The popularity of ubiquitous Celtic/Irish music is partly due to recent motion picture soundtracks like "Last of the Mohicans" and "Patriot Games," says Mark Cantor, musician and host of "Fret & Fiddle," a music program that often showcases Celtic music on KRCL, a Salt Lake radio station.
"And then there was the crossover to New Age music," Cantor says. Besides the ethereal guitar and piano melodies, there was also lots of traditional music from other countries."People didn't know what they were listening to," Cantor says. "They didn't know they were listening to Irish or Celtic music. Nobody used the word "Celtic" until the New Age thing came on."
He also attributes the popularity of Irish music to music events like "Riverdance" and "Lords of the Dance."
Irish music in Salt Lake City is reasonably popular, according to Cantor. "But there's very few venues for it, other than coffee houses."
Bands like Yankee Clipper, Tenpenny, Shanahy and a new one, Cockles and Mussels, play to enthusiastic audiences every week.
Cantor's been playing Celtic music for more than 20 years and he admits there is something "about the rhythm and repetition of the music that stirs me."
"What tends to stir us are things written in a minor key. They're referred to as A modal or E modal. They're not even in a traditional Western key."
The music can be very haunting and mournful. "There's a guy named Martin Hayes, a fiddler, who has several CDs out, and one of them is called "The Lonesome Touch." The Irish refer to a player as having the "lonesome touch," when he or she is able to put that certain "thing" into the music.
Another phrase used about Irish musicians is "shoulder." "Players dip and sway and draw their notes out in a certain way and then flick a note. This is what they call 'putting a lot of shoulder into it.' It means to put a lot of soul or expression into it."
On the last Sunday of the month, in the evening, Irish music is played at Murphy's Bar on Main Street. "We're also starting to do sessions at the Daily Grind, which is a little coffee house on 1300 South and 1700 East," says Cantor.