Hi,

The Pogues did a lot in the mid-80's to bring a renewed interest in Irish-ish music to a younger audience.

I must've been in college when I heard them sing "Dirty Old Town", in that snarling, half-drunk tone of voice my punk-drenched friends and I were used to hearing in the popular music of the times. It was the first non-Unicorn Irish song I'd heard and it made me pause and reflect maybe folk music is about real emotions and events that effect people commonly. Maybe it's not all about a half-clever turn of a phrase or self-congratulatory social awareness. Maybe it's about love and home and family and luck for well or ill.

More and more younger people are hearing that in acoustic and folk music these days. I recall seeing Cordelia's Dad play several years ago and they are a powerful act.

Here in NYC a couple of years ago we had Four to the Bar, and Irish act with a couple of cd's available. Look for them. The Oyster Band has also managed to mix a folkly styling with a rock n roll sensibility.

And, while I don't need to hear traditional songs played at ear-splitting decibles on trash-can lids just for the sake of it, I do like the thought that these songs are perfectly suited for re-interpretation generationally given their universality of human emotion/experience.

If the contemporary ear is accustomed to hearing music played through electric guitars, then why not see what songs will hold their own in that setting?

Rich