Celtfather Music & Travel

Every year, I take a small group of people on an exciting adventure overseas. We don't see everything. Instead, we stay in one area. We get to know it through it's culture, history, and legends. In June 2023, we are going to Westport, Ireland in County Mayo. The itinerary is now online. We will spend seven nights, visiting Matt Malloy's famous pub, hike Croagh Patrick, and ferry to Clare Island. We'll learn more about the Grace O'Malley, the famed Pirate Queen, by visiting her castles. We'll see standing stones and lots more. Check out the itinerary for the Celtic Invasion of Westport, Ireland right now to see if you want to join me in Ireland this summer.

Celebrate Celtic culture and music through travel. I'm gonna tell you what you can expect on my Celtic Invasion Vacations? If you go to the website you won’t find much information. I usually list the itinerary when it becomes available but that can be January or March before the trip. You will find podcasts and links to pictures and videos. I don't know that any of it really paints a good picture. So I thought I would try to break down how these trips work to help you decide if you want to join me in the future. Celtic Invasion Vacations are not your typical travel tour experience. Most tourists travel on big buses. They go place to place. You stay up late. You get up early. There’s 30, 60 or even 90 people packed on one to three tour buses. If you’re like me, that sounds pretty miserable. My first two trips were on tour buses. Everyone was a fan of my music. So that was pretty awesome. The bus drivers were awesome too. But that's a lot of people for an introvert like me. I don’t know how much of the fatigue

I will share EIGHT great ways for you to have a spectacular St Patrick's Day today Celtfather Music & Travel. The best thing about St Patrick’s Day for me is that is a great time to celebrate Celtic culture. My passion lies in the music.  I immersed myself in nothing but Irish and Scottish music for over a decade. I took that knowledge to create newsletters, blogs, videos, and eventually podcasts that celebrate Celtic culture through music. St Patrick's Day is also my favorite time of year. It makes sense. I play Celtic music, and have done so since the 90s. I host the largest podcast of Celtic music in the world. Oh! And if that's not enough, it's also my birthday. I guess you could say I  know a little something about St Patrick's Day. So let's get started. The cream of the Celtic music crop is the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. Since 2005, this show has shared the music of the Celts from around the world. It's a like your favorite Celtic radio program, except you can download it to you computer or p

Gerry O'Beirne is an Irish guitarist and songwriter behind the scenes of many great Celtic musicians. I met him when he toured the U.S. with Andy M. Stewart. But his history playing music is long and fascinating. I was surprised on last summer's Celtic Invasion Vacations that he's living in Dingle, Ireland now. He's performing both solo and with many of the top Irish musicians there. Show #266. We talk about his new CD Swimming the Horses, the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast, and how he got started as a songwriter in the desert of America. Find out more about Gerry O'Beirne here.

Mazz O'Flaherty owns the smallest record shop in Ireland. It's in Dingle, Ireland. It is a place you don't want to miss. It's walls are lined with music from Irish musicians, especially those in the County Kerry. In 2019, I took my Celtic Invasion Vacations to Dingle, Ireland. Ten years after my last trip. Mazz was as delightful a person to talk to as ever. Show #264

The Irish & Celtic Music Podcast is no longer on Spotify. But it is still coming out each and every week.   Spotify announced at the beginning of 2020 that they will no longer host music podcasts like ours. So in February, they pulled it from their app.   This stinks, but it is understandable. And it doesn't affect the delivery of the podcast into the future. The podcast still comes out every week.    You can subscribe at BestCelticMusic.net.    Subscribe on your favorite podcatcher and to our Celtic Music Magazine so you're up-to-date on all of our podcast news.   While you're there, you can download our free app and never, ever miss a single episode.   Thanks for listening on Spotify while you did.   Slainte! Marc Gunn, The Celtfather, show #261 Irish & Celtic Music Podcast

Scotland is an incredible country. In 2010, I led my third Celtic Invasion Vacations to Scotland. I learned a lot from this trip which helped form future invasions. I'm gonna share the comments from some of those invaders in #249 of Celtfather Music & Travel. Greetings my name is Marc Gunn. This show is about the many amazing experiences I have as a musician and an adventurer. In 2010, I hooked with John Wilmott of Celtic Ways, who now runs the Carrowcrory Cottage and Labyrinth Gardens in County Sligo. John used to live in Oban. So he offered to organize my third Celtic Invasion Vacations to Scotland. Unfortunately, he had health issues a few months before the trip. So I was forced to make this trip come to life. It's now eight years since that trip happened. But I was looking for Bootleg Concerts to share for my Heroic Gunn Runners on Patreon when I found the comments of invaders from that trip. Every year, I ask my invaders to share their thoughts of what was cool and what wasn't. This invasion had some

The 2018 Celtic Invasion of the Isle of Skye is over. We had an amazing vacation. Every year, I ask my invaders for feedback. This year, I decided to do it a little different. I wanted to help you figure out what were some of the best things to see when you come visit. So I’m gonna share my Best and Worst things to see on the Isle of Skye, followed by feedback from Invaders, including some of their favorites. Best of the Isle of Skye. My favorite thing in Skye was the Quiraing. This is up in Trotternish. It’s June, lush and green with powerful, towering mountains. Now Skye is a big hiking area. I think most people go to Skye to hike. Most of our Invaders were not big hikers. We were all happy to hike and explore. But the hardcore hiking was not for us. Now I’m sure there’s some difficult hiking in the Quiraing, but the two places we visited were fairly easy. A third place looked even easier. I guess for me there was more room to relax and enjoy the magnificent mountain range in the Quiraing. If you’re lookin

St Patrick's Day is coming soon. I'm gonna share with you TEN fun facts about St Patrick's Day in show #238 of Celtfather Music & Travel. As a Celtic musician and host of the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast, I thought I’d also pick songs you can listen to to go with each fact. celtfather.com   CELTFATHER NEWS If you missed the latest CeltfatherLive Internet Concert of Shiny St Patrick’s Day CD Release Party, you can watch a free replay through March 17 at Celtfather.com/watch. The show celebrates the release of my new album of Browncoats Drinking songs, called As Long As I’m Flyin. Plus some fun St Patrick’s Day Songs. You can sing along to many of those songs through the Irish song lyrics website. I have two extra-Long episodes of St Patrick’s Day Music on the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. The first came out last week and features the Best Celtic songs in the podcast in 2017. The second is out this Thursday. It will feature 17 for St Patrick’s Day. As a special bonus you will be able to download al

As a Celtic singer and autoharper, I've never felt super comfortable going to Irish sessions. I had a couple dirty looks when I first got into Irish music. It biased me a lot against them since. But I love Irish music. So I was excited to watch a video by Shannon Heaton where she provides a sort of how to guide to Irish sessions. It was very inspiring. Shannon Heaton hosts the Irish Music Stories podcast. She hosted an episode of the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast last June. And I wanted to find out more about her. We had a great chat a couple months back. My bandcamp store now offers the Celtfather Classics USB. This album features all my music from 1995 through 2009. You'll get 10 albums, including all of my current cat CDs, plus a bunch of exclusive EPs and podcasts, all for just $50. This is a way-to-generous deal. Follow the link to my Bandcamp store for details. Coffee with The Celtfather is a new live streaming show I'm hosting on my Facebook fan page. I go live on Monday morning around 9 am. We will

Join me as I talk with Samuel of Visite Bretagne about the history of the Celts in Brittany, France. You'll learn how the Celts got to Cornwall, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland. And how they came back to Brittany. You'll find out the best places to visit while you're there, and a lot more. Brittany is a great place to visit. Subscribe to Celtfather Music & Travel at celtfather.com. Celtfather Weekly News This Sunday, October 22, 2017 is my fourth annual Celtic Halloween music special. I will broadcast live on YouTube starting at 8 PM CDT. Go to the #CeltfatherLive page on my website to get a special reminder on the day of the event. My Celtic Halloween single can be found everywhere. Three songs for $3 bucks. If you order a copy of the album, email me your receipt and I'll send you a copy of the fourth song that was originally released on the EP for free. My Hobbit Music CD Collection is now on sale. You can save over 50% when you buy those CDs on my Bandcamp page. The Kilted Kings shirt and album are now a

There's a lot about the Celts that I did not realize until I went on my Celtic Invasion of Brittany. It opened a secret history that most of us don't think about. In this episode, I'm gonna share how Venice is a part of that Celtic history and lots more. Subscribe at celtfather.com. Celtfather Weekly Buy my new 3-song single, Celtic Halloween, on Oct 3. You can also get my Firefly single "The Long Arm" The next Celtfather Live show is scheduled Sunday, October 22nd. Celtic Halloween Special on YouTube. This weekend, Kilted Kings are at Indiana Renaissance Festival Watch the new Tullamore Dew Video. It's AMAZING! Thanks to newest Gunn Runners: Kurt Goodyear, Jeremy Handon Celtic Holocaust episode from Dan Carlin's Hardcore History Celtic Tribes on Wikipedia Celtic Invasion of Isle of Skye itinerary is now online. The Secret History of the Celts I sent an email to the Celtic Invasion Vacations mailing list about doing a Celtic Invasion of Venice. Someone responded what does Italy have to do with the Celts. I

Hobbit Day is on September 22nd. We're gonna celebrate it with the true story behind my popular song and album "Don't Go Drinking With Hobbits". I'll share the origins of Hobbit Day and how I fell in love with The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings as well all of the exciting things that have happened due to my love of hobbits. Subscribe to my mailing list for a free hobbit song and to the podcast at http://celtfather.com/. What's in this Week's Show Origins of Hobbit Day How I Discovered Hobbits Halflings and D&D Psychology of a hobbit The facts as I remember them of the truth behind "Don't Go Drinking With Hobbits" Origins of Memories of Middle earth How you can have a happy hobbit birthday Hobbit Resources Mentioned Don't Go Drinking With Hobbits CD Memories of Middle earth CD How to Have a Hobbit Birthday eBook Tolkien Society Review of our LOTR Oscar Party. (Oh! I just saw this feature of Brobdingnagian Bards in the Austin Chronicle, but it's unrelated) Hobbit Birthday Song A Long Expected Party Liste

Dom Duff brought his guitar and charm over to Carnac during the 2017 Celtic Invasion of Brittany. We talked and then he shared stories about Breton music and culture along with his own original songwriting. You will hear some great music by Dom Duff, learn how to say "slainte" in the Breton language, and you'll learn the twisted meaning behind a famous song of Brittany. Subscribe to Celtfather & Travel at celtfather.com. Notes Join me on Thursday, September 21, 2017 for the Mercenary Show on Concert Window. This is a FREE internet concert at 8 PM CDT. I'll play for 30 minutes or until the paid song requests stop coming. Get the details and get notified here. The Brobdingnagian Bards have a new CD! It's called Dragons and Virgins. This is a live album recorded at DragonCon in 2016. We are releasing only a limited number of physical CDs. You have until the end of September to one. While you're at it, you can also pick up 5 additional CDs in an incredible CD clearance. You'll get You'll get Kilted For Her Pl

Phil Duckworth loves Celtic Punk. When I want that music for the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast, I call Phil, aka Grinning Beggar. You'll meet a man who started off in metal, found his way to Celtic and roots music. He listens to music with passion. He hosts Grinning Beggar's Paddy Rock Podcast and will be my guest host this week on my Celtic music podcast. Find out more at Paddy Rock Radio Irish & Celtic Music Podcast You can support my music and travels for as little as $1 per month when you join the Gunn Runners Club and become a patron of my music. If you enjoy this show, subscribe to the podcast and my mailing list at celtfather.com.

May and June are always a tough time of year for me. I have so much to do to get ready for my Celtic Invasion Vacations and never enough time. I find myself frantically trying to keep up with the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast during this time period. It's frustrating. This year, I have special guest hosts planned for the show. Steve Behrens runs 67music.net, a Celtic music promotions company. He also hosts the Celtic Music Journal, a show on YouTube highlighting Celtic musicians. He has graciously offered to host the podcast while I'm in Brittany during the first week of June.  We talk about The Corrs, Celtic metal, how different styles of Celtic music bring new fans of the genre into the fold. If you enjoy this podcast, make sure you subscribe at celtfather.com.

I realized I hadn't shared the latest itinerary for the Celtic Invasion of Brittany. How else am I gonna make you jealous and long to join me on one of my Celtic Invasion Vacations if I don't talk more about it? So you will hear about some of the oldest and most-condensed standing stones in the world in Carnac, Brittany. Plus, we'll explore the Broceliande and Arthurian legend as well as other great legends and history from Brittany. It's gonna be an exciting trip. Look for more podcasts and videos in the weeks to come. Celtfather Music & Travel News I had a great turnout at the earlier hours of Johnnie MacCracken's Celtic Pub. I plan to talk to the pub owner see if I can keep those hours in the future. There are just 3 days Left on Kickstarter for As Long As I'm Flyin', my Browncoat album. We're $984 away from 3rd stretch goal. Please keep telling folks about it. My new Video Strategy is working well. I release new music videos weekly and other videos more frequently as well. My latest video, "Wear the

One of the highlights of my Celtic Invasion Vacations is playing music for my invaders. That's because the setting is small and intimate. The music is often requested by my invaders who enjoy the many shades of Celtic music I play. On the Celtic Invasion of Cornwall, we had a beautiful house in Instow. I pulled out my autoharp and played a few songs for a couple evenings. You will enjoy one of those shows in a moment. The show was performed in the kitchen after one of my home-cooked meals. Before I share the show, I want to let you know that I play concerts live on the internet. I have a few such shows in October. On Thursday, October 20, 2016, I will play my third annual Halloween music special, performing spooky Halloween stories about death, ghosts, murder, and all sorts of haunted fun. SONGS IN THIS SHOW 1. "The Leprechaun" from Soul of a Harper 2. "Close Your Eyes" from Kilted for Her Pleasure 3. "Middle Earth Bragging Song" from Soul of a Harper 4. "Whiskey in the Jar" from Not Every Day Is St. Patrick'

Every year, I host a Celtic Invasion Vacation. We travel to various locations around the world get to know a small region through its culture, history, legends and music.  In 2016, we invaded Cornwall in the Southwestern portion of England. Cornwall is one of the seven Celtic nations and has a lot to offer. We only tapped a small portion of it. But the experience left many great memories. Next year is the Celtic Invasion of Brittany. Applications are now open. Only 8-10 people will join us. We have four booked as of this writing. So if you want to reserve a spot, send in your deposit and application soon. Details about the 2017 trip will be announced in November at www.celticinvasion.com. --- I want to send Special Thanks to all of my Gunn Runners on Patreon who pledge just $1 or more per month to help me make a living as a musician. You'll get free music, early versions of songs and lyrics, behind-the-scenes podcasts, and first look at new videos. You'll find all the details on Patreon at marcgunn.net. The C

Was King Arthur born in Tintagel in Cornwall? I went there on my Celtic Invasion of Cornwall. We talked to a couple experts. Subscribe to the podcast at www.celtfather.com.