Author Archives: Helen van der Jagt

Monthly Marker January 2020: Triakel

01 Jan
Helen van der Jagt
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That means…a new Monthly Marker!

After having enjoyed ORO – Music from the wild, wild East’s Jovana Jovanke in December, we move up North to Sweden for January! Though not in any way a “happy song”, the beauty and emotion of Triakel’s Häggsjön can not be denied! The song is a true story about a tragedy in Jamtland in the middle of the Scandinavian peninsula in 1883. Though we can obviously not play the video on the radio, we do recommend you watch this at least once, as it paints a very vivid emotional picture of the story.

Häggsjön will be played five to six times a day, all through the month of January.

You can find Triakel here:

The first review of 2020

01 Jan
Helen van der Jagt
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Ritual Duir CD cover












It’s Wednesday again, but not only that, but it’s also the first of January, So from all of us here at CeltCast: A HAPPY AND MUSICAL NEW YEAR!!!

I can promise you this year is gonna be special, we have many treats and surprises that we are working on at the moment. None of them I can reveil, but all promising to be really good, so keep your eyes on this page and on our webpage 🙂

Now we can start 2020 with a bang. A personal bang anyway. Summer 2018 Alex Sealgaire introduced me to two lovely ladies from Spain who have become very dear to my heart, former Cuélebre singer Rose Avalon and Belenosa Sombra. Together they formed a new pagan folk band called Ritual Duir. I was allowed to follow their musical journey the last 1 1/2 years and fell in love with their music from the first moment I heard it.

So it is with real pride that I may reveal that the first review of 2020 is The Path Of Druids, by Ritual Duir.

Happy new year!

31 Dec
Helen van der Jagt
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Wherever you are in the world, we wish you all a good 2020, filled with good health, love and beautiful music. 2020 will be a very special year for CeltCast, with the organisation of the Fantasy Awards 19/20, the building up of our foundation and all these awesome festivals and concert to visit.
We wish you will all share in our journey through 2020 and share in the beautiful folk music we encounter. Happy 2020!

With love,
The CeltCast team!

Happy New Year

Folk for Charity

30 Dec
Helen van der Jagt
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Folk For Charity 2019

Community Centre Swaenswijk in Alphen aan den Rijn has been the at centre of a very special event the past two days. Musicians have played folk music for 24 hours, non-stop, to raise funds for the WWF (World Wildlife Fund). There has been a program full of live performances, lectures and Balfolk and Scottish dance courses.

Tijn Berends is the organiser of Folk for Charity. This is the second year he has organised a non-stop music session for charity. ,,You often see fundraisers like this in other music scenes. Pop music has the 3FM Glass House and classical music has benefit concerts. In September last year, I had the idea to do this for folk music too. The downside is that these kind of music sessions are not very interesting for the public. So we made sure to put a stage somewhere else, so that the audience has bands to visit as well.”

All profit will be donated to charity. This year, two people achieved the goal of playing for 24 hours straight. A lot of musicians had sponsors per hour. Berends will know what the profit is in about two weeks. Last year, €2150 was donated to Giro 555, the Dutch collective of 11 charities amongst which are Oxfam Novib, The Red Cross, Unicef and Terre des Hommes.

The goal of 24-hour non-stop music was achieved. Singer-songwriter Simon Oak was one of the two musicians who played for the entire 24 hours. Last year, only he achieved that goal. ,,I think the non-stop part is peculiar. I like crazy stuff like this; I had to participate.” Oak likes meeting other musicians. He is often found in pubs in Ireland with his guitar, looking for the next jam session to attend. ,,People at a session like this are very approachable. It’s easy to have a chat with someone. It’s funny, because I recognise some people here by their instruments.” Isn’t it hard to make music for an entire day? ,,Well, it’s easier if you are a multi-instrumentalist. For example, I play the guitar and a bit of accordion and flute. And I sing.”

Last year, Folk for Charity was located in a school building. This year it was held in the Maranatha church of Alphen aan den Rijn. There was always someone from the township present during this event, Emile Schoneveld being one of them. ,,We have two-hour shifts. We watch over the coffee corner and make sure everything goes well, “ he says. He had a Friday night shift. ,,Someone from the next shift just arrived. I’m going to bed now, but tomorrow I will be back for the music!”

Will Folk for Charity return next year? Berends doesn’t know yet. ,,This year, it was quite hard to find a good location. I think we will let it rest next year, but I’m sure we will be back the year after that!”

Hello music lovers! 🎼

30 Dec
Helen van der Jagt
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This was a busy week with family gatherings, work and a visit to Folk voor het WNF 2019 / Folk voor het goede doel (Folk for charity). In the meantime, I listened to the albums below to add them to our new radio server. In not too long, we will count down to the exciting moment when our new server will go live. Keep an eye on my posts for extra updates! For now, enjoy reading about the new albums and listening to the music! 🎶

Gwendolyn Freedom is hard won









Gwendolyn Snowdon – Free People (2019) – one track – Battle Hymn of the Free People ft. Fiona Rüggeberg 👩‍👩‍👧‍👦

In the beginning of June, Alex and I were at our place in the forest to recharge ourselves. The sun was shining through the trees and a message was sent to us… It was a message from Gwendolyn which contained her new song “Free People”, which she wrote herself and features Fiona (of FAUN) and Fieke van den Hurk of Dearworld Studio, where it was also recorded. Of course, we listened to this beautiful song! We are looking forward to more of these beauties! The ‘Warrior Women Choir’ in the song consists of talented musicians like Lies Sommer, Coca Roman Music, Hester de Boer, Abigail Bakker, Sanne van Gend, Meidi Goh and Rikke Linssen! I have no album to show you, but I will show you the cover, photo made by Anouk Pross Photography! 👨‍👨‍👧‍👦

Philip Steenbergen – Prelude (2019) 🎸
A couple of weeks ago, Philip also send us a message regarding his new album. And…. we listened to it and we were stunned! It’s beautiful! Last weekend we went to Folk voor het WNF 2019, where Philip was performing too. He played a solo show with songs of his new album and he played a set with his band Withershins. Of course, we brought his new album home and advise you to listen to these magical guitar sounds! We can’t play every song on CeltCast, but there are five songs that definitely fit our format. 😍

Triakel – Handelser I Nord (2019) 🗻
Last week I told you that we have news about Triakel! So yes, here is their new album! It’s beautiful Swedish folk music, completely fitting our format. The album has a booklet with 48 (!) pages with lyrics, archive material (old photographs) and background stories about the songs. A beautiful album to have and to listen to! 🥰

FAUN – Faun and the Pagan Folk Festival – Live (2008) 🍃
This is an older live album of our friends of Faun. Because it’s a live album, it was difficult to find the songs we can play on our radio, but we can play half. On this CD, you can hear ‘Sieben’ and ‘IN GOWAN RING‘ too. The booklet has 40 (!) pages with photos, lyrics and background information. This album brings the real concert experience! 🤩

Naragonia – Tandem (2006) 👣
This album of Naragonia is beautiful for our balfolk friends. Lovely music for dancing (Scottish, Tricot, Waltz, Circles, Mazurka) and of course to listen to! The booklet contains a description of the songs in Dutch, English and French! 💃

Rapalje Celtic Folk Music – Clubs (2012) ♣️♥️
Here they are again, our Dutchmen of Rapalje! This album is one of a series: Hearts, Spades, Diamonds and Clubs. Seven tracks and seven beauties which all will be played for you! ♠️♦️

Versengold – In Namen des Folkes (2012) ⚔️
One of my favourite albums from Germany! The music is diverse and the violin players are amazing! I love the songs ‘Sturmtanz’, an instrumental track, and ‘Vom Zauber des Wildfräuleins’ which, like many other tracks on this CD, contains quite a narrative. 📖

Celtic Myst – The Christmas Collection (2003) 🎄
A compilation album of diverse artists, all with beautiful Christmas songs. We played it during the holidays and at the end of next year, you will hear them on our radio. But first, we have to start with 2020 and enjoy the lengthening of the days before the dark days before Christmas will be upon us again. ☃️

***

We’re very happy that these beautiful CD’s have been processed: ❤️

Gwendolyn Snowdon – Free People (2019) – one track
Philip Xander – Prelude (2019)
Triakel – Handelser I Nord (2019)
Faun – Faun and the Pagan Folk Festival – Live (2008)
Naragonia – Tandem (2006)
Rapalje – Clubs (2012)
Versengold – In Namen des Folkes (2012)
Celtic Myst – The Christmas Collection (2003)

🎶🎵🎶

That’s it for now! 🎻
Festive greetings, Ilona CeltCast 🎇😘

The Cd's to the new server







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