Eddi Reader sings Robert Burns

It is the year of homecoming Scotland, after all, and here is Eddi Reader singing -- and wi' wee bit o'dancin' too-- the song Willie Stewart at the concert of Robert Burns songs called Auld Lang Syne at the Royal Glasgow Concert Hall in January. Check out her backing band too, especially John McCusker on fiddle...

julie fowlis with bagad kemper

Here's a lively bit of music for the new year -- and music you'll not have heard everywhere, at that. Julie Fowlis, who sings in Scots Gaelic, offers a tradtional song from her home in Scotland's far northwest, and she's backed not by her usual two acoustic musicians, but by a really big backing band, the Breton ensemble Bagad Kemper. They were playing at the Royal Glasgow Concert Hall.






there's more about Julie Fowlis here

Kathy Mattea: Sending Me Angels

the two songs in this clip from a BBC documentary are not winter holiday songs -- but they could be.

you may also want to see Mattea's take on holiday music
Music Road: Kathy Mattea: Joy for Christmas Day

Cowboy Christmas Ball

things haven't changed that much, in some places...

silent night

Silent Night, in English and Irish, from the annual Boston based celebration Christmas Celtic Sojourn. a bit of reflection and joy of the season shared in song.



more about Christmas Celtic Sojourn Live here.

Lau: Scots trad re invented

Scots trad at warp speed with a whole new energy....



Kris Drever, Martin Green, and Aidan O'Rourke bring different backgrounds to their collaboration (for more on that, there's an interview I did with the three of them in the current issue of the music magazine Dirty Linen). This four minute promo video includes some very interesting ways of getting their musical energy and connection on tape.

Gretchen Peters: England Blues

Gretchen Peters is the writer behind hits for Martina McBride, George Strait, Bonnie Raitt, Etta James, and Faith Hill, to name just a few. She's also a fine singer and performer in her own right, though that's a fact better known in Europe than in the US. Peters is releasing a holiday album this year, Northern Lights, which, as you might expect from her is not your usual take on the holidays. We've not yet been able to find any videos of songs from that project, but while we're looking here is Peters having fun in a rockin' mood, on a song called England Blues, from a concert in Nashville.