About this episode
20 years of podcasting and sharing music on the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast #719 . Subscribe now ! The Gothard Sisters, Albannach, Brobdingnagian Bards, The Drowsy Lads, Alexander James Adams, Poitín, Ed Miller, Matt & Shannon Heaton, Heather Dale, Sharon Shannon, Wolf Loescher & Mark Kenneth, Vicki Swan & Jonny Dyer, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Anne Roos, The Irish Rovers, Haggis Rampant, Reilly, Gaelic Storm, The Canny Brothers Band, Stout Pounders, Ockham's Razor, The Rogues GET CELTIC MUSIC NEWS IN YOUR INBOX The Celtic Music Magazine is a quick and easy way to plug yourself into more great Celtic culture. Enjoy seven weekly news items with what's happening with Celtic music and culture online. Subscribe now and get 34 Celtic MP3s for Free . VOTE IN THE CELTIC TOP 20 FOR 2025 This is our way of finding the best songs and artists each year. You can vote for as many songs and tunes that inspire you in each episode. Your vote helps me create this year's Best Celtic music of 2025 episode. You have just three weeks to vote this year. Vote Now ! You can follow our playlist on YouTube to listen to those top voted tracks as they are added every 2 - 3 weeks. THIS WEEK IN CELTIC MUSIC 0:08 - The Gothard Sisters "Against the Grain" from Midnight Sun 4:49 - WELCOME 9:04 - Albannach "Hail to the Heroes" from The Sub - Zero Sessions EP 12:47 - Brobdingnagian Bards "I'm Coming Home" from Another Faire to Remember 17:19 - The Drowsy Lads "7 8, Final Answer" from Everyone In 20:51 - Alexander James Adams "Please Awake" from Harvest Season - Second Cutting 25:53 - Poitín "Mother And Child" from One For The Road 28:22 - FEEDBACK 31:14 - Ed Miller "The Prince of Darkness" from Lolander 36:35 - Matt & Shannon Heaton "Buried My Wife and Danced on Her Grave/Paddy Fahey's/Aherne's Egg (jigs)" from Whirring Wings 40:45 - Heather Dale "Bonny Bonny Broom" from My Celtic Heart 44:32 - Sharon Shannon "Butterflies" from Out The Gap 47:48 - Wolf Loescher & Mark Kenneth "Rigs o' Rye" from Loescher+Kenneth 51:32 - BREAK 53:23 - Vicki Swan & Jonny Dyer "The Private Still" from Red House 57:51 - The Merry Wives of Windsor "All Among the Barley" from Drink This Pub Dry 1:00:39 - Anne Roos "Roslin Castle & The Woods of Kilmurry" from A Light in the Forest 1:06:54 - The Irish Rovers "Donovan's Pub in Ballinasloe" from No End in Sight 1:11:37 - Haggis Rampant "Pikeman's March/Battle of Waterloo/Lord Lovat's Lament" from Trì 1:14:05 - THANKS 1:16:40 - Reilly "The Hunting Dogs" from Durty Pool 1:19:23 - Gaelic Storm "Girl's Night in Galway" from Matching Sweaters 1:22:36 - The Canny Brothers Band "Take Me" from The Guinness Situation 1:26:35 - Stout Pounders "Old Dun Cow" from Pour Decisions 1:29:30 - Ockham's Razor "Moorlough Shores" from Garnet 1:34:14 - CLOSING 1:35:39 - The Rogues "The Warrior's Salute" from 25... and Live! 1:40:23 - CREDITS The Irish & Celtic Music Podcast was produced by Marc Gunn, The Celtfather and our Patrons on Patreon. The show was edited by Mitchell Petersen with Graphics by Miranda Nelson Designs . Visit our website to follow the show. You'll find links to all of the artists played in this episode. Todd Wiley is the editor of the Celtic Music Magazine. Subscribe to get 34 Celtic MP3s for Free. Plus, you'll get 7 weekly news items about what's happening with Celtic music and culture online. Best of all, you will connect with your Celtic heritage. Please tell one friend about this podcast. Word of mouth is the absolute best way to support any creative endeavor. Finally, remember—our planet's future is in our hands. The overwhelming evidence shows that human activity is driving climate change, from record - breaking heat waves to rising sea levels. But the good news? We have the power to fix it. Every choice we make—reducing waste, conserving energy, supporting clean energy, and lobbying our political leaders—moves us toward a more stable climate. Start a conversation today. The facts are out there, and the future is ours to shape. Promote Celtic culture through music at http://celticmusicpodcast.com/ . WELCOME THE IRISH & CELTIC MUSIC PODCAST * Helping you celebrate Celtic culture through music. I am Marc Gunn. I'm a Celtic musician and also host of Folk Songs & Stories. This podcast is for fans of Celtic music. We are here to build a diverse Celtic community and help the incredible artists who so generously share their music with you. If you hear music you love, please email artists to let them know you heard them on the Irish and Celtic Music Podcast. Musicians depend on your generosity to release new music. So please find a way to support them. Buy a CD, Album Pin, Shirt, Digital Download, or join their community on Patreon. You can find a link to all of the artists in the shownotes, along with show times, when you visit our website at celticmusicpodcast.com . Email follow@bestcelticmusic to learn how to subscribe to the podcast and you will get a free music - only episode. You'll also learn how to get your band played on the podcast. Bands don't need to send in music, and You will get a free eBook called Celtic Musicians Guide to Digital Music . It's 100% free. Again email follow@bestcelticmusic GET AN IRISH & CELTIC MUSIC PODCAST ALBUM PIN Want to wear your love of Celtic music? Check out our album pins—these are striking lapel pins inspired by our official podcast compilation albums, featuring some of the best Celtic bands we've ever had on the show. Each pin comes with a full digital album download, so you get great music and great style. Get all the details at magerecords.com And if you're a musician, I've got a full blog post with templates and tips to help you design your own album pin jacket. WHAT IS AN ALBUM PIN? BRING IRISH & CELTIC MUSIC TO THE WORLD FOR 20 YEARS On July 28, 2005, I released the very first episode of the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. This was not my first podcast. There were four others that I released first. All of them are still available to this day. Though one podfaded. When I started, I was publishing the Celtic Music Magazine every week. I started podcasting to promote Celtic bands, but mostly I wanted to promote my own band, Brobdingnagian Bards. It was a new and exciting way to get my music heard. But something happened along the way. It became less and less about my band and more about how I could help bands be heard. And it worked. In fact, I featured a total of 79 Celtic bands in the months that followed in 2005. That includes Brobdingnagian Bards and my Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers project. Here are some of the bands who were featured. 1: Susan Hamlin, Three Quarter Ale, Dust Rhinos, Cluan, Fathom, The BorderCollies, Tara's Fire, Paul McKenna, Marc Gunn & The Dubliners' Tabby Cats, Brobdingnagian Bards 2: StoneRing, The Slip, Hugh Morrison, Caladh, MacTalla Mor, Lenahan, The Bloody Irish Boys, Vicki Swan & Jonny Dyer, Celtic Stone 3: The Barley Boys, Contea, Queen's Gambit, Highland Fling, Michael Murphy and the River Shannon Band, Amadan, Raymond McCullough, Bow Triplets, The Rogues 4: The Irish Experience, Cairde na Gael, The Black Irish, Avalon Rising, Heather Gilmer and Jeff Moore, Sarah Dinan, Bedlam Bards, Emerald Rose, Kristen Roger, Heather Dale, Serious Kitchen, Empty Hats 5: Rise, Ed Miller, Tullamore, Paisley Close, Cantiga, Thomas "Doc" Grauzer, Cady Finlayson, Rimbo, Don Grieve, Black 47 6: Moch Pryderi, Enter the Haggis, The Patched Hats, Seelie Court, Eric Benson with The Boatrights, Ali Benson, 3 Pints Gone, Sligo Rags, Angel's Share 7: The Tea Merchants, Keltic Kaleidoscope, Brothers 3, EJ Jones, Shays Rebellion, Marc Gunn 8: Niamh Parsons, Flook, Willie McCulloch, Gan Fidil, Pol Mac Adaim, The Elders 9: Tears for Beers, Clandestine, Stonering, Athas, Carl Peterson You can see the full list on the website. Many of these artists are no longer performing. What's more interesting is that about a quarter of these artists are still making new music to this day. Today, I will highlight some of the amazing Celtic bands that are still performing after 15 - 20 years. I started my list with three perennial favorites of mine who've been on the show for a long time and are still performing: Poitin, Ed Miller, and The Gothard Sisters. Admittedly, The Gothard Sisters were a late addition to the show, coming on in 2010. But of all the bands, they are to me a shining beacon of this podcast. Because you can see them grow and develop as musicians and songwriters over the course of this show. So I had to include them. THANK YOU PATRONS OF THE PODCAST! Because of generous patrons like you, the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast releases new episodes nearly every single week . Your support doesn't just fund the show—it fuels a movement. It helps us share the magic of Celtic music with thousands of new listeners and grow a global community of music lovers. Your contributions pay for everything behind the scenes: audio engineering, stunning graphics, weekly issues of the Celtic Music Magazine, show promotion, and—most importantly—buying the music we feature from indie Celtic artists. And if you're not yet a patron? You're missing out! Patrons get: Early access to episodes Music - only editions Free MP3 downloads Exclusive stories and artist interviews A vote in the Celtic Top 20 Join us today and help keep the music alive, vibrant, and independent. 🍀 A special thanks to our Celtic Legends: Dave D, Rick Boyce, Bruce, Daniel Ide, Brian McReynolds, Marti Meyers, Alan Schindler, Margreta Silverstone, Emma Bartholomew, Dan mcDade, Jeff, Gerald F Boyle, Miranda Nelson, Nancie Barnett, Kevin Long, Gary R Hook, Lynda MacNeil, John Sharkey White, II, Kelly Garrod, Mike Schock, Annie Lorkowski, Shawn Cali HERE IS YOUR THREE STEP PLAN TO SUPPORT THE PODCAST Go to our Patreon page. Decide how much you want to pledge every month, $4, $12, $30, $100. Keep listening to the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast to celebrate Celtic culture through music. You can become a generous Patron of the Podcast on Patreon at SongHenge.com . TRAVEL WITH CELTIC INVASION VACATIONS Every year, I take a small group of Celtic music fans on the relaxing adventure of a lifetime. We don't see everything. Instead, we stay in one area. We get to know the region through its culture, history, and legends. You can join us with an auditory and visual adventure through podcasts and videos. In 2026, we're traveling to the Celtic nation of Galicia in Spain. We'll dive deep into the history and legends of the Galician Celts, uncovering their connections to Ireland, Scotland, and beyond. We'll walk the same lands where Celtic warriors once roamed, hear the myths passed down through generations, and experience the magic of authentic Galician Celtic music, alive with passion and history. This isn't just a trip—it's a journey into the heart of a Celtic culture unlike any other. Will you join us? Learn more about the invasion at http://celticinvasion.com/ #celticmusic #irishmusic #celticmusicpodcast I WANT YOUR FEEDBACK What are you doing today while listening to the podcast? I'd love to see a picture of what you're doing while listening. Is there a new Celtic CD or Celtic band that you heard of or saw? Send a picture. Email me at follow@bestcelticmusic. Kim commented on Patreon from the Celts of Pride Month #712 episode: "Love the new compositions for bagpipes!" Joseph Linahon emailed: "Hello, I hope this email finds you well. I am with The AML Trio, a hard strumming, foot stomping celtic folk trio from the Oregon coast. We recently released our debut album, Sons of Erin's Isle, and are looking for sites to review our very first CD release. The band has become popular in the Pacific Northwest, performing at the Oregon Renaissance Faire, Bellingham Washington Scottish Gathering, the Utah Highland Games, Oregon Celtic Festival and more. The full album is available to listen to free of charge on all digital platforms, including bandcamp - https://amltrio.bandcamp.com/album/sons - of - erins - isle If you'd like a physical copy of the CD, please let me know where to send it and we'll be happy to send one over. Social media links below, and a link to our debut music video. I truly appreciate your consideration and hope you have a wonderful week. "Whiskey in the Jar" Official Music Video Woodland Folk wrote a quote: "do not tell the priest our plight for he would call it a sin but we've been up in the wood all night a conjuring summer in" Oak & ash & thorn, Kipling...." James Kavajecz emailed: "Looking for a song that you played back in the 2000s about a miner who was digging coal and was stealing the devil's heart, later became a museum tour guide and he would believe in Jesus if he was standing behind him in a union picket line. Heard it while I while I was in Japan. Now I can remember it. Thanks for the great work you have done and are doing."