愛爾蘭,凱爾特,鄉村,流行音樂: 西爾斯嗓 / Irish, Celtic, Country, Pop Music: The Searson

On Nov 27, 2010, on our way to the Searson concert at St Brigid's Catholic Church near the ByWard Market, K and I came upon a drunkard man lying on the side walk at Cumberland and St Patrick. We called 911 and spent some time with the man before leaving him in the good hands of the Ottawa Police officer (An account of the incident was described in my Dec 2, 2010 blog article entitled "街頭露宿者: 有幸有不幸 / Homeless Street People: Tonight, the Lucky One"). We arrived at the church just as the concert was about to begin.

It was our first time listening to the Searson. I must say my knowledge of this genre of music (a fusion of Irish, Celtic, Country and Pop) is perhaps biased by the folk music I listened to while travelling in Scotland. My favourite fiddling music consists of one instrumental piece played in the movie "The Last of the Mohicans". So, it was a pleasant surprise to listen to and learn from the new, delightful interpretation of the Searson who have put the Irish traditional music into a contemporary context. They are truly talented musicians and I look forward to hearing more of their music (now that I have one of their CDs).

Here are more info abt the Searson from their official website http://www.searson.org/ :

"... Growing up in the Ottawa Valley, Ontario, Canada, Erin, Heather and Colleen Searson began performing for audiences at a young age. Each sister was filled with an appreciation of music at an early age and from this, developed a contemporary style of high energy, roots, Celtic, country and pop, a sound they are known and loved for. The three multi-talented sisters play a variety of instruments and are all expert step dancers.
- Erin plays a boogie style of piano, organ, and mandolin.
- Colleen is on fiddle and joins Erin in the lead vocals
- Heather is on bass
Rounding out the live show they are joined by Mary Gellner, a talented and passionate musician on drums and percussion. With talent that remains full of fierce energy, Searson continues to astound their audiences with unguarded sincerity in their vocals, raw fiddling and ferocious stepdancing. Searson has been taking North America and Europe by storm, performing an average of 150 shows a year.

"It is very important for the world to know and share where we come from, who we are, and most importantly to have a deeper sense of respect and education of Canadian culture through music." said the Searson.

"The spectators were carried away by the cool rhythms, the roaring percussion, the funky...electric bass sounds. Above all, Colleen Searson turned out to be a true devil's violinist. She played her Fiddle so that the bow threatened to glow." said Diathelm Textoris of Lünen, Germany.

Searson has recorded five albums in their illustrious career. A Different kind of Light (2008), Searson Live (2005), Follow (2004), House Party (2002), and finally their newest addition Ignite ( fall 2009).

References / Bios / Photo credit:
* Searson official website: http://www.searson.org/
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Related links:
* Wikipedia: Celtic music
"..... Often, the term Celtic music is applied to the music of Ireland and Scotland because both lands have produced well-known distinctive styles which actually have genuine commonality and clear mutual influences; however, it is notable that Irish and Scottish traditional musicians themselves avoid the term "Celtic music," except when forced by the necessities of the market. The definition is further complicated by the fact that Irish independence has allowed Ireland to promote 'Celtic' music as a specifically Irish product. In reality, the terms 'Scots/Scottish' and 'Irish' are purely modern geographical references to a people who share a common Celtic ancestry and consequently, a common musical heritage. .....Today there are Celtic-influenced sub genres of virtually every type of popular music including electronica, rock, metal, punk, hip hop, reggae, new age, Latin, Andean and pop. Collectively these modern interpretations of Celtic music are sometimes referred to as Celtic fusion. .... "
* Wikipedia: 凱爾特音樂
"..... 就概念本身而言，沒有任何真正的音樂主體可以被精確地描述為凱爾特音樂 (Celtic music)，但這個名稱依然被確定下來，既指口頭傳播的傳統音樂，也包含被錄製下來的流行音樂。.....通常，凱爾特音樂這個名稱用來指愛爾蘭和蘇格蘭音樂，因為這兩個地方都產生了聞名於世的與眾不同的音樂風格，而這2種風格實際上有着名副其實的共同特徵和明顯的相互影響。但值得注意的是，愛爾蘭和蘇格蘭的傳統音樂人自己卻迴避使用「凱爾特音樂」這個名稱，除非迫於市場的需要。他們的音樂形式被世人所知是因為愛爾蘭人和蘇格蘭人在英語世界的重要作用，尤其在美國，這種作用給美國音樂帶來了意義深遠的衝擊，特別是藍草和鄉村音樂。威爾斯，康沃爾，萌島，布列塔尼，加利西亞，坎塔布里亞和阿斯圖裡亞及葡萄牙北部的音樂也被認為是凱爾特音樂。布列塔尼的傳統格外強烈，在那裡，大小凱爾特節會貫穿全年。在威爾斯，古老的詩歌音樂比賽年會仍然存在。另外，海外的凱爾特人文化群體的音樂作品也充滿生氣，特別是在加拿大和美國。....."
* The Nov 27, 2010 Searson concert was performed at the : St. Brigid's Centre for the Arts in Ottawa (previously Saint Brigid's Catholic Church 1890-2006)