Great Scot! Music Monday – The Dirty Beggars – Come Away With Me

Today’s music recommendation combines two of my favorite things, Scotsmen and bluegrass.  Thanks to a tweet from Brian Ferguson (@brianjaffa) looking for help finding a venue for this guys in DC for July, I was introduced to the music of The Dirty Beggars. In addition to covers of some really great songs,  they have some original material as well.

The Dirty Beggars –  Come Away With Me.

Also, here is a great video of them playing on the roof of Studio Fàs on the Isle of Skye.

The Dirty Beggars – Unforgiven

 

Be on the lookout for these guys touring the USA this summer. You can follow them on Twitter (@TheDirtyBeggars) or find them on Facebook.

 

How to Speak Outlander: Lesson 7 ‘Je Suis Prest ‘

OK, so it’s not Gàidhlig , but I could hardly let the latest “How to Speak Outlander” video go unmentioned. If nothing else, we finally have Àdhamh giving us the correct pronunciation of his name, and that is Gàidhlig.  So, please, let’s all enjoy this video once more. Say it with me…

How to Speak Outlander: Lesson 7 ‘Je Suis Prest’

Great Scot! Music Monday – Fiona Mackenzie ‘Stories That Tie’/’Hallelujah’

This week’s music recommendation is courtesy of Fiona Mackenzie. You may remember that we were introduced to Fiona in a blog post a few weeks ago and that she has been helping to add to the Outlander Clan’s Gaelic expertise on Twitter as @gaelicsinger.

The song that is being featured today I feel is particularly relevant as it is about an American (Margaret Fay Shaw) who went to Scotland and ended up creating a very important collection of Gaelic folklore.

The song is hauntingly beautiful and has lyrics in both English and Gaelic. Some of the lines vividly recall for me my trip to Scotland:

Safe in shadows of peaks in the veil of dawn
Embraced in green blanket where bluebells abound

Bluebells in Perthshire

 

As you listen to ‘Stories That Tie’ here be sure to read the full lyrics as well. You can find much more about Fiona and her music on her website.

As a bonus, I also couldn’t resist including this version of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah sung by Fiona in Gaelic. Enjoy!

Great Scot! Music Monday – Eilidh Grant – The Lea Rig

After a brief hiatus, I’ve decided to make the Great Scot! music recommendation a weekly occurrence.  So today marks the first Great Scot! Music Monday. I am featuring a Scottish singer named Eilidh Grant. Although the song featured isn’t in Gàidhlig, her first name is! Ginger and Summer over at the Outlander Podcast had the wonderful opportunity to speak with her in Episode 6 of the Outlander Podcast here.

Eilidh was born in Glasgow and grew up in and around folk music. She won the Danny Kyle Award at the 2004 Celtic Connections music festival and also won a Scottish New Music award for best Folk/Traditional Recording of the year in 2011.

This particular song is a favorite. I hope you enjoy and check out Eilidh’s web site.

 

Eilidh Grant – The Lea Rig

masks_&_smiles_cover

New members of the #Outlander Clan

I just wanted to take a minute to introduce a couple of new Gàidhlig speaking members of the Outlander clan.

First, we have Katie MacKenzie. With a name like that, she should fit right in!

You can find Katie on Facebook and on Twitter (@katiemack39). You can also find her album on iTunes.

Next, we have Fiona MacKenzie. Fiona is helpfully providing Gàidhlig tidbits appropriate to Outlander fans on Twitter at Twitter handle @gaelicsinger. She also has a website with lots of cool information about herself and her music.

Here is just a sampling of some of the Gàidhlig tidbits she has shared over the last few days.