NPR distributes The Thistle & Shamrock®, a weekly radio program of music from Celtic roots in Europe and North America, to member stations throughout the U.S. Produced and hosted by Fiona Ritchie, the radio show has attracted many exclusive contributions though the years, including NPR’s first mp3 music download, live festival recordings, and world premiere performances.
““The Thistle & Shamrock® has become a soundtrack for the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans. She instinctively knows what connects with her listeners.””
Wayfaring Strangers - the Musical Voyage from Scotland and Ulster to Appalachia
~ SECOND EDITION NOW AVAILABLE ~
"essential... a gorgeous book, including a CD of various artists’ renditions of the songs whose origins the authors so beautifully recount” ~ New York Times
”...revisit the people and places and deepen your enjoyment of the sublime BBC tv series “Wayfaring Stranger”
In Wayfaring Strangers, Fiona Ritchie and Doug Orr guide readers on a musical voyage across oceans, linking people and songs through centuries of adaptation and change. From ancient ballads at the heart of the tradition to instruments that express this dynamic music, Ritchie and Orr chronicle the details of an epic journey. Enriched by the insights of key contributors to the living tradition on both sides of the Atlantic, this abundantly illustrated volume includes a beautifully written Foreword by Dolly Parton. (First edition hardback with CD now limited availability. Second edition paperback is widely available at all good bookshops and includes and Afterword by the authors.)
The authors have followed their own Wayfarers’ book trail from Edinburgh to Belfast, Charlotte to Chapel Hill, Asheville to Nashville, and to New York City as part of Carnegie Hall’s Migrations: the Making of America Festival. Check back here for more updates on Wayfaring Strangers events.
With Peggy Seeger and Alan Reid at the Birnam Book Festival. Photo by Alice Hadden.
Authors Fiona Ritchie and Doug Orr with Little Windows (Julee Glaub and Mark Weems) in Charlotte, NC.
Photo by Daniel Coston.
Links to book and CD outlets
Book: Wayfaring Strangers ~ The Musical Voyage from Scotland and Ulster to Appalachia
Book: NPR Curious Listeners’ Guide to Celtic Music
CD - various artists: Scotland the Real ~ Music from Contemporary Caledonia
CD - various artists: The Best of The Thistle & Shamrock, Volume 1
CD - various artists: A Thistle & Shamrock Christmas Ceilidh
Soundtrack ~ A Celtic Tale: The Legend of Deirdre (Narrated Version (collaboration with the multi award winning composers Mychael and Jeff Danna)
