New Aging Gracefully: David Arkenstone and "The Fairy Ring"

Some of the first "world" music I ever heard could also be classified New Age music. And some of the earliest world music I ever heard could also be classified as Irish or Celtic music.

When I was in high school and college, some of the first music that took me outside the realm of rock music was music that was generally described as New Age. George Winston, the New Age composer and pianist, was the biggest selling artist on a label called Wyndham Hill Records, and in high school and college that music was great study music and just hanging around and reflecting music. While George Winston wasn't necessarily a world music artist (though he introduced me to Professor Longhair long before I ever knew I would live in New Orleans and become a big fan of its unique music) others in the New Age category sometimes were. A tape of the recently passed Paul Horn, a jazz flautist that was an early pioneer of New Age music, came into my possession as a gift from a friend. The album was Inside the Taj Majal, and Horn played against the echoes of his own flute in the Taj Mahal, creating harmonies with himself. The music wasn't necessarily Indian music, but it had a world feeling to it. I think that stepping outside of my rock and roll comfort zone was greatly facilitated by New Age music, and with it, my path to becoming an enthusiast of world music was assured.

The other branch of that path was through Celtic music. I was introduced to real Celtic music by Megan, then my girlfriend and now my wife and the official host of our global music show. She grew up in an family of Irish/Welsh descent, and quickly disabused me of the notion that Irish music was warbling tenors singing Danny Boy. We were living in Milwaukee at the time, and I still remember going to the Milwaukee IrishFest. We came upon a band, Capercaille, that stopped me in my tracks. It was Celtic music on steroids, with a modern beat, keyboards, and yet the fiddle, the bodhrán and the beautiful voice of Karen Matheson. I was hooked. I took up tin whistle, played around with a group of pickup musicians, and still to this day consider Celtic music one of my favorite music loves and another path toward my musical openness.

Today's randomly picked song and artist brings me back to those times, because it also skirts the edge between world, specifically Celtic, and New Age music. David Arkenstone is a Grammy-nominated composer and producer who specializes in instrumental music. He has written for the World of Warcraft video game series, and for the NBC broadcast of the Kentucky Derby. He was influenced by the music of Kitarō, one of the pioneers of New Age music, as well as classical music and progressive rock bands such as Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Deep Purple and Yes. He was also influenced by the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien and Ian Fleming. He has learned to play an astonishing array of instruments, including the bazouki, mandolin, guitar, bass guitar, harp, cello, flute, electronic keyboards, piano, Turkish saz, pennywhistle, melodica, pan pipes, drums and percussion, and says his creation of music has been vastly aided by technology. He is involved in the band Troika...they have a similar sound to his solo work and though they remain anonymous, the compositions on their albums are credited to Arkenstone. He has released 48 solo studio albums, 5 albums with Troika, and a live album and is featured on 5 compilations. He has also composed 4 soundtracks.

This song, The Fairy Ring, is the second song on his 2003 release Spirit of Ireland.