Celtic Highways & Byways

06/08/2024

Local talent, Highland County Virginia!

Hauntingly beautiful original folk song by Fey Fili

05/31/2024

Celtic is in the House! Pocahontas County Opera Housetonight!
Ceara Conway tonight, May 31, 7:30PM

05/25/2024

Can’t wait to play at the gorgeous 🎶🇮🇪🇫🇷 in July! Love the stunning poster by the incredible ❤️ ☀️

04/29/2024

04/20/2024

This would just be another set of 18th century bagpipes were it not for the fact they were actually played at the Battle of Culloden 278 years ago today on the 16th April 1746.

They are inscribed in both Gaelic and English with “These pipes belonged to John McGregor, piper to the Duke of Atholl, played in the Battles of Prince Charles Stuart’s army 1745-46.”

They are proudly displayed in the Jacobite Room within Blair Castle.

04/10/2024

Happy National Unicorn Day 🦄
Aye, it really is!

03/31/2024

Happy Easter

03/28/2024

Join us for our Irish Sessions TONIGHT at Clocktower Restaurant & Bar!!

These sessions are for INTERMEDIATE through ADVANCED PLAYERS. All are welcome to enjoy the music and grab a pint!! This is a free offering and donations to QCMS are encouraged.

For questions, email [email protected]

03/24/2024

Happy feet!

03/23/2024

Happy ! As dawn breaks through a misty morning in Stirling, the enduring spirit of Sir William Wallace stands sentinel atop The National Wallace Monument. This legendary figure of Scottish independence is immortalised in stone, sword raised high, overlooking the very lands he fought to free.

Wallace's tale is one for the ages: a common man turned knight who rallied his countrymen against English oppression at the end of the 13th century. His most renowned victory at the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297 became a symbol of national pride and resistance. Although he was ultimately captured and executed, his legacy is far from forgotten. In fact, it's etched into the very fabric of Scotland's history and identity.

This striking image captures more than just the chill of a foggy morning; it's a reminder of the resilience and enduring fight for freedom. Wallace's silhouette against the awakening sky is a powerful representation of Scotland's past and its continuous inspiration for the future. Let's take a moment to remember and honour the man behind the monument, the hero of Scotland—Sir William Wallace. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿



Stirling: Alive with Scotland VisitScotland Go Forth Stirling Stirling Council

03/15/2024

03/10/2024

Bagpipes are heart felt

The essential Scottish sound 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Happy folks!

03/06/2024

Poisoned Dwarf !

Tickets available now!
🇮🇪🇮🇲🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇺🇸

03/03/2024

On this day in 1847: Alexander Graham Bell, the Scottish inventor who patented the first telephone, was born in Edinburgh. He was good for a quote too 👌

02/29/2024

Feb 29 - Scottish Country Dance of the Day, "The Extra Day" for February 29th, Leap Day!

"Leap year was ne’er a good sheep year."

~ Traditional

Mind the date, today! It's Leap Day! The old Scottish saying suggests that a leap year is not an auspicious time for farmers and their livestock. Hmmm ... Let us take heart that it still will be a good year for dancing. And if you are the rare "leaper" or "leapling", someone born on leap day, congratulations, you are definitely the youngest of your peers! Leap year celebrations in the UK and Scotland often reverse customary traditions! One of the most notable customs is that of women proposing marriage to men on the leap day. This role reversal for the time was considered legally binding in Scotland after Queen Margaret allegedly passed a law in 1288 allowing women to propose on February 29th, and if the man declined, he was expected to pay a fine ranging from a kiss to a silk dress! This 40 bar jig was written to provide an extra day for dancers to dance to The Wee Cooper of Fife tune with easier phrasing than the namesake dance! Happy Leap Year Birthdays! 🐸 🎂

For more related facts and folklore along with dancing details, visit the website at: https://www.scottishcountrydanceoftheday.com/daysoftheyear/the-extra-day

02/29/2024

ANNOUNCING OUR 2024 ST. PATRICK’S MONTH SCHEDULE!!!! ☘️🎶☘️🎶☘️🎶

Mark your calendars…the festivities kick off this weekend with the Celtic Calling Festival in Charleston, WV! 🍻🇮🇪🎶☘️

Also, we have a few other gigs (such as a wine tasting at Gladheart Wine & Brews and the monthly Celtic contemplative service at Colonial Presbyterian Roanoke) that didn’t quite fit on the poster…so be sure check out our Events tab for the full list!

02/28/2024

Not that we share this sentiment!
💕 me some bagpipes!

02/26/2024

02/23/2024

Released February 2024.

Portage is a new “super-group” of five fiddler/multi-instrumentalist/singers from across Canada bringing you old and new traditions in a collective musical adventure.

Portage. Now there’s a word that evokes the past. It conjures up canoes being paddled into the venerable history of Canada – fur traders, voyageurs, Indigenous peoples, French explorers, lakes, campfires and landscapes from sea to shining sea.

“Portage” is actually the word for overland travel between bodies of water. Imagine a single voyageur carrying the canoe upside-down on his shoulders as he treks up and down narrow rocky trails that connect one lake with another. And imagine too, paddlers turned to porters, hefting heavy boxes and barrels on those same trails, trying not to turn an ankle on the rocks underfoot.

But you can also imagine the campsite after the work is finished. At the end of the day, the sun lowers itself below the horizon, tents are pitched and a campfire is lit. One of the voyageurs brings out a fiddle (such a small, portable instrument!) and begins to play. These are the tunes that exist both in memory and imagination.

And here, on this self-titled CD by Portage, are the tunes. Five of North America’s best female musicians have joined forces to become Portage. Anne Lederman, Erynn Marshall, Laura Risk, and Christina Smith all play fiddle here, with Jean Hewson ably providing guitar accompaniment. All the musicians are Canadian, except for Laura Risk. Laura hails from California but has spent so much time in Québec learning from the great fiddlers of the Gaspé peninsula, that she is surely an honorary Canadian by now.

Cape Breton fiddler Wendy MacIsaac makes a guest appearance here, as does the sole male fiddler, Bryan Poirier, from Moncton. The fantastic sound is rounded out by Christina’s beautiful work on the cello.

The tunes are the sounds of the cultures that made Canada: French, Scottish, Irish, Métis… There are tunes from Cape Breton Island, Gaspé, Manitoba, Newfoundland, The Ozark Mountains, and Acadia (New Brunswick). Many tunes have really long roots in the communities where they were collected and passed down, however, some of the tracks on this recording are brand new, hot off the press originals composed by these fiddling ladies.

It’s all very listenable and fun. Most of the melodies were made for dancing, so you can’t help but get off your butt and move. Play this at home and imagine you’re in a dance hall anywhere along the spine of the great ancient Appalachian mountain range. (It extends from the southern USA up through New England, Quebec, Newfoundland and all the way to Scotland!) You’ll find that you’re grabbing a partner to dance the squares, contras and Scottish country dances.

We have tunes from Douglastown, on the Gaspé Peninsula of Québec; tunes from the heart of Acadia in Rosaireville, New Brunswick; tunes from Ebb and Flow, Manitoba, the heartland of the Métis tradition, and tunes from the Irish tradition of Newfoundland. We also hear the ancient Scottish roots of Missouri, North Carolina, Massachusetts, and Cape Breton. It’s a fiddling world, when you come right down to it. And here, voyages and portages connect us musically from one community to another among and between Canada’s founding cultures.
(By Elizabeth Szekeres - Roots Music Canada)

https://portagefiddle.com/

You can find their Album on Bandcamp.
https://portage3.bandcamp.com/

02/22/2024

02/10/2024

While we were on the air, we loved playing music from Cape Breton (where Gaelic is still a taught and learned language)

If you have a hankering to hear authentic music that is all Cape Breton, all the time, hike over to the Interwebs and check out CBFM!

CBFM is an online radio station playing Cape Breton music 24/7

02/07/2024

On This Day in 1712: the world's oldest post office opened in Sanquhar, Dumfries and Galloway. It's been in continuous service for over 300 years. It started out as a staging post for horse-drawn mail carriages.

01/28/2024

Richmond, VA …. Flogging Molly

Tickets On Sale Now

01/23/2024

Always a good day at the Frontier Culture Museum. This should be an interesting one!

https://frontiermuseum.org/museum-tickets-and-annual-passes/