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The Thistle & Shamrock Award-winning radio host Fiona Ritchie explores evolving music from Celtic roots in Europe and North America.
Special Series

The Thistle & Shamrock

Host Fiona Ritchie explores Celtic roots music on her weekly radio program
Thistle And Shamrock: Flute And Whistle

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Thistle And Shamrock: Flute And Whistle

The flute may be the closest any instrument comes to reproducing the expression of the human voice. It is the music of breathing. Chris Norman, Cathal McConnell, Lunasa, Claire Mann and others play Celtic flute and whistle for us this week.

Thistle And Shamrock: Flute And Whistle

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Thistle And Shamrock: Listening Westward

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Thistle And Shamrock: Listening Westward

Music from western places in Ireland and Scotland is the music of lonely, rugged mountainsides and sea-ravaged coastlines. It is wild fiddle music and singing in the ancient languages of the Gael. At its heart is tradition, at its soul innovation. The Ni Dhomhnaill sisters, Altan, Capercaillie, Martin Hayes, and The Peatbog Fairies take us westward.

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Thistle And Shamrock: At The Edge

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Thistle And Shamrock: At The Edge

Hear the evolving sound of a new Celtic music inspired by jazz and classical arrangements and driven by contemporary and world rhythms. Solas, Kila and Shooglenifty are all in the mix.

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Thistle And Shamrock: Claudine Langille

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Thistle And Shamrock: Claudine Langille

Join Fiona Ritchie at The Swannanoa Gathering in the mountains of North Carolina for a conversational, musical encounter with vocalist and leading banjo and mandolin player Claudine Langille, known for her work in the 1980s with Touchstone and her current band Gypsy Reel. Hear why songs and tunes from the Canadian Maritimes, Ireland and Appalachia flow through Langille's music.

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Thistle And Shamrock: Summer Sounds

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Tricia Malley and Ross Gillespie/Courtesy of the artist

Thistle And Shamrock: Summer Sounds

You'll breeze towards the heart of summer with this week's music from Eddi Reader, William Jackson, Nightnoise and more.

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Thistle And Shamrock: Heading South

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Thistle And Shamrock: Heading South

Fiona Ritchie celebrates the musical connections that captured her attention when she first traveled in the U.S. in the early 1980s by exploring the music of the Southern Mountains.

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Thistle And Shamrock: Alan Reid

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Thistle And Shamrock: Alan Reid

Three decades after her journey into radio started, Fiona Ritchie meets up with the man who was her very first interview: Alan Reid, known for his long career with the legendary Battlefield Band.

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Thistle And Shamrock: Time To Dance

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Thistle And Shamrock: Time To Dance

The rhythms of Celtic music will always get into your feet and before you know it, you're dancing. Limber up before you tune into this hour of music featuring Alasdair Fraser, Trian, and a pair of traditional dance bands from Ireland and Scotland.

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Thistle And Shamrock: Julie Fowlis

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Thistle And Shamrock: Julie Fowlis

Meet Julie Fowlis who provided the singing voice in "Brave", Pixar's Oscar-winning animation set in the ancient Highlands of Scotland. Raised in the Outer Hebrides, Julie is reaching contemporary audiences with Gaelic music, and is one of a small group of singers bringing it into the cultural mainstream.

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Thistle And Shamrock: Miles Of Isles

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Thistle And Shamrock: Miles Of Isles

From the Northern Isles of Shetland and Orkney, to the Hebrides, the Isle of Man and Rathlin Island off the northern Irish coast, this week's diverse choice of music is insular only in the geographical sense.

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Thistle And Shamrock: Saying Something

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Thistle And Shamrock: Saying Something

How do you deliver a message of social justice, peace or environmental consciousness in a way that draws in an audience, regardless of their political stance? Find out in the songs of Christy Moore, Dougie MacLean, Maire Brennan, Sally Barker and others.

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