Composer, producer and performer Phil Coulter was the reigning king of contemporary Celtic music, becoming the best-selling Irish artist of his generation. Born in Derry, Northern Ireland in 1942, Coulter began his career while studying music at Belfast's Queens University, writing the Capitol Showband's 1963 hit "Foolin' Time" and later penning... [+] Read More

Composer, producer and performer Phil Coulter was the reigning king of contemporary Celtic music, becoming the best-selling Irish artist of his generation. Born in Derry, Northern Ireland in 1942, Coulter began his career while studying music at Belfast's Queens University, writing the Capitol Showband's 1963 hit "Foolin' Time" and later penning the ensemble's 1965 Eurovision Song Contest entry "Walking the Streets in the Rain." Other notable compositions of the era include Twinkle's 1964 smash "Terry" and Them's oft-covered garage-rock classic "I Can Only Give You Everything." Still, Coulter enjoyed his greatest success as a writer after teaming up with collaborator Bill Martin; together they authored some of the biggest pop hits of the period, including Sandie Shaw's Eurovision-winning "Puppet on a String" and Cliff Richard's "Congratulations." Despite his pop success, he remained drawn to the Irish folk of his youth, working with acts including the Dubliners, Planxty and the Furey Brothers while concurrently writing a series of hits for the Bay City Rollers. After his partnership with Martin ended during the late '70s, Coulter turned increasingly to performing, and in 1983 issued his solo debut Classic Tranquility; its meditative, lushly-orchestrated renditions of traditional Celtic favorites immediately scored with Irish audiences, and on the strength of subsequent efforts including 1984's Sea of Tranquility and 1985's Phil Coulter's Ireland, he emerged as the country's best-selling artist. Later material including 1990's Words and Music, 1993's Recollections and 2000's Highland Cathedral introduced Coulter to a growing international audience as well. The intimate Songs I Love So Well was issued on Shanachie in early 2001. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide [-] Hide

With their Northern Ireland-style twin fiddling and accordion melodies accented by acoustic guitar and bouzouki, Altan has grown into one of the top traditional bands in Ireland. The inspiration for Altan was sparked when Donegal-born fiddler and vocalist Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh met Belfast-born flute player Frankie Kennedy. Ní Mhaonaigh had... [+] Read More

With their Northern Ireland-style twin fiddling and accordion melodies accented by acoustic guitar and bouzouki, Altan has grown into one of the top traditional bands in Ireland. The inspiration for Altan was sparked when Donegal-born fiddler and vocalist Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh met Belfast-born flute player Frankie Kennedy. Ní Mhaonaigh had learned the traditional style of fiddling from her father, Francie, who had learned it from his mother, Roise. Influential Irish fiddler Dinny McLaughlin, who frequented her childhood home, added to her knowledge of the instrument. Kennedy, who studied flute as a youngster, was extremely interested in Irish music and made several trips to Ireland during school vacations. Meeting during an informal jam session, Ní Mhaonaigh and Kennedy began to play together at every opportunity. Although they both took jobs as trainee teachers at St. Patrick's College in Dublin, music remained their shared passion.

In 1979, the two musicians made their recording debut as accompanists for Gaelic singer Albert Fry on his self-titled debut album. Two years later, Ní Mhaonaigh and Kennedy graduated from college and were married. Together with bouzouki player Donal O'Hanlan and Mairéad's brother Gearóid Ó Maoinaigh, who played guitar, Ní Mhaonaigh and Kennedy formed a band, Ragaime. Although they recorded for RTE, the group disbanded by the time that Gael-Linn released Ní Mhaonaigh and Kennedy's debut album, Ceol Aduaidh, in December 1983. One track on the album, "An Clar Bog Dell," featured Enya, then known as Eithne Ní Bhraonáin, on Prophet-5 synthesizer.

In 1987, Ní Mhaonaigh and Kennedy recorded their second album as a duo, Altan, named after a lake in northwest Donegal. Produced by Dónal Lunny, the album featured accompaniment by Ciarán Curran on bouzouki, Mark Kelly on guitar, and Mairéad's sister Anna Ní Mhaonaigh, then a member of the all-woman group Macella. Shortly after the completion of the album, the musicians agreed to continuing working together. During the summer of 1988, Altan began work on their first album as a band, which now included Paul O'Shaughnessy on twin fiddle. Produced by Phil Cunningham and released in 1989, the album, Horse with a Heart, featured a more dynamic sound than its predecessors.

As the band's touring schedule expanded, O'Shaughnessy and Kelly were forced by their day jobs to restrict their activity with Altan to recording and performances close to home. During the band's U.S. tours, their places were taken by Daíthí Sproule on guitar and Ciarán Tourish on fiddle. Altan reached top form with their 1990 album Red Crow, which received a NAIRD award as Best Celtic Traditional Album. Their next album, Harvest Storm, released in 1992, received the award as well.

All news was not good for the band, however. In 1991, Kennedy was diagnosed with cancer. Although he was hospitalized the following year, he recovered sufficiently to rejoin the band's tour. On September 19, 1994, he succumbed to his illness and passed away. Altan has continued to bring their music to the international stage. Accordion player Dermot Byrne, who had played on Red Crow and on Altan's 1993 album, Island Angel, joined the group formally in 1994. 1996's Blackwater and 1997's Runaway Sunday were released on the Virgin label before the group jumped to Narada for 2000's Another Sky. Numerous compilations and collections followed, as well as Blue Idol in 2002 and Local Ground in 2005, again for Narada. ~ Craig Harris, All Music Guide [-] Hide

The musical traditions of Scotland are fused with the dynamic drive and electronic instrumentation of contemporary music by Capercaille (pronounced: Kap-ir-kay-lee). While their initial repertoire focused on traditional tunes collected from Christine Primrose, Flora MacNeill and Na h'Oganaich, the group has increasingly incorporated modern... [+] Read More

The musical traditions of Scotland are fused with the dynamic drive and electronic instrumentation of contemporary music by Capercaille (pronounced: Kap-ir-kay-lee). While their initial repertoire focused on traditional tunes collected from Christine Primrose, Flora MacNeill and Na h'Oganaich, the group has increasingly incorporated modern influences. In a review of their 1999 album, To the Moon, Victor Arenas wrote, "It has been more than a decade of a constant evolution, of modelling their traditional past with those modern ingredients that have made of their music that for which no doubt they will be known in the future."

The inspiration for Capercaille was sparked in the early-1980s by high schools friendsKaren Matheson (grand-daughter of traditional Scottish vocalist Elizabeth MacNeill and a former member of a folk group, the Etives), and English-born/Scotland-raised keyboard player Donald Shaw. The original band included Scottish bodhran and whistle player Marc Duff (who had played in several bands with Shaw), fiddler and vocalist Joan MacLachlan, guitar and bouzouki player Shaun Craig, and bass and fiddle player Martin MacLeod. After building a reputation with local performances, the band recorded their debut album, Cascade, in a fast-paced, three day, recording session.

Capercaille has gone through numerous personnel changes with only Matheson, Shaw and Duff remaining from the original group. Shortly after British fiddler Charlie MacNeill replaced Elizabeth MacNeill in 1991, the band recorded their second album, Crosswinds, and embarked on their first American tour. Their earliest success came in 1988 with their commissioned soundtrack for a television series about the history of Gaelic Scots, The Blood Is Strong. A soundtrack album, introducing Irvine, Scotland-born bassist John Saich, sold more than 100,000 copies in Scotland and was reissued on cd in 1995.

With the addition of influential Irish bouzouki and guitar player and vocalist Manus Lunny in 1989, Capercaille became one of Celtic music's most repected ensembles. At the same time, they continued to reach to a much larger audience. With their fourth album, Sidewaulk, produced by Lunny's brother Donal, the band began to incorporate English-language lyrics. The group reached their creative peak with their fifth album, Delirium, in 1991. A ground-breaking fusion of traditional and modern influences, the album included "Coisich A Ruin," a four hundred year old song, that became the first Scots Gaelic song to reach the U.K. top 40 when it was used as the theme song for a British television show featuring Prince Charles, "A Prince Among Islands", and "Breisleach," which featured lyrics by Edinburgh-based poet Angus Dudb (Black Angus), and became the theme song of a Gaelic-language soap opera, "Machair."

In 1992, Capercaille released Get Out, featuring live tracks and tunes from earlier albums, and a video, Two Nights Of Delirium, that captured the band's live performances. Although their albums, Secret People, released in 1993, and Capercaille, released the following year, featuring new tunes and remixed versions of earlier material, were highly criticized for their overly-commercial sound. Capercaille's soundtrack for the film, Rob Roy was released in 1995, and the group rebounded with the impressive albums, To The Moon in 1996 and Beautiful Wasteland in 1997; Nadurra followed in 2000. ~ Craig Harris, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Clannad bridged the gap between traditional Celtic music and pop. Usually, their results were an entrancing, enchanting form of pop that managed to fuse the disparate elements together rather seamlessly. Such fusions have earned the band an international cult of fans.

Taking their name from the Gaelic word for "family," Clannad... [+] Read More

Clannad bridged the gap between traditional Celtic music and pop. Usually, their results were an entrancing, enchanting form of pop that managed to fuse the disparate elements together rather seamlessly. Such fusions have earned the band an international cult of fans.

Taking their name from the Gaelic word for "family," Clannad formed in 1970 when the Brennan family -- Maire (vocals, harp), Ciaran (vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards), Pol (guitar, percussion, flute, vocals) -- began playing at their father Leo's tavern with two of their uncles, Padraig Duggan (guitar, vocals, mandolin) and Noel Duggan (guitar, vocals). Soon afterward, the group began playing folk festivals in Ireland. They released their self-titled first album in 1973, yet the band didn't earn any widespread success until they toured Germany in 1975. Maire's sister, Enya, joined the group in 1979, yet left in 1982, just as the group was beginning to come into some pop success in the U.K. Clannad recorded the theme song for the television program Harry's Game; the single hit number five on the charts and won the band an Ivor Novello Award. The band recorded the soundtrack to the television production Robin of Sherwood in 1984; it won a British Academy Award for best soundtrack the next year. Clannad's success continued in 1986, when U2's Bono was featured on the Top 20 hit "In a Lifetime." The band continued to release albums into the 1990s, building their pop following without losing their folk audience. Landmarks, was issued in early 1998. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide [-] Hide

With her blend of folk melodies, synthesized backdrops, and classical motifs, Enya created a distinctive style that more closely resembled new age than the folk and Celtic music that provided her initial influences. Enya is from Gweedore, County Donegal, Ireland, which she left in 1980 to join the Irish band Clannad, the group that already... [+] Read More

With her blend of folk melodies, synthesized backdrops, and classical motifs, Enya created a distinctive style that more closely resembled new age than the folk and Celtic music that provided her initial influences. Enya is from Gweedore, County Donegal, Ireland, which she left in 1980 to join the Irish band Clannad, the group that already featured her older brothers and sisters. She stayed with Clannad for two years, then left, hooking up with producer Nicky Ryan and lyricist Roma Ryan, with whom she recorded film and television scores. The result was a successful album of TV music for the BBC. Enya then recorded Watermark (1988), which featured her distinctive, flowing music and multi-overdubbed trancelike singing; the album sold four million copies worldwide. Watermark established Enya as an international star and launched a successful career that lasted well into the '90s.

Enya (born Eithne Ní Bhraonáin) was born into a musical family. Her father, Leo Brennan, was the leader of the Slieve Foy Band, a popular Irish show band; her mother was an amateur musician. Most importantly to Enya's career, was her siblings, who formed Clannad in 1976 with several of their uncles. Enya joined the band as a keyboardist in 1979, and contributed to several of the group's popular television soundtracks. In 1982, she left Clannad, claiming that she was uninterested in following the pop direction the group had begun to pursue. Within a few years, she was commissioned, along with producer/arranger Nicky Ryan and lyricist Roma Ryan, to provide the score for a BBC-TV series called The Celts. The soundtrack was released in 1986 as her eponymous solo album.

Enya didn't receive much notice, but Enya and the Ryans' second effort, Watermark, became a surprise hit upon its release in 1988. "Orinoco Flow," the first single, became a number one hit in Britain, helping the album eventually sell eight million copies worldwide. Enya spent the years following the success of Watermark rather quietly; her most notable appearance was a cameo on Sinéad O'Connor's I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got. She finally released Shepherd Moons, her follow-up to Watermark, in 1991. Shepherd Moons was even more successful than its predecessor, eventually selling over ten million copies worldwide; it entered the U.S. charts at number 17 and remained in the Top 200 for almost four years.

Again, Enya was slow to follow up on the success of Shepherd Moons, spending nearly four years working on her fourth album. The record, entitled Memory of Trees, was released in December of 1995. Memory of Trees entered the U.S. charts at number nine and sold over two million copies within its first year of release. In 1997 came the release of a greatest-hits collection, Paint the Sky with Stars: The Best of Enya, which featured two new songs. Enya's first album of new material in five years, Day Without Rain, was released in late 2000. In 2002, she contributed material to the first film in Peter Jackson's award-winning Lord of the Rings trilogy, scoring a hit with the single "May It Be." Amarantine, her first full-length recording since Day Without Rain, followed in November of 2005. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine & William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Loreena McKennitt is in her element in front of an audience, telling interesting stories about the songs and assembling a topnotch backing band. This is her first live release available to the public, and uses material from three concerts (one from Paris and two from Toronto) to put together a complete show. As with The Book of Secrets tour, the... [+] Read More

Loreena McKennitt is in her element in front of an audience, telling interesting stories about the songs and assembling a topnotch backing band. This is her first live release available to the public, and uses material from three concerts (one from Paris and two from Toronto) to put together a complete show. As with The Book of Secrets tour, the first half is The Book of Secrets in its entirety, arranged in the same order as the studio CD. This material is covered on the first CD, and it has never sounded better. The live performance seems to breathe new life into the tracks and some songs, such as "Dante's Prayer" and "Skellig," sound better than the studio recordings. The second CD is more of an overview of her career, featuring songs from her back catalog. Again, the tracks seem to benefit when played in front of an audience; in particular, "The Lady of Shalott" and "All Souls Night" are brilliant. The musicianship on this live CD is excellent, and her band is very tight, as though they had been playing together for years. The sound of the CD is amazing; while maintaining the warmth of a live performance, McKennitt is still able to present a crisp, clean recording -- a remarkable feat. Also worth noting is the packaging, which includes notes by McKennitt, wonderful photos, and details of how the whole package was put together. This CD is ideal for fans and is actually a good place for newcomers to start. ~ Aaron Badgley, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Thanks to its distinct, downright catchy single "Orinoco Flow," which amusingly referenced both her record company boss Rob Dickins and co-producer Ross Cullum in the lyrics, Enya's second album Watermark established her as the unexpected queen of gentle, Celtic-tinged new age music. To be sure, her success was as much due to marketing a niche... [+] Read More

Thanks to its distinct, downright catchy single "Orinoco Flow," which amusingly referenced both her record company boss Rob Dickins and co-producer Ross Cullum in the lyrics, Enya's second album Watermark established her as the unexpected queen of gentle, Celtic-tinged new age music. To be sure, her success was as much due to marketing a niche audience in later years equally in love with Yanni and Michael Flatley's Irish dancing, but Enya's rarely given a sense of pandering in her work. She does what she does, just as she did before her fame. Admittedly, avoiding overblown concerts run constantly on PBS hasn't hurt. Indeed, the subtlety that characterizes her work at her best dominates Watermark, with the lovely title track, her multi-tracked voice gently swooping among the lead piano, and strings like a softly haunting ghost, as fine an example as any. "Orinoco Flow" itself, for all its implicit dramatics, gently charges instead of piling things on, while the organ-led "On Your Shore" feels like a hushed church piece. Elsewhere, meanwhile, Enya lets in a darkness not overly present on The Celts, resulting in work even more appropriate for a moody soundtrack than that album. "Cursum Perficio," with her steady chanting-via-overdub of the title phrase, gets more sweeping and passionate as the song progresses, matched in slightly calmer results with the equally compelling "The Longships." "Storms in Africa," meanwhile, uses drums from Chris Hughes to add to the understated, evocative fire of the song, which certainly lives up to its name. Watermark ends with a fascinating piece, "Na Laetha Geal M'Oige," where fellow Irish modern/traditional fusion artist Davy Spillane adds a gripping, heartbreaking uilleann pipe solo to the otherwise calm synth-based performance. It's a perfect combination of timelessness and technology, an appropriate end to this fine album. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Perfect Time, Maire Brennan's first album for Epic Records, is her best solo effort to date, a lovely collection of atmospheric Celtic pop that equally emphasizes her enchanting voice and ethereal harp. Like Enya's records, Perfect Time relies on aural texture as much as songcraft, but there are actual, memorable melodies on each track on the... [+] Read More

Perfect Time, Maire Brennan's first album for Epic Records, is her best solo effort to date, a lovely collection of atmospheric Celtic pop that equally emphasizes her enchanting voice and ethereal harp. Like Enya's records, Perfect Time relies on aural texture as much as songcraft, but there are actual, memorable melodies on each track on the album, and it's all the more effective because of that. ~ Rodney Batdorf, All Music Guide [-] Hide

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The best of Clannad's 1982-1989 tenure on RCA is compiled on the 19-track compilation Rogha, which includes "Theme From 'Harry's Game'," "In a Lifetime" (the group's duet with U2's Bono), and a pair of collaborations with Bruce Hornsby, "Second Nature" and "Something to Believe In." ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide

The best of Clannad's 1982-1989 tenure on RCA is compiled on the 19-track compilation Rogha, which includes "Theme From 'Harry's Game'," "In a Lifetime" (the group's duet with U2's Bono), and a pair of collaborations with Bruce Hornsby, "Second Nature" and "Something to Believe In." ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide [-] Hide