The Commercialism of Irish Traditional Music: The Intersection of Arts and Commerce
 

Traditional Music and Commercialism
SOLAS
 

Traditional Music and Commercialism

Bibliography:

Bunting, Edward The Ancient Music of Ireland. Boston: Crescendo Publications. Dublin: Walton's Piano and Musical Instrument Galleries. 1969.

      This includes collections of ancient Irish music as well as Bunting's dissertation on Egyptian, British and Irish harps, and notes on ancient Irish music and harpers. [Amanda Hicks]

Gould, Jo Jo.  "The Republic of Ireland: A Music Industry Overview."  _Music Business Journal_. Buckinghamshire, Apr '02.

      I really couldn't ask for a better article, this is really right up my alley.  As a professor of Music Industry Management and editor of this publication, I feel Jo Jo Gould is a wonderful and reliable reference. [Andy Giesen]

Hot Press.  (Dublin, 1977-).

      This looks like Ireland's answer to Rolling Stone or Spin, and appears to provide good information in a modern format.  Looks like its good coverage of a lot of today's artists, even some from yesterday that are still around. [Andy Giesen]
 

Irish Music.  (Dublin, 1995-).

      This will be a good source for contemporary Irish musical acts, as well as finding out how their releases are doing.  This magazine appears to concentrate on artists not only in Ireland and in the U.S., but England, Canada, and elsewhere as well. [Andy Giesen]
 

Irish Times.  (Dublin, 1859-).

      This will be great because it'll have the most current information available about Irish music and the industry.  Considering its been around for almost 150 years, Irish Times has enough history to speak to its credibility and usefulness. [Andy Giesen]

Journal of Music in Ireland.  (Bray, 2000-).

      I know this will be a useful source because its a journal and seems to dig relatively deep on subject matter.  Already I see a little teaser about Desi Wilkinson discussing Irish traditional and folk music in Ireland, music selling Ireland, and Ireland discussing music. [Andy Giesen]

Vallely, Finlan.  The Companion to Irish Traditional Music. New York: New York University Press. 1999.

      This is an excellent source for various aspects of traditional music.  I will be using it to gather information about various components of traditional music to compare and contrast with Solas' music. [Amanda Hicks]

Webliography:

Contemporary Irish Music Center

http://www.cmc.ie

Good page for information on current Irish artists as well as an archive of free music.  Also has a good links page and a decent list of composers. [Andy Giesen]

Irish World Music Centre

http://www.ul.ie/~iwmc/

Even though it's a page for a college in Ireland, it still has a good page of links to look for more information.  I don't think it'll be the most beneficial sit possible, but it definitely should help. [Andy Giesen]

Northern Irish Music Industry Commission
ttp://www.nimusic.com/default.asp

This will be a very resourceful site for me, as it relays news and information about the music industry in Northern Ireland.  This has a very heavy slant towards the industry and should really give me some good information as current facts and figures regarding the commercial state of traditional Irish music. [Andy Giesen]

The O'Neill Brothers

http://www.shamrocknroll.com

Brothers from a small town in Minnesota, Tim and Ryan O'Neill record and sell piano music almost entirely by themselves, including a cd of Irish melodies called "The Meeting of the Waters," including Tóg go bog é and many others.  They would be a good example to use in my presentation as one end of the spectrum. [Andy Giesen]

Tara Music

http://www.taramusic.com

Has a catalog of 25 years' worth of traditional Irish music, as well as sample mp3s to download.  Also has liner notes from Tara music releases, as well as biographies on their artists.  This may be useful to get some background information on some current Irish traditional musicians. [Andy Giesen]

The Irish Traditional Music Archive http://www.itma.ie/home/itmae1.htm

This appears to be a phenomenal page, as a few good links to industry information are available.  But it's one of those stunt-devil pages that give a little background information on who they are and what they do with some links to other good sources, but kind of light on its resourcefulness. [Andy Giesen]

Music Network

http://www.musicnetwork.ie

I'm getting the impression that this is an organization developed to help

further traditional and jazz Irish music.  This will be good because it's

geared toward administrators and insiders in the music industry.  There's also

a solid archive for news stories from 2001 and 2002.

Music Board of Ireland
http://www.musicboardofireland.ie/terms_of_reference.htm

Pretty weak page.  It's another that tells who they are and what they do, with

not a lot of meaty information.  I could probably use a little of the

information given as an example of how current Irish music is being supported.

Browse Ireland

http://www.browseireland.com/Music/Other/

There are all kinds of stories and articles included on this page regarding the

current Irish music scene.  A lot of worthless stories are on here, but there

are a few good ones about new bands breaking out and about the industry.

Irish Recorded Music Association

http://www.irma.ie/index2.htm

I'm thinking this would be like Ireland's version of the RIAA, the Recording Industry Association of America.  It's an association set up by the record companies, primarily to function as a watchdog.  There are some good links that are leading me to some new information still. [Andy Giesen]

Irish Music Rights Organization

http://www.imro.ie/

This organization pretty much deals with licensing and the collection and distribution of royalties.  I think this page will be good for information on the state of Irish music and the Irish music industry. [Andy Giesen]

SOLAS

Bibliography:

Clancy, Tom. Irish Music, "Winifred's Magical, Musical, Mystery, Tour." Nov. 2002.

      An article discussing the new solo album of Solas' violinist. [Amanda Hicks]
 

Nelligan, Tom.  Dirty Linen, "Bring the Light." #97, December 2001/Jan 2002.

      This article discuss the various components of the band's music, their origination, and the background of the members. [Amanda Hicks]
 

O'Rogan, John Irish Music, "Solas." August 1996.

      An article written about the band when it was relatively new.  Includes statements from various members of the band about how they began. [Amanda Hicks]

Webliography:

Solas

www.solasmusic.com

Unfortunately, this is a highly commercial site that does not offer very much substantive information regarding the band.  However, I am including it simply because it is the bands official web site.  The site includes the band's tour schedule, photos, short bios of the members, a message board that mostly includes fans saying "This is great stuff!" but not much more.  The next link was the recommendation of where to find more stuff on the band. [Amanda Hicks]
 

Seamus Egan
www.seamusegan.com

This is the web site of Seamus Egan, one of Solas' founders.  It includes sound bites from Seamus' new solo album as well as links for other musicians and Aniar Records. [Amanda Hicks]
 

Dirty Linen

www.dirtynelson.com/linen/feature/64egan.html

This site gives the text to an article written in Dirty Linen about Seamus Egan's development as a musician.  It is very helpful in illuminating how musical training in Ireland works as well as what where some of the influences in Seamus' musical development. [Amanda Hicks]
 

Artist Direct

www.artistdirect.com/music/artist/bio/0,,42826,00.html?artist=Seamus+Egan

This site offers sound bites from various CD's.  This particular page has links to information about various musicians of all sorts that Seamus has performed with or been influenced by.  [Amanda Hicks]
 

Celtic Cafe

wwwinfluencede.com/hitchner/seamus.htm

This page gives a reprint of  ann article published in The Wall Street Journal and supplies some useful direct quotes from Seamus about some of his collaborative works and how he is influenced by music outside of traditional music. Celtic cafe also has many links to articles about many popular Irish musicians. [Amanda Hicks]
 

Karan Casey

www.karancasey.com

This is former Solas vocalist Karan Casey's web site.  Her site includes a not-especially-informative biography, lyrics to her albums, and links to other Irish music sites. [Amanda Hicks]
 

Folk Lore Productions

www.folkloreproductions.com

This site provides information on many different folk and traditional musicians from around the world.  It includes a bio of Karan Casey that discusses her musical training and influences. [Amanda Hicks]
 

The world Wide web site of George E. Graham

http://georgegraham.com/reviews/kcasey.html

On this page George Graham gives a very thoughtful and thorough review of Casey's Album The Winds Begin to Sing, discussing characteristics of her music as well as specific jazz musicians that she has been influenced by. [Amanda Hicks]
 

John Doyle

www.johndolyemusic.com

This site is John Doyle's home page.  It includes a list of gigs, a bio highlighting his musical influences and history, and links to other musician’s sites as well as such sources for traditional music as Irish Music magazine. [Amanda Hicks]

Irish Fiddle

www.irishfiddle.com/winnie_horan_interview.html

The Irish Fiddle site includes sound bites of Irish fiddle players, articles about various regional styles from prominent fiddlers, and interviews with fiddlers.  This particular page has an interview with Solas' fiddler Winnie Horan in which she discusses her musical history and influences. [Amanda Hicks]

Standing Stones
www.standingsones.com/wclancy.html
Standing stones contains copious amounts of information on traditional Irish music.  This particular page contains an interview with Willy Clancy on traditional Irish music. I include it because it gives insight both to traditional music. [Amanda Hicks]
 

Chattanooga Times Free Press
www.timesfreepress.com/2002/jul/26jul02/websolas.html
This is a review of The Edge of Silence.  It contains quotes from Seamus on the band's decision to record the album. [Amanda Hicks]
 

Rosebuds
www.rosebudsus.cm/solas/EdgeOfSilince.html
This is another review of The Edge of Silence.  It contains more quotes from Seamus about some of the variations on songs performed by previous artists. [Amanda Hicks]
 

The Wayfaring Strangers
www.thewayfaringstranges.com/new/
This page contains a review of a concert at which both The Wayfaring Strangers and Solas performed.  It is refreshing because the refer to "glossy production." (Why don't critics criticize more often?) [Amanda Hicks]
 

FATEA
www.fatea.freeserve.co.uk/music/solas.htm
This page contains an interview with Deirdre and Winifred, Which is nice because Seamus is usually the mouthpiece for the band.  In this interview they discuss who writes the music, and how the band decides what is going to be recorded, as well as other interesting topics. [Amanda Hicks]
 

The Green Man Review
www.greenmanreview.com
This site has several reviews of Solas' music.  the reviews are helpful because they tend to discuss stylistic elements of the music, as well as origins of the songs. [Amanda Hicks]
 

National Public Radio
www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2002/mar/solas/
This page contains information on Solas' appearance on NPR March 15, 2002.  It includes a review that discusses the band's decision to work with rock producer Neil Dorfsman.  It also had episodes of the band's performance on the show. [Amanda Hicks]
 

Downpatrick Folk Music Club
http://downfolk.tripod.com/solas.htm
This is a review of The Words That Remain.  It is helpful because it points out stylistic elements of the specific sets as well the origin for some. [Amanda Hicks]

IMN world
www.imnworld.com/solas.html
This is another review of The Words That Remain.  It lists appearances the band has made, has quotes from Seamus regarding the bands success, and also provides insight into the stylistic elements of the songs on the album. [Amanda Hicks]
 

Berkshire Eagle
www.berkshireweb.com/rogovoy/concerts/solas.html
This page also has a helpful review but this time of a concert given in Mass. in 1997.  This review discusses the rack and jazz elements that Solas displayed in their performance. [Amanda Hicks]