Although born in Halifax in the North West of England Catherine Ashcroft has had a passion for Irish music since childhood and growing up in a musical home she started playing the whistle at an early age before getting her first set of Uilleann pipes in her mid teens. Self taught, Catherine regards her early […]
Mel & Kim
Mel and Kim were an English pop duo, consisting of sisters Melanie and Kim Appleby. Mel & Kim were born to English and Jamaican parents. In 1985, Mel recorded two demos solo, under Alan Whitehead’s management. Soon after, her sister Kim joined her and they performed as a duo, recording some demos. The demos got […]
Sister Sledge
Sister Sledge is an American musical vocal group from Philadelphia. Formed in 1971, the group consisted of sisters Debbie, Joni, Kim, and Kathy Sledge. The sisters were given vocal training by their grandmother Viola Williams, a former lyric soprano opera singer and protégé of civil rights leader Mary McLeod Bethune. Under Viola’s guidance, they regularly […]
The HU
The HU is a Mongolian folk metal band formed in 2016. With traditional Mongolian instrumentation, including the Morin Khuur, the Tovshuur, and Mongolian throat singing. the band calls their style of music “hunnu rock”, hu inspired by the Hunnu, an ancient Mongol/Turkic empire, known as Hünnü in Mongolia. Some of the band’s lyrics include old […]
Caterina Valente
Caterina Valente is a born Italian, naturalized French multilingual singer, guitarist and dancer. She speaks six languages and sings in eleven. Her brother—Italian musician, singer and film actor Silvio Francesco – performed with her, sang many duets, danced, and played the clarinet in the shadow of his famous sister. While she is best known as […]
Dance Crazes 3
I have decided to extend this theme to highlight both songs about dance crazes and those that were spawned in the 1970’s by the advent of disco. “Land of a Thousand Dances” (or “Land of 1000 Dances“) is a song written and first recorded by American rhythm and blues singer Chris Kenner in 1962. The […]
The 1960’s Dance Crazes 2
The Watusi is a solo dance that enjoyed brief popularity during the early 1960s. It was one of the most popular dance crazes of the 1960s in the United States. “Watusi” is a former name for the Tutsi people of Africa, whose traditions include spectacular dances. The naming of the American dance may have been […]
The 1960’s Dance Crazes
The Twist is a dance that was inspired by rock and roll music. From 1959 to the early sixties it became a worldwide dance craze, enjoying immense popularity while drawing controversies from critics who felt it was too provocative. Having seen teenagers in Tampa, Florida doing the dance, Hank Ballard wrote “The Twist”, which became […]
Anouska Shankar
Anoushka Shankar is a British-American sitar player and music artist. Shankar was born in London and her childhood was divided between London and Delhi. She is the daughter of Sukanya Shankar and Indian sitar maestro Ravi Shankar, who was 61 when she was born. Through her father, she is also the half-sister of American singer […]
Amy MacDonald
Amy Macdonald is a Scottish singer-songwriter. After being inspired by Travis at the T in the Park festival in 2000, she heard Travis’ song “Turn” and wanted to play it herself. She bought a Travis chord book, and started playing on her father’s guitar, teaching herself how to play at only 12 years old. Soon […]