.
A Woman's Heart features several Irish women. It is a tape I bought at the Blarney Woolen Mills to listen to as I drove myself all over Ireland in 1994. Eighteen years ago right now, I was stopping the night at Doonard House B&B in Tarbert after spending the day driving The Ring of Kerry. I would cross over to County Clare on the ferry the next morning.
I think Mary Black's Sonny and Frances Black's After the Ball were probably my favourites from this cassette although all the singers were very good.  I knew the words to all the songs very quickly since it was the only album I purchased while there.

Connie Dover is another Celtic singer I discovered by hearing her music being played in a store. This time it was in Weston, MO. Her voice was so beautiful, so pure, I had to buy the cassette. If Ever I Return was recorded in Scotland and features traditional Scots/Irish/American ballads and instrumentals. Hearing Dover sing Fear An Bhata (The Boatman) in Gaelic is beautiful even if you don't understand the words.
This is the only album I have of hers although I would like to have more. She will be appearing in her hometown this year at the Weston Irish Festival, October 14. Maybe this is the year I should hear her in person.

I first saw Ken Larson perform at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival in the early 90's. He was part of  Gallowglass Celtic Trio. After leaving Gallowglass, he and Peter Yeates played many venues in the Northwest and Midwest. I first saw them in Omaha along with my daughter. Kari and Ken had begun a long distance romance - he in Portland, she in West Des Moines. I knew it was something special that night when he took out his cell phone, dialed a number and began singing and playing Touchtone Lullabye. It was Kari's phone he had called and she was sitting right in the front row.
Ken and Peter have expanded and now appear mostly in the Northwest as part of New Shilling. I did get to see them on a very cold January 27 when The Celtic Music Association of Iowa brought them to Des Moines as part of their 15th season in 2007.

Ken is bodhran player extraordinaire - the best. Of course I might be a bit prejudiced as he is the newest member of our family - beating out baby Lily by thirty-four days. When Ken and Kari do make it back for the Minnesota Renaissance, he can be found sitting in on some sets. Here he is on the left with his former Gallowglass mate, Michael Matheny, and John Sopkowiak, The Irish Volunteers. (Picture taken five years ago.)
Ken will be playing at the Renaissance in Minnesota again this year the weekend of September 29-30. It will be an emotional Gallowglass tribute show when another player sits in as they play a farewell to Michael who died in June.

This is just a small sample of all the Celtic music I have - and still I want more. If you want to see why I've featured these artists, just google their names and one of their songs and give them a listen. I don't think you'll be disappointed.