AppId is over the quota
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Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day, music fired by ballads, jigs and reels is having another American moment.
Last month, the all-female act Celtic Woman opened at No. 1 on Billboard’s World Music Chart (and No. 13 on the pop chart). Two weeks later, the Chieftains, one of the prime exporters of Irish song, released an all-star disk to celebrate their 50th (!) anniversary. And, just this week, Bruce Springsteen issued an album (“Wrecking Ball”) fired, in key part, by Celtic lilts, as well as ones heard in that genre’s popular American offspring: Appalachian folk.
This isn’t an isolated surge.
Every 10 years, or so, the U.S. goes gaga for an Irish brogue.
In 1961, the Clancy Brothers appeared on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” escalating the folk revival of the day while setting off a fashion trend with their trademark white wool sweaters. In 1975, the Chieftains enjoyed a huge hit with the “Barry Lyndon” soundtrack, causing a run on their entire catalogue. And, in the ’80s, Enya sold millions by merging Irish sounds with, of all things, New ge music.
Continuing the commercial, if not necessarily artistic, escalation of all things Celtic, the ’90s saw “Riverdance” explode into a worldwide franchise, while by 1997, pennywhistles became the rage of the airwaves via Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On,” the theme from “Titanic.”
In this decade, Celtic Woman (brainstormed by the same guy who created “Riverdance”), began a run of six hit albums, leading to their latest chart triumph.
To be sure, critics view some of these acts as rank bastardizations of the Celtic ethic. But supporters of Irish culture can’t help but take pride in what these successes say about the endurance of the sound, as well as the music’s ability to keep assuming new attention-getting guises.
Surely, that spirit which will rule this St. Patrick’s Week. No fewer than 10 major, green-themed concerts will take place in the city, representing just as many mutations on venerable forms, like the murder ballad and the wedding waltz.
Here’s a look:
CELTIC WOMAN
Where and When: Radio City Music Hall, Sunday, 8 p.m.
Sound and Style: Celts go Vegas, or worse, travel to Branson. These decorative women dress in evening gowns while warbling daintily through either historic pieces or newer, sentimental ones, like “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” Small wonder they’re wildly popular.
THE SAW DOCTORS
Where and When: The Stone Pony (Asbury Park, N.J.), Thursday, 7 p.m.; Irving Plaza (17 Irving Place), Friday, 7 p.m.
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