Category Archives: Liverpool

LONDON CELTIC PUNKS CHRISTMAS 2022 SPECIAL

Christmas, Czech Republic, England, Liverpool, Scotland, USA December 20, 2022 Leave a comment

With Christmas just around the corner it’s time for an annual catch up of all this years Yuletide songs and videos. As varied as ever with everything covered with bands from around the world!

KRAKIN’ KELLYS – Holiday Season

One of my favourite bands and they love a Christmas song and deliver another great one for 2022. As catchy as hell and what about that accordion?  Celtic Skate Punk, beer and bar fight ! 

DRUNKEN DOLLY – It’s Christmas (Ho Ho Ho)

Not heard much out the Dolly camp in recent years bur this short (very short!) Christmas Celtic-Punker reminds me exactly why I love them so much. 

LOUIS RIVE – A Winters Tale

Scots singer-songwriter Louis Rive plays Folk music; not the kind about orcs, glens, wizards etc, more about people and places. Like Tom Waits and Judy Collins if either of them wrote about Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire. Closer tae home he wants to follow on from top lyricists like Michael Marra, Liz Lochead, and Hamish Imlach. 

MIGHTY PLOUGHBOYS – I Won’t Be Home For Christmas

Irish-American Celtic-Punk from Connecticut and bloomin’ good it is too. A bit sad but it’s not all tinsel is it. You can get a free download of the song by subscribing to their mailing list like I did.

THE CUNDEEZ – Xmas In The Schemes

Dundee’s The Cundeez got around to making a video for a song that originally featured on their 2012 album Murder On The Oary Express… and what a bloody great video it is! 

TIM HOLEHOUSE – Christmas Times Blues

The ever prolific Tim Holehouse. Music for music’s sake with it’s roots in Delta Blues with his own personal twist on it. A friend of his from Winnipeg once told him – Creativity, Adventure and People.

FIVE LEAF CLOVER – Taste Of Beaujolais

Christmas, eggnog, jingle bells, snowflakes and… Beaujolais! Czech republicans Five Leaf Clover know that not everyone enjoys Christmas. For some, it’s just another sad evening and this song is for them.

JOHNNY HASH – Happy Xmas (War Is Over)

Belfast collective been a bit quiet this year but found time for a slow and Ska-ish cover of the John Lennon song that is usually quite apt at this time of year and sadly, most years.

PADDY’S PUNK – Irish Friends

German band Paddy’s Punk new release isn’t a Christmas song but as it came out only a few days ago it finds itself here. The piano gives it a festive air and it’s a lovely song too. 

HALF MAN HALF BISCUIT – IT’s Cliched To Be Cynical At Christmas

We end this selection of this years songs with a song that is neither from this year or Celtic-Punk but sums up perfectly what we think of Christmas.

Christmas is a busy time for the Samaritans. Decorations go up across the country, but there will still be people feeling down. And the worst part? Many of those struggling to cope will do so with a smile on their face. Because that’s what we do at Christmas, right? We eat, drink and be merry?

Christmas can be tough for people. But the Samaritans will be there, ready to answer every call for help they can – putting in a shift even during the darkest hours of the night.

Whatever you’re going through, call us free any time, from any phone, on 116 123.

*

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INTERVIEW: IAN PROWSE – ‘One Hand on the Starry Plough’

Album Review, England, Folk, Indie, Interview, Liverpool, Traditional February 7, 2022 Leave a comment

In part 2 of our Ian Prowse special, we’ve interviewed the man himself. Ian’s fourth solo record One Hand on the Starry Plough comes out on February 11th, which is mere days away! If you’re familiar with Ian’s back catalogue, or ya wanna know more about him and his contributions to Celtic music, then check the interview further down ☘️

One Hand on the Starry Plough. The fourth solo effort from Ian Prowse, out February 11th.

If ya missed our very recent review of Ian’s upcoming album One Hand on the Starry Plough, be sure to check that out HERE. Other than that, let’s get into the interview, and see what Ian himself has to say about the new record! Here it is…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBcoTqU88z8
London Celtic Punks sit down with Ian Prowse on the eve of his fourth studio album.

We would like to congratulate Ian on a job well done, especially during the terrible lockdowns that have affected so many musicians’ lives. One Hand on the Starry Plough is available now on Kitchen Disco Records, you can get it HERE. You can also get a taster of what the album has to offer, by checking out the official YouTube video to track #1 “Battle” below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiM8NZDMj_8
“Battle”, track #1 from One Hand on the Starry Plough by Ian Prowse.

Sláinte mhaith! 🥃 And enjoy the music ☘️

EP REVIEW: PENNILESS TENANTS – ‘Lockdown Session’ (2020)

England, EP Review, Folk, Liverpool, Traditional December 3, 2020 1 Comment

Traditional Irish scally Punk!

Penniless Tenants are a five-piece from Liverpool, playing traditional and Irish Folk music and probably the best Irish Music in Liverpool. No Folking About.

The Irish community in England is supposedly shrinking I hear but only just a couple of weeks after we reviewed the debut release of Luton Irish band Missing The Ferry we have the pleasure of doing the same for another new band to us Penniless Tenants. The band hail from another hotbed of Irishness in Liverpool. Their is plenty written on the history of the Irish in Liverpool and unsurprisingly immigration from Ireland to Liverpool has been ongoing since the year dot and the city could possibly even lay claim to being the most Irish city in England.

With no shortage of Irish bars in the city a band playing Irish music would be pretty damn busy except for this poxy clampdown but Penniless Tenants have responded perfectly with a EP of five self written songs (with a few varied influences!) unsurprisingly titled Lockdown Sessions. They did actually already release a few songs over on Soundcloud way back in 2013 called the Penniless Tenant Sessions of a few covers of Irish Folk standards made famous by The Pogues, Dropkick Murphys, Christy Moore and The Dubliners among others. Their they keep it respectful and played the songs close to their origins so nice to her them let loose a bit on the recent release. Like all the best bands they are too proud to play anywhere and they have from Liverpool Anglican Cathedral to the Baltic Market and St George’s Hall to the corner of Pilgrim Street!

Lockdown Sessions begins with ‘The Hare And The Fainleog’ and a slow fiddle led mournful Irish tune which soon becomes a bit of a foot stamper and in Benjamin Hughes they certainly have a highly talented fiddler player. Superbly played leading us into ‘Green And Red Paper Planes’ which, while keeping in line with the Irish theme of the EP, expands beyond the opening few lines taken from another well known second-generation Irish band and takes us on a surprising, though bloomin’ brilliant, direction taking in modern Pop with a song that I must have heard a 100 times but I’ve no idea who sings it. It’ll probably come to me 10 minutes after this review is published. These Bhoys got a knack for an unusual cover in a way that reminds me of their London counterparts The Bible Code Sundays. ‘Jiggin’ Up To Boston’ is another fiddle led trad Irish tune until the half way point and BANG in comes the banjo and mandolin and we get the full Dropkicks style Folk version. This is followed by the Eric Bogle penned ‘My Youngest Son Came Home Today’. Eric is perhaps most famous for writing the well known anti-war ballads ‘The Green Fields Of France’ and ‘And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda’ two absolutely stunning songs covered by The Pogues and the Dropkicks, among others, in their time. Here the theme is visited again except in a more modern setting in a tale of a young man killed during the war in the north of Ireland.

“My youngest son came home today
His friends marched with him all the way
The pipe and drum beat out the time
While in his box of polished pine
Like dead meat on a butcher’s tray
My youngest son came home today
And this time he’s home to stay”

Penniless Tenants play it slow and respectful and Billy Hughes voice portrays exactly the right amount of emotion this great song needs. The EP comes to an end with the Country/ Bluegrass influenced ‘Trouble In Yer Mind’. Fast and furious Banjo plucking and fiddling and more foot stampin’ to see the EP out the door.

Penniless Tenants: Benjamin Boo – Fiddle * Billy Skank – Laud and Vocals * Dr Rosa – Flute and Whistle * Jay G – Tenor Banjo * JDillon – Bass * Paulie O’Riley O’Hanrahan – Banjolele * Tom Jones (not that one) – Bodhran * REGFX – art *  (actual lineup may vary)

Lockdown Sessions was released on November 10th and was recorded live at the Liverpool Irish Centre (suitably social distanced of course!) a and mastered by Jeff Jepson. It’s available on Bandcamp and can be got as a ‘Name Your Price’ download meaning you can pay anything from a fiver to the cost of a couple of cans to sod all if you would like but with the way things are it would be nice to throw a few coppers their way. The music here is totally acoustic but just going from what I heard here I reckon they can tear it up when required too so lets not forget The Pogues were once called “the loudest acoustic band on the planet”. They have a new EP, A Penniless Christmas, out very soon in time for Christmas and they promise “festival mashups and winter warmers”.

(Stream or download Lockdown Sessions on the Bandcamp player below)

Download Lockdown Sessions  FromTheBand

Contact Penniless Tenants  WebSite  Facebook  Instagram  YouTube

FACEBOOK CELTIC-PUNK GROUPS

Australia, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, Italy, Liverpool, London, Scandinavia, Spain, Switzerland November 23, 2013 Leave a comment
like it or not but everything revolves around bloody Facebook these days so heres a shout out to the various FB celtic punk groups. we’ll add more as we become aware of them. have a look, join up and join the happy family…
Aussie Celtic Punk’s
Australian Folk Punk Scene
Mersey Celt Punks
Indonesian Celtic Punks-
Celtic Punk/Irish Folk Hungary-
Irish Punk Brazil-
Irish/Folk/Celtic Punk Italia-
Celtic Punk Scandinavia
Celtic-Punk Denmark
Zaragoza Celtic Punks
Celtic Rock France
Irish Folk, Celtic Rock, Celtic Punk- Deutschland
Bretagne Celtic Punk
Celtic Punk Polska
Celtic Punk Rock Colombia
Celticpunkrockers Paris
Irish, Scottish, Celtic – Folk, Punk, Rock – Switzerland
Celtic Folk Rock Music Czech Republic
and lastly a big shout for ourselves
London Celtic Punks-
 
there’s also a few fanzine and radio station pages so will add them as I come across them too.
MacSlon’s Irish Pub Radio
Paddyrock Radio
Celtic Folk Punk
Shite’n’Onions
copy and paste this around the place and lets get networking!
its absolutely dead easy to set up a group but if you do want a bit of advice ask any of the moderators of any of the above groups and I’m sure they’ll help you out. then let us know so we can add you to our list. if you want to be added then just leave a comment below.
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