Pat Ashwood's MUSIC INTERESTS
(
1960s
Pop & Rock
http://www.beatles.com/ The official Beatles
website with audio and visuals. Things change here on a regular basis. There is nothing better than the fab four.
http://www.donovan.ie/ I can’t explain why I
found and still find Donovan’s music
interesting. It must be the latent
flower-sniffing hippie deep inside. A
strange trip indeed.
Rock
& Pop 1980s - Today
http://www.xtcidearecords.co.uk/ XTC's
official site. A melodic rock/pop group that started as a punk band in 1980. A
favorite. Fun lyrics. They might be done making new recordings.
http://chalkhills.org/ XTC's fan
site. Loads and loads
of info on this great English band.
Decemberists I love this quirky and imaginative
group. They certainly put out lots of
music. Get out your encyclopedia.
Aimee Mann
Wonderful independent artist.
http://www.tmbg.com. They Might Be Giants.
Another quirky band with really odd lyrics and structure. Many people find them fun and
interesting. Others I imagine will be
annoyed. They have lately been catering
to the kiddies or toddlers for their alter ego (or money or something).
http://www.richardthompson-music.com/ Richard
Thompson is a great songwriter and guitarist. He was a founder of the
Fairport Convention. He has bubbled just below the surface of fame and fortune
for decades.
Peter
Mayer is
a wonderful singer and songwriter. I love his optimism and themes. Beautiful
but not cloying music.
There are
many big names that influenced me such as REM, U2, The Clash, Neil Young, Bob
Dylan, The Band, Peter Gabriel, World Party. I still
buy some of their stuff when it rolls out.
English/Celtic
Folk-Rock
http://www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/~zierke/steeleye.span/
Steeleye Span. Once my favorite of the English/Celtic
bands that took folk music and rocked it up. Founded in 1969 and still
at it. This is a fan's site with links to others. Their best CDs are the earlier ones
(1970s). They still put out CDs for some
reason but I don’t buy them anymore.
http://www.fairportconvention.com/ Fairport
Convention. Another electric folk band from
http://www.katerusby.com/ Kate Rusby is probably my favorite
female singer. She does wondrous things with the traditional style of British
and Celtic music. Every CD is treasure.
http://www.pogues.com/ The Pogues. A great band that took this
type of music about as close as you could get to punk. The earlier albums are
worthy for making you jump around the room (if you are into that kind of
thing). Some of them seem to be touring
again.
http://www.altan.ie/ Altan's official site. An Irish band that plays
mostly traditional Celtic folk music sometimes sung in Gaelic.
The Chieftains. The best known of
all Irish traditional bands founded in 1962.
They are getting old but continue to create solid music (some however do
not like their hybrid recordings such as the CDs with country or rock artists).
The Poozies. An all female Irish
folk band featuring accordion and Celtic harp.
Lovely stuff.
Gaelic Storm, a really fun Celtic
party band. They tour constantly. The concerts are better than the CDs.
http://www.floggingmolly.com/ Flogging Molly a loud upbeat band
similar in tone (and beat) to the Pogues.
Favorite Radio
http://www.wfuv.org/ Public radio from New York City with
alternative rock and folk during the week (Irish stuff during weekend times). Very pleasant without being
annoying. They have 24/7
alternative rock online. They started a
younger oriented version of their station in 2009.
WUMB WUMB-FM is an all folk FM station from
Boston. They have alternative streams of
alternative folk (X-Stream), Celtic, and seasonal music.
Iowa
Public Radio Local KUNI from UNI
rocks in the evening, otherwise it is news and talk. The folk music has returned on Sunday
afternoons. There is a smattering of
blues and jazz. Hopefully the Studio One
Network will add more music for Iowa Public Radio.
http://www.wnku.org/
WNKU is public radio from Cincinnati.
They also have rock and folk during the afternoon.