Announcing Bow Triplets U.S. CD Distribution

Swiss Celtic music group, Heidi, Stef & Bow Triplets made a name for themselves as one of the hottest Celtic bands on the late, great MP3.com. Unfortunately, when MP3.com died, distribution in the U.S. became much more difficult.

Last December, I visited Heidi and Stef in Switzerland. I can't begin to tell you what incredible hospitality I received. Those two really were amazing at sharing their home and their country with me. Plus, we even had a wee Irish session in a small pub.

My time with Heidi and Stef inspired me with a great idea--to help give amazing European bands distribution in the USA.

So we worked out a special deal and now I'm proud to say that you can now buy Heidi, Stef and Bow Triplets latest CD, One Spot On Earth, through CDBaby.

This is a test run. I have a license to sell 100 CDs. If it goes well, I may continue distributing their CDs. So if you enjoy Bow Triplets' music as much as I do, order a copy of One Spot On Earth now!

Classical Music Downloads for Free

I've been back at looking at classical music downloads. It's not easy finding beautiful classical music. Well, that's not entirely true. It is. You just need to know where to look.

The first place I want to suggest is a place I setup through my Directory of Free Music Downloads. This page lists all of my band's Free Classical Music Downloads. You can download one free CD of classical music through this webpage. And that's just the start. We also have several CDs of original instrumental music that are very popular with people who hear our music. One song, "Tolkien (The Hobbit & Lord of the Rings)" has been downloaded over a million times!

I'd also like to point you to Brent Hugh's Classical music downloads. Brent plays the piano and has beautiful assortment of classical pieces performed on the piano.

While I'm on the subject of free piano music downloads, I should point out David Nevue. David plays is a classical and new age piano composer and just brilliant at it. He has a number of free MP3s that are well-worth downloading and enjoying. Hmm... I should feature him in my Free Music Downloads Blog.

I should also point out A-M Classical. I don't know this artist, but I remember them back when I was on MP3.com. A-M Classical had a lot of great free music and I believe there was some classical sheet music there too, but I don't really remember all that well.

I'd be negligent if I didn't mention MP3DownloadHQ. The website is a repository of free music downloads information. EVERYTHING you want to know about free music downloads, you can find it there. They only offer a few free music downloads, but it's the information that is worth hundreds of dollars and hours of time that is the reason I am a member.

That's the bulk of my free classical music download information. So I'll leave you with one last site. Amazon.com has their own mix of classical MP3s in a special section of the website.

Hope this helps your search. Remember as you download free music, don't just download. Many of musicians, myself included, make a living from your CD sales. So if you really love something, buy it and support the artists behind the music.

Enjoy!

P.S. For the Ultimate Guide to free Classical Music Downloads, order a copy of Check out Mozart's Digital Concerto

THE DUBLINERS Music CD Review

Artist: The Dubliners
Album: "The Best of The Dubliners"
Year produced: 2003

After 40 years of playing fantastic traditional Irish music, The Dubliners released "The Best of The Dubliners" in 2003. This 3-CD set showcases the band's best hits and most memorable songs over the years.

The first CD in the set primarily contains drinking songs. If you want to invoke the pub ambiance, play some "Whiskey in the Jar," which is probably one of my favorite drinking songs ever. Other great selections from this disc include "Black Velvet Band," and "The Night Visiting Song." The Dubliners have a way of playing these classics like they were intended to be, full of excellent musicianship and rough around the edges vocals. Their voices and instrumentation make it sound as though these traditional songs are there's and there's alone.

The second CD in this great collection includes classics like "Molly Malone," "Wild Rover," and "Finnegan's Wake." These are the kind of songs that you just can't help but sing along with. I particularly enjoyed, "Lord of the Dance," a nice ditty that has been adapted into theme song of the dance show by the same name. One of my all time favorites is included on this disc as well called, "Dublin in the Rare Oul' Times."

Finally, the third disc is a nice compilation of The Dubliners' best rebel songs including "Salamanca Reel," a lively banjo-infused tune, and the melancholy and touching, "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda." Although not as fun as the other two Cds in the set, this disc completes the picture of Irish culture, providing songs reflecting both the good and the bad times.

If you really want a collection that covers all of your bases with pub classics and sad love songs, pick up a copy of "The Best of The Dubliners." Fans of Irish music that like to get to the roots will definitely appreciate it.


   Buy the Album: "The Best of The Dubliners"

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Celtic MP3s Music Magazine writer, Brenda Stokes is a freelance writer, former Irish Step-dancer and college student located in Southern California. She dreams in jigs and reels and is pursuing a degree in English with an emphasis in Irish studies. Her work has appeared in Woman This Month and N2arts and she can be reached at brenda@ph-x.com


Like cats AND The Dubliners?
Check out The Dubliners' Tabby Cats, Celts and Cats.

New CD of CELTIC CAT SONGS

by Michelle Osborne

Artist: The Dubliners' Tabby Cats
Album: "When Kitty Eyes are Smiling (and other Celtic Cat Songs)"
Year produced: 2005

I recently received a preview copy of Marc Gunn's "When Kitty Eyes are Smiling (and other Celtic Cat Songs)," a single that contains three songs (Furragone's Wake, When Kitty Eyes are Smiling, and Wild Kitty) that are a preview of his upcoming release of "Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers." This is an absolutely brilliant single and a great advertisement for the CD. The three songs are standard Irish drinking songs (who doesn't know Finnegan's Wake, When Irish Eyes are Smiling, and Wild Rover?) rewritten to be about cats...complete with meows, hissing, and a set of brilliantly funny lyrics.

Of course, it also contains Marc's fantastic voice, touched with a bit of laughter that's readily heard, as well as some wonderful guest meow-ers...erm...performers. Simply put, these songs are FUN and no one is more aware of that than Marc himself. If you don't find yourself giggling like mad through Wild Kitty, I'd be completely shocked. It's guaranteed to put you in a good mood and cause you to laugh out loud.

For a limited time, "When Kitty Eyes are Smiling" is available for $3.95. The final CD is up for adoption in October 2005!

You can find more information on this single and the upcoming release of Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers on the web at: cat drinking songs .com

   Buy the single and pre-order your copy of Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers today!: "When Kitty Eyes are Smiling (and Other Celtic Cat Songs)"

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Celtic MP3s Music Magazine writer, Michelle Osborne, is a native to the central New York region. She plays both high and low whistles regularly with the Syracuse Irish session. Besides being heavily involved in Irish traditional music, she is also a classical clarinetist and composer.

PATRICK CASSIDY Music CD Review

Celtic operas are not commonplace, and the closest one can come would be this off-beat foray into classical music. Patrick Cassidy tapped into one of Ireland's most unusual legends for this Irish-language oratorio. It is a story of love, jealousy, witchcraft, suffering and redemption through the grace of no less a figure than Saint Patrick himself. One would imagine there would be plenty of dramatic musical moments in such an offering.

But "The Children of Lir" is rather somnolent in its presentation and it rarely connects with its cultural roots. Cassidy seems to have distanced himself as much as possible from the Irish musical heritage here, as "The Children of Lir" sounds closer to Continental classical music than anything even vaguely Irish. If one came to the piece without knowing its origins or recognizing its language, it would be easy to confuse it with a minor work of German or Italian classical music rather than a modern Irish composition. The occasional wail of pipes in several of the arias gives a clue of the composition's ethnic origins, but they sound strangely out of place.

Less forgivable is the inability of "The Children of Lir"to come to life as a musical reflection of its amazing story. It's not every day that one encounters a tale of a widower king who marries his sister-in-law, only to see her turn his four children into swans and doom them to live 900 years on hostile waters. Yet Cassidy's composition is so leisurely and emotion-free that the non-Irish speaker will have no clue what is going on, and those who know the story will wonder why it feels so bland. There is no passion anywhere in the piece -- it often feels as if the oratorio is being sung phonetically.

"The Children of Lir" is a curio that never truly piques one's curiosity. Perhaps Cassidy or another composer can attempt to bring the Celtic experience into classical musical -- Lord knows Ireland is not lacking in stories worthy of grand opera!


   Buy the Album: "The Children of Lir"

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Celtic MP3s Music Magazine writer, Phil Hall is contributing editor for Film Threat, book editor for the New York Resident, author of "The Encyclopedia of Underground Movies" (MWP Books) and a proud child of Wales.

Free Music Postcards that Rock!

Friend, Fan, and Supporter,

I just wanted to drop you a line and thank you for everything you've done for me in the past...

I've always appreciated your support, your feedback, and your help in getting my music out to the masses.

What you've done for me in the past is really important to me, just like supporting independent music is to you.

Today, I have something urgent that I want to share with you, and if you want to see independent musicians reach more people on the internet (and personally get a TON of music to download in the process) this should interest you...

A while back, I started using MP3Postcards.com to promote my music on the internet. I send the MP3 Postcards out to my fans and they in turn email the postcards to their friends, and their friends email the postcards to THEIR friends, etc (you get the picture).

Its like word of mouth advertising, except it's on the internet. I like it because it lets me give my music downloads away to people like you, and it helps me reach NEW people who might like my music too.

The cool thing is that there are a bunch of other musicians doing the same thing... and now there's a way for you to support independent music.

But the best part is that YOU get to download new music from artists all over the world - for sharing the music with your friends!

So I'm launching a new project and I want to get YOU on board with me...

If you have a website or a blog, go to go to this web page and get involved:

--> http://postcardsthatrock.com/yes

It's really simple.

I'm doing it already.

Create a "Postcards That ROCK! Rotator" with the easy to use wizard, and paste the code into your webpages or your blog.

We're going to be putting them on our website, and many of our fans and partners are getting involved too. In fact, we're telling EVERYONE we know and asking them to join us.

You can do the same by forwarding on this message to anyone else that you know who has a website or a blog.

With power in numbers, we can keep producing music for you, and giving more of it away as we reach all corners of the globe on the internet.

I want YOU to be part of my team.

If you already have a website or blog, setting up your Postcards That ROCK! Rotator takes you about 2 minutes.

Go to this web page and set yours up right away:

--> http://postcardsthatrock.com/yes

And do me a favor...

After you set it up, send me an email with a link to your webpage so I can go and take a look.

I'd really like that.

I'm always interested to see what my fans are doing on the web.

Thanks for getting involved.

You'll hear from me again soon. I have a lot of new things in the works and I'll give you a complete update as soon as I can.

Talk to you soon...

Celtic MP3s & Free Music Downloads

Announcing Celtic Cat Songs CD Single

When Kitty Eyes Are Smiling (and other Celtic Cat Songs) is finished! Last night, I uploaded it for printing. I should have CDs in my hand in about a week. The first run of CDs is a no-frills version with black text printed on the CD itself and in a simple jewel case. You can go get buy the CD, listen, and download mp3s on the website now. For just a wee bit more, you can order 10 copies to give to your cat lover friends.

Also, when you order, you will be directed on how to save $5 off any order of $20 or at Cafepress.com. The deal only lasts until April 10th. So please order your copy asap.

*HUGS* Thank you!

Oh! And don't forget to listen to the MP3s now.

Re-Emergence of Celtic Stone

It's a constant frustration to me. There are so many great Celtic bands, once famous in their own right, now vanished from existence. It's not by some magical spell though. It's because they were an independent band. Such is the case with Celtic Stone.

I'm listening to some Celtic Stone music right now. The band was one of the premiere Celtic music groups at Renaissance Festivals in the 80s. They were one of the first to sell tapes there. Robert Hilliard tells me the band sold over 100,000 cassettes during their time together. For an unsigned band, that's astounding!

But what sucks is that the band has disappeared off the face of the earth it seems. They don't offer CDs and have never re-released their music to the tens of thousands of fans they've influenced. That is a shame.

The more I think about it, the more I'm considering starting an independent record label to release Celtic music by bands that are no longer together, like Celtic Stone.

Meantime, I need to hunt down other David Clauss, the primary member of Celtic Stone and see if I can get him to re-release their music to the world.

If you happen to know of any other Celtic bands who've disappeared and who you'd like to see available again, please let me know.

Their CD Digital Traditions is once again available for sale.