Fiona Ritchie's Weekly Show on NPR
From Charlotte, NC Back to Scotland & Out to the World
The show began with a small collection of LPs and has expanded with the advent of CDs and later with MP3s. The LP collection is still used as many recordings didn't make the transition to the more modern formats. Not too long ago, Ritchie did an entire show with music from LPs, complete with pops, clicks and hisses. The show even included one selection from an LP dating back to her teenage years.
The show's website, Thistleradio.com, provides plenty of information about the show and its host, playlists, National Public Radio stations that broadcast the show, and a very useful list of stations that stream their broadcasts over the Internet. This allows anyone anywhere in the world access to the show, and is handy if you miss the show when it's broadcast locally. The show is on the NPR Worldwide schedule and is broadcast over the Eutelsat Hotbird satellite to Europe, Western Russia, Northern Africa and the Middle East.
Ritchie has introduced Thistlepod to the show's website. It consists of samplers of new music, or "tasters" as she calls them, received in the studio. The music is often given full-length treatment on the show soon after. You can subscribe to podcasts using iTunes, MyYahoo, or Zune. Podcasts can also be downloaded directly to your computer.
In May of 2009 a new and long-awaited feature was introduced. Now the three latest shows can be heard again online at Thistleradio.com. A new show won't be available immediately, so you might still want to check the listings for radio stations that offer the show in streaming format while they are broadcasting it over the air. This new feature makes it easier for you to listen to the show at a time of your choosing.
A Thistle & Shamrock Christmas Ceilidh
Artists featured on A Thistle & Shamrock Christmas Ceilidh that can be found on my Celtic Music lenses are:
Altan
Andy M. Stewart and Phil Cunningham from Silly Wizard
Liz Carroll
Capercaillie
Patrick Street
Lunasa
The Tannahill Weavers
It's also available in the United States as an MP3: A Thistle & Shamrock Christmas Ceilidh
You can also order the CD from Amazon.co.uk: A Thistle and Shamrock Christmas Ceilidh
A Thistle & Shamrock Christmas Ceilidh
Amazon Price: $16.98 (as of 12/07/2009)
Tracks:
1. The Snowy Path Altan
2. At It Again Andy M. Stewart And Manus Lunny
3. Happy One-Step/Green Willis The House Band
4. Sevens/Michael Kennedy's/The Cup Of Tea Liz Carroll
5. Puirt A Beul/Snug In A Blanket Capercaillie
6. I Saw Three Ships John Renbourn
7. Garcon A Marier/Orgies Nocturnes/Dans Fisel Touchstone
8. Maneo Da Ulla/Foliada De Padrenda Milladoiro
9. Ceilidh Funk Phil Cunningham
10. Jenny Picking Cockles/An Gabhran/Jack Keane's Reel Patrick Street
11. The Cat Rambles To The Child's Saucepan/Maire O'Keefe/Harry Bradshaw Cherish the Ladies
12. Reconciliation Niamh Parsons And The Loose Connections
13. Ballavanich Wolfstone
14. Goodbye Miss Goodavich/Rosie's Reel Lunasa
15. Genevieve's Waltz Manus McGuire
16. Auld Lang Syne The Tannahill Weavers
17. The Moving Cloud Kips Bay
Performers from The Thistle & Shamrock on Amazon
Patsy Seddon of Sileas and the Poozies, and Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser, are featured on the website. Read what they have to say and be sure to look up my lenses for them.
MP3 downloads, where indicated, are available in the United States only.
If you wish to order from Amazon.co.uk, please click on the appropriate text link in each CD's description. Clicking on the graphic or title of the CD links you to Amazon's US site.
Barachois
Released in 2002. Most people are not aware there's a French Acadian community on Prince Edward Island, Canada. Barachois has been representing them musically for over a decade with their lively, fun-filled performances. Like many French Canadiens, their feet are an important instrument, but mostly, they love to have fun, as their parents and grandparents did while performing in kitchens to forget the hard-working lives they led. I've seen them at the Old Songs Festival near Albany, New York and the Lowell (MA) Folk Festival. All I can say is, if they're performing near you, go!
Order CD from Amazon.co.uk: Barachois
Amazon Price: (as of 12/07/2009)
Somebody
Originally released in 1991. I first became aware of Connie Dover in the late 1980s when she sent a demo tape to the coffeehouse, Northern Lights in Fitchburg, MA, that I was helping run. We weren't able to book her, but I've never forgotten her beautiful voice and the title track of this album.
MP3: Somebody
Order CD from Amazon.co.uk: Somebody
Amazon Price: $13.99 (as of 12/07/2009)
Eastwind
As Andy Irvine says in his interview with Fiona Ritchie, this album was a huge hit with musicians, but not the general public (their loss!). Bill Whelan, who went on to create "Riverdance" was part of the group that recorded this, along with Irvine and Davy Spillane.
Order CD from Amazon.co.uk: Eastwind
Amazon Price: $21.49 (as of 12/07/2009)
Perthshire Amber
Released in 2000. Dougie MacLean and some of his Celtic music friends join with a classically-trained string session in a musical evocation of their home area. In the process they make wonderful music and learn from each other.
Order CD from Amazon.co.uk: Roses and Tears
Amazon Price: $16.98 (as of 12/07/2009)
Performers featured on The Thistle & Shamrock on Amazon
Roses and Tears
Capercaillie, Scotland's premier traditional band
MP3: Roses And Tears
Order CD from Amazon.co.uk: Roses and Tears
Release Date: 05/06/2008
Amazon Price: $13.99 (as of 12/07/2009)
Instrumental
Kathryn Tickell, Northumbrian piper and fiddler, and her band
MP3: Instrumental
Order CD from Amazon.co.uk: Instrumental
Release Date: 11/02/2007
Amazon Price: $17.99 (as of 12/07/2009)
Fly Not Yet
Portland, Oregon's Elizabeth Nicholson & Stringed Migration
MP3: Fly Not Yet
Order CD from Amazon.co.uk: Fly Not Yet
Release Date: 02/19/2008
Amazon Price: $18.99 (as of 12/07/2009)
Rosewood Castle
Celtic guitar from Robin Bullock
MP3: Rosewood Castle
Release Date: 07/01/2007
Amazon Price: $14.99 (as of 12/07/2009)
The Thistle & Shamrock Link List
- Home Page for thistleradio.com
- This is the place to start to find out all about Fiona Ritchie's popular NPR show. This lens, sort of like Thistlepod, only gives a small taste of what the show and the website are all about. There is so much more on the site. Oh, and be sure to listen to the show!
- Fiona Ritchie interviews Barachois
- This is a transcript of Fiona's interview with the lively Prince Edward Island Acadian band.
- Connie Dover's Celtic explorations
- This article by Connie Dover, who lives in western Missouri on the edge of the Kansas prairie, reminded me a lot of Loreena McKennitt's exploration of Celtic music and its roots.
- Fiona Ritchie interviews Andy Irvine
- Andy has been part of several influential bands, including Planxty and Patrick Street. He talks about touring, recording, and how one album, East Wind, influenced the hugely successful "Riverdance."
- Fiona Ritchie interviews Dougie MacLean
- Dougie MacLean is one of Scotland's foremost songwriters (he wrote "Caledonia," a song recorded by many Scots and Irish artists). In this interview, he talks about bringing together a small Celtic group with a classical string section and making it all work in Perthshire Amber, which evokes the love of the land MacLean and the other musicians call home.
- T&S Broadcast Schedule
- When is The Thistle & Shamrock on your local NPR station? This thistleradio.com page will show you. It's arranged by state. NPR feeds the show to local stations for recording, so broadcast days and times vary widely.
- Internet Streaming Stations
- Listings for stations that stream the program over the Internet are given by time zones from Eastern (US) to Yukon. The show can be found every day except Monday somewhere, although Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays are most popular.
- Time Zone Converter
- You want to listen to the show as it's streamed, but you're in New Zealand, or Japan, or Iraq, or Europe. This converter will let you know when to tune in to a stream from the listings in the previous link.
- LIveIreland.com
- While The Thistle & Shamrock is a great show, it's only on for an hour a week. Don't miss it, but for a traditional Irish music fix at other times, LiveIreland.com is broadcasting 24 hours a day. Live DJs often appear on the show and can be seen on webcam, usually on weekdays between 7 and 11 p.m. Dublin time (GMT).
- Other Celtic music lenses by MobyD
- A lens to help you find similar lenses I've made.
- The Thistle & Shamrock at HavePun-WillTravel.com
- This lens recreated as a page on my website.
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