The Medusa Fora

Back to Oysterband: no, they're not Irish, though Chopper I think claims to have some kind of Irish ancestral connections (which maybe means they can be claimed for Ireland - it's worked like that for the football team ). But for anyone on the forum who's interested, they're on an extensive tour of Germany and Sweden in Feb and March. Worth checking out if you're nearby.
And I'll get back later with my Irish artists list, when I get round to it.

firehazard wrote:

Zuzana wrote:... Oysterband, ...

Great band, brilliant live act... but they're not Irish. (Though come to think of it maybe one of them has distant Irish ancestry...)
See http://www.oysterband.co.uk/ for background, biography etc.

hmmm like most of the pogues!?

my bands are

The Frames
Thin Lizzy
Mundy(supported poguesin the point)
Cruachan
Therapy?

Anonymous wrote:

firehazard wrote:

Zuzana wrote:... Oysterband, ...

Great band, brilliant live act... but they're not Irish. (Though come to think of it maybe one of them has distant Irish ancestry...)
See http://www.oysterband.co.uk/ for background, biography etc.

hmmm like most of the pogues!?

Difference is, Oysterband don't actually play (or claim to play) Irish music. They're more influenced by a general feel for British traditional music...

They sometimes play Irish traditional songs (eg. Rambling Irishman), and some of their compositions (eg. The Shouting End Of Life) almost resemble Pogues "paddy-beat". To me they seem much more Irish-influenced than other British bands drawing on traditional British music - like Steeleye Span or Fairport Convention. But taking into consideration where they come from, one can hardly call them an Irish band, that's true.

Zuzana wrote:They sometimes play Irish traditional songs (eg. Rambling Irishman)...

Oops, yes, of course they do. Silly me.

Zuzana wrote:To me they seem much more Irish-influenced than other British bands drawing on traditional British music - like Steeleye Span or Fairport Convention

Apart from the occasional Irish traditional song, I guess that feel to some of their stuff may be because some of the members do have Celtic (tho not Irish) backgrounds, coming from Scotland and Wales. They have an awareness of the range of traditional music that comes from these islands.

I guess so too. It is not important where they are from, anyway. They play great music - as well as some of the "purely British" bands. I would have surely named Steeleye Span as one of my favourites, were it not for the word "Irish" in the title of this thread.

Terry Woods and Gay Woods - both Irish born - were founder members of Steeleye Span.

By the same token, James Fearnley, Jem Finer, Darryl Hunt and Spider Stacy have no Irish blood they know of.

"Let's celebrate mixing it up a bit", as Don Letts used to say.

Yeah. There are all sorts of links between the traditional music of different peoples and cultures. Doesn't matter where good music comes from. Just play/listen/enjoy.