Celtic fusion

Infobox Music genre
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name=Celtic fusion (music)
stylistic_origins=Old-time music, Celtic rock
cultural_origins=1920s: USA, 1970s: UK
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popularity=
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subgenres=Celtic electronica, Celtic hip hop, Celtic metal, Celtic new age, Celtic punk, Celtic rock
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Celtic fusion is an umbrella term for modern music which incorporates influences considered "Celtic," or Celtic music which incorporates modern music. It is a syncretic musical tradition which borrows freely from the perceived "Celtic" musical traditions of all the Celtic nations, as well as from all styles of popular music; it is thus sometimes associated with the Pan-Celtic movement. Celtic fusion may or may not include authentic traditional music from any one tradition under the Celtic umbrella, but its common characteristic is the inspiration by Celtic identity.

The oldest musical tradition which fits under the label of Celtic fusion originated in the rural American south in the early colonial period and incorporated Scottish, Scots-Irish, Irish, and African American influences. Variously referred to as roots music, American folk music, or old-time music, this tradition has exerted a strong influence on all forms of American music, including country, blues, and rock and roll. The connections between traditional Scottish and Irish music and Rock music are deep and go back to the origins of American music. As Elvis Costello put it:

"I started with rock n' roll and...then you start to take it apart like a child with a toy and you see there's blues and there's country...Then you go back from country into American music...and you end up in Scotland and Ireland eventually." [ [http://www.ireland-fun-facts.com/irish-quotes.html irish quotes ] ]

Another manifestation of this syncretic tendency emerged in New York in the 1890s, as bands performing traditional Irish music for the large Irish immigrant community there began incorporating big band influences, adding brass and reed instruments and performing quicksteps, foxtrots, and other popular contemporary dance tunes.

More recently, there has been a flowering of several distinct genres of Celtic fusion. These can be roughly broken down as follows:

Celtic rock

The fusion of rock and Celtic music is perhaps the least surprising of the modern hybrids, since rock is partially based on "roots" music, which was originally based on a fusion of African and Celtic traditions. Modern Celtic rock acts like Alan Stivell, Gaelic Storm, Sinéad O'Connor, Lenahan, Lordryk, Croft No. 5, Enter the Haggis, The Dreaming, Shooglenifty, Spirit of the West, Ashley MacIsaac, Mudmen and Great Big Sea, and many others have proven the genre's vitality.

Since rock music is so diverse and is influenced by virtually every other genre, the sounds of these groups vary considerably; they include everything from straight-ahead classic rock with traditional instruments to traditional songs played with rock "attitude".

Celtic punk

Celtic punk was essentially invented by The Pogues in the early 1980s and immediately gained popularity following the release of their first album in 1985. It is probably the best established of the modern Celtic fusion genres, and generally includes drums, bass, guitar, and fiddle, sometimes with tin whistle, bodhran, or accordion. The sound is typically fast with aggressive lyrics, rock beats, and melodies.

Bands in this genre include Flogging Molly, Dropkick Murphys,The Real Mckenzies, Smiting Shillelagh, Flatfoot 56, The Vandon Arms, Neck, The Molly Maguires, Mutiny, and Black 47 (who also incorporate hip hop influences). The genre is most popular in Ireland, Scotland, England, the United States, and Canada.

Celtic hip hop

The first Celtic-identified hip hop group to gain mainstream notoriety was House of Pain, a Los Angeles based hip hop group which incorporated rhymes about the Irish-American experience into their music. With a few exceptions, however, their actual instrumentation did not incorporate traditional "Celtic" influences, so their inclusion in the genre is somewhat controversial.

Marxman, an Irish-Jamaican hip hop group, whose explicitly nationalist and Marxist politics gained them notoriety and infamy in the United Kingdom in the 1980s, incorporated traditional instruments into several songs on their first album, but largely abandoned them for a more electronica- and blues-oriented sound that would later form the basis for the emergence of trip hop.

Sinéad O'Connor contributed vocals to several of Marxman's songs and even tried her hand at rapping on her 1994 album Universal Mother with a track about the Great Irish Famine (1845-1849).

Manau, a French hip hop group of Breton origin, created the first truly consistent fusion of Celtic music and hip hop in two critically acclaimed albums incorporating a wide range of traditional instruments and melodies and combining them with hip hop beats. They were sued by Alan Stivell for allegedly plagiarizing his arrangement of a Breton song (Tri Martolod).

More recently, Emcee Lynx, a Scots-Irish hip hop artist from Oakland, California known for his anarchist politics and anti-war activism, has incorporated samples of traditional instruments into his music alongside lyrics about growing up as a Celt in America. His band, [http://beltainesfire.com Beltaine's Fire] , plays a live fusion of hip hop, rock, and Celtic music. Epitunes.com described them thus:

Beltaine’s Fire musical style is unlike anything you’ve heard of before. Fusing traditional Irish and Scottish music with rock, folk, and rap elements, Beltaine’s Fire has succeeded in creating a truly unique sound that is still instantly accessible. [ Beltaine's Fire is the Featured artist for the day on Epitunes.com for August 30th. http://www.epitunes.com/Members/epitunes/Blog/Beltaines-Fire-Artist-of-the-Day-August-30]

They are currently the only band playing a true fusion of Celtic music and Hip Hop with live instruments instead of relying on sampling.Fact|date=January 2008 Their first full-length album, the Weapon of the Future, was released Dec. 10th, 2007 via their website. [ [http://beltainesfire.com Beltaine's Fire ] ]

Most Celtic hip hop music clearly approaches the equation from the hip hop side of the fence, preferring to reference Celtic identity in its lyrics. This is at least partly due to the origins of hip hop music in African American culture and the ongoing controversy in American hip hop around white hip hop artists, something that is much less of an issue in France and the United Kingdom.

Celtic New Age

Celtic New Age artists such as Enya, Afro Celt Sound System, Iona, and Gary Stadler incorporate traditional melodies and lyrics with synths and pads to create a mellow relaxed fusion that has proven highly marketable. Enya, for example, is one of the best-selling female musicians in the world.

Celtic electronica

The genre of Celtic electronica blends traditional Celtic influences with modern electronic music. Artists such as Martyn Bennett and Mark Saul whose backgrounds are in traditional Celtic music tend to favor traditional instruments, melodies, and rhythms, but augment them with drum machines and electronic sounds. Others, like Dagda, approach the fusion from a background in electronic music that eschews traditional instruments and incorporates traditional melodies played on synths into a New Age-influenced trance sound.

Celtic metal

During the 1990s, a subgenre of folk metal emerged that combined heavy metal music with Celtic music. The pioneers of the genre were Cruachan, Primordial and Waylander.

Celtic-influenced world music

Many Celtic fusion artists integrate musical traditions from all over the world into their sound. The clearest example of this is Afro Celt Sound System, the members of which bring to the band strong backgrounds in either African or Irish musical tradition. The Irish fusion group Skelpin incorporates Spanish flamenco, Middle Eastern, and American soul elements and instruments into its music. Other artists such as Loreena McKennitt take inspiration from numerous diverse traditions around the world, although their focus may be on Celtic music

Others

Other, less well established hybrids include Celtic reggae, as played by bands like PaddyRasta, Pubside Down, and (again) Sinéad O'Connor.

As might be expected from musicians playing a style of music defined by its fusion of disparate elements, many bands combine multiple styles. Shooglenifty, for instance, incorporates reggae, rock, and electronica into their musical style; Croft no Five does the same with rock, funk, and jazz.

Books

"Irish Folk, Trad and Blues: A Secret History" by Colin Harper (2005) covers Horslips, The Pogues, Planxty and others.

ee also

* List of Celtic fusion artists

References

References