The Guide to Irish Traditional Music
A comprehensive introduction to Irish Traditional Music
Thirty years ago Irish Traditional music was but an undercurrent in its homeland. Now it has high status in the world's international ethnic music scene. In 1997 it outsold all other music and books in this category in the USA. Building on this popularity,TravelArtIreland is proud to announce the first ever guide to the music's culture, performers and modern popularity.
Written as a series of freestanding, but interlinked, crisply-informative essays, The Guide takes the reader through the geography and history of the song and dance, the music and folklore. It illuminates the backdrop of the big-stage performances, penetrates the smoke of the casual pub scene and probes the mists of the vital revival myths. It charts the path from cross-roads dance to international university lecture theatre, from itinerant musician to Rock-style performance, from the simple street singer's high-pitch patter to the plethora of top-rank debate and publication.
Gloriously illustrated in superb, full-colour photography, The Guide is the unique testament of an extraordinary leap from fireside and community to concert stage and stardom. This book is an easy-read 'must' for anyone who wishes to negotiate the compulsive romance of Ireland's unique music scene.
The Guide comes as a core text, a substantial, exquisitely-produced volume, enhanced by an cover-packed CD. The Rake's Almanac section gives major festival listings and contacts, and notes music venues in Ireland and throughout the world. All that the traveller or visitor needs to know.
Unique among all albums of Irish music, The Guide CD is 77 minutes long.
First of its kind, its twenty nine tracks represent all the major features, instruments and styles of Irish Traditional music.