Welsh Roundup: Julie Murphy and "Cowboi"

I've recounted my initiation to Celtic music in a recent past posting. To continue that thread, I've been not only really amazed by the breadth of Celtic music, but also by the ability of Celtic music to interact with other musical traditions around the world. If we look at music just within the Celtic tradition, one can look at the differences between Celtic musics of Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales, plus Celtic music traditions in Brittany, and parts of Spain and France where Celts settled and lived. The differences between these musics can often be subtle, but they are there. Listen to Fiona Ritchie's excellent show The Thistle and Shamrock and you will get a sense of the range of Celtic music through its regional varieties and also its evolution through time.

Not only can one see these differences in traditional Celtic music, but also the influence it has had on other musics we know. Take American music for instance. Because of the wave of Scottish, English and Irish immigration in waves throughout American history, Celtic music was the basis for what evolved into Appalachian folk songs and other regional music in the United States. There isn't much difference between an Irish or English murder ballad and an Appalachian murder ballad. They often tell the same story, with only slight differences. Celtic music in America became the basis for what we now call bluegrass, and contributed with blues to American country music.

However, Celtic continues to grow and merge with other musical traditions. A past post featured the Afro Celt Sound System and their melding of African rhythms with Celtic melodies. Other musicians have experimented with fusions of Celtic and flamenco, Celtic and North African raï, Celtic and reggae, Celtic and Indian music, Celtic and salsa, and numerous other traditions. Even other musicians, notably the artist Loreena McKennit, have tried to trace Celtic music through the past as the Celtic peoples made their way from the Middle East and Eastern Europe to their lonely outposts in the British Isles.

Such a rich tradition, and one that goes way beyond my initial impressions as a young man that Irish music could be summed up in Danny Boy! Today's song, Cowboi, is in the more traditional camp of Celtic music. The artist, Julie Murphy, has risen in the past 15 years to the upper echelons of British folk. Her debut solo album was named 1999's Folk Album of the Year by Mojo Magazine and earned her a spot as the opening act for Robert Plant during his concert tour that year. She has collaborated with such diverse musicians as Ayub Ogada of Kenya, the Welsh hip-hop band Tystion and ex-Velvet Underground instrumentalist and vocalist John Cale. Since 1996 she has performed with her Welsh folk band. A native of Essex, England, she was initially drawn to R&B artists such as Aretha Franklin and Stevie Wonder, and while attending art school she played with a punk band, but after moving to a Welsh-speaking village she became fascinated with traditional Welsh music. She formed a duo with Nigel Eaton in 1994, Whirling Pope Joan, and then worked with an early music ensemble called Sinfonye on an album of songs by mediaeval composer Hildegard von Bingen.

Cowboi can be found on the Putumayo compilation, Women of the World Celtic II.