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Our vocal music ranges from the etherial songs of Julia Lane to the robust sea songs of Fred Gosbee. There is traditional Scottish, original songs of the Maine coast, and also a bit of humor.
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Vocal Music
Vocal Music
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Our vocal music ranges from the etherial songs of Julia Lane to the robust sea songs of Fred Gosbee. There is traditional Scottish, original songs of the Maine coast, and also a bit of humor.
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CM039© 2021 Loomis House Press
Bygone Ballads of Maine, Vol I
Our latest project is a songbook containing 165 maritime songs collected in Maine form the late 1800s through 1943. Julia transcribed these from a variety of sources including audio field recordings, unpublished manuscripts, even a genealogy! All the songs have melodies as well as historical and contextual notes.
We recorded our versions of a dozen songs that are in the book on our CD Bound Away
CM040 © 2024 Castlebay Music
This is our second collection of songs from the Ships & Sailors book.
Maine’s seafaring tradition includes not only the captains, ships & sailors but also the women who provided support and comfort to the men who plied the nautical trade. Many a wife or sweetheart lamented the absence or loss of their men. Others took advantage of the men’s loneliness. These songs are but a few we have found in archival collections and journals made before 1950.
CM037 © 2017 Castlebay Music
Samhain - Banking the Fire
Songs and Poetry Exploring the Roots of Halloween
Celtic New Year, or Samhain (sah-when), is a celebration that occurs midway between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice. It reflects the ancient belief that a cycle begins in darkness. As the seed falls into the earth for incubation, Hallowe'en or All Hallows Eve began at dusk. The door to the "otherworld" opens allowing the spirits to visit the living and providing the opportunity to see both past and future and to reap the wisdom of our ancestors, sustaining us through the dark time.
Many modern Halloween customs, such as wearing masks or costumes, trick or treat, and divination games have their roots in Samhain traditions. This CD explores some of the dimensions of Samhain through songs and poetry, helping us confront and resolve our fear of the shadows.
CM036 © 2015 Castlebay Musiic
Traditional Seafaring Songs from Maine
These songs are part of a rich heritage of singing and storytelling that came with immigrants to Maine from Britain, Scotland, and Ireland. Some retain the original lyrics and melodies. Others have been changed as memory and environment have dictated. These songs give us a window into history, romance, anxiety, and humor shared by our ancestors at work and leisure
CM035 © 2010 Castlebay Music
The music for Festival of Faeries has been selected from our recording catalog. All the tunes, the songs, and the stories on this compilation are inspired by the legends of the fay. Some of the pieces have been lightly edited to make them more suitable for children.
CM034 © 2012 Castlebay Music
The idea for the John Earthy’s Tavern CD grew from the realisation that I had learnt or written many songs about historical events in Maine spanning almost three centuries. Few people know or appreciate how important Maine was in the early years of European colonisation.
. Most of the songs in this collection have specific Maine connections and dates; I have tried to include those connections in the song notes. It is my hope that this musical journey through three centuries of Maine and New England history will entertain, inform, and perhaps inspire listeners to investigate the history of their own communities.
The CD comes packaged with a booklet containing sixteen pages of Extensive and Erudite Notes.
CM033 © 2010 Castlebay Music
Early February marks the celebration of the Celtic holiday of Imbolc, also known as Candlemas or St. Brigid's Day. It is the midpoint between the winter solstice and the vernal equinox and a time of renewal and emergence from the darkness and constrictions of winter. These songs, stories, and poems explore the symbols and lore associated with Imbolc and Brigid's realm of rejuvenation.
CM032 © 2010 Castlebay Music
We have arranged the program as a narrative describing an ancient Yuletide feast with music interspersed with excerpts from Sir Walter Scott’s Marmion; Christmas at Mertoun House. Scott (1771-1832), a Scottish poet famous for such romantic heroic works as Ivanhoe, was the first English-language author to have a truly international career in his lifetime. Written in 1808, Marmion is an epic poem about the 1513 Battle of Flodden Field and, in addition to the following lines, also contains the famous ballad of Lochinvar. The poem remained popular for over a century.
CM031 © 2010 Castlebay, Inc
Irish Tunes & Tales
The power of music and words is at the core of Celtic heritage. Harpers and storytellers were tasked with creating a cultural chronicle ranging from moving elegy to hiliarious satire. Here poems, stories, and songs interwoven with evocative traditional melodies illustrate Ireland's bardic legacy.
CM029 © 2009 Castlebay, Inc.
Songs of Robert Burns
Robert Burns, Scotland's national poet, lived in the turbulent last half of the 18th century. Burns was not only a man of his times but for the ages. Although generally painted as a romantic rake, he was also a passionate advocate for the common person and his works reflect his revolutionary views. On this 250th Anniversary recording Castlebay portrays the many faces of Burns's life, both through the selection of the songs and in their arrangement. Rather than pretending historic authenticity of performance we look to convey the spirit in which we believe they were created.
CM028 © 2007 Castlebay Music
In July, 1741, a group of 200 people from Northern Ireland left Derry bound for Philadelphia. Battered by hurricane, wrecked on a desolate island and abandoned by their captain, some had the strength and courage to survive through the winter. Based on 18th century documents and narratives, Julia wrote a musical-historical play dramatising the the story of their journey.
This is a recording of the music , traditional and original, that she used in the play.
CM027 © 2006 Castlebay, Inc.
Castlebay in Concert
"What captured the audience were Julia and Fred's musicianship, the apparent casualness with which they weave their listeners into magical worlds of storytelling, song, and harp, and their down-to-earth (and sea) Maine coast and Celtic tunes, tales, and salty humor"
CM026 © 2003 Castlebay, Inc.
Humorous Stories and Songs about Maine Winters
CM025 © 2003 Castlebay, Inc.
Romantic Scottish Songs
CM017 © 1999 Castlebay Music
and Other Songs of Coastal Maine
These songs, some historical, some fanciful, celebrate coastal people and their stories. All but two of the tracks on this recording are original songs written by Fred Gosbee - and those two were written by Julia Lane. He also plays most of the instruments - 12-string guitar, classic guitar, 5-string viola (really!) fiddle, bass, mandolin, tin whistle, dobro, harmonica, dijeridu, low whistles (aka Bokwhistles), bowed psaltry.
CM016 © 1998 Castlebay Music
Julia Lane - vocals and Celtic Harp
With her expressive, award-winning Celtic harp playing and her silken vocals, Julia Lane now gives new voice to an ancient tradition. Her original songs, reminiscent of the traditional music of her Celtic ancestors, capture the essential beauty of coastal Maine, her native state. Julia Lane expresses in her words and music our fundamental connection with wind and wave, sea and skye. Her songs are an authentic expression of an intimate experience with the elemental.
CM0145 © 1996 Castlebay Music
Inspired by the rugged, romantic Maine coast, the music of Julia Lane and Fred Gosbee weaves together timeless traditions reflecting both Maine's nautical legacy and it's poignant Scottish, Irish, and English heritage.
(Note: This was our second album of all-original maritime songs. Most of the selections have been rerecorded and released on our newer albums.)
CM015 © 1995 Castlebay Music
We made this recording after our first trip to Ireland and Scotland. The title track was written in anticipation of our trip. What would the people over there think of a couple of Yankees singing their traditional songs - or should I say new world versions of their songs. So here are a dozen songs and tunes with stories to tell.
CM012 © 1992 Castlebay Music
Julia Lane, whose warm, clear soprano has been called "reminiscent of Jean Redpath" began playing Celtic folk harp in 1988 with the acclaimed folk groub Castlebay. A self-taught harper she won the New England regional SeniorProfessional Scottish Harp Competition in 1990 and 1991, and in 1992 won the Senior Professional title at the Stonehill Irish Festival International Harp Competition. Roknowned harpists Kim Robertson and Dennis Doyle have praised her innovative arrangements, energetic performance and great style, and commented "She really captures the spirit of the music." Ms. Lane's interest in Celtic lore and its Earth conciousness were the inspiration for this recording.
CM011 © 1991 Castlebay Music
This recording of all-original songs was done when CD technology was new. When we got to the mastering stage we were using terms like "harsh" to describe what we were hearing from the mastering lab and "warm" to describe what we wanted. The engineers were saying "crisp" and "muddy". Believe it or not what we ended up with sounds better than what they wanted to give us BUT it still makes my ears bleed to listen to this recording. All of the tracks written by Julia and I have been re-recorded and are on our newer CDs. The two songs written by Mark McNeil have not been redone.
I have included this CD so that we will have a complete discography. All the track samples are full length but the CD is not for sale.
CM010 © 1990 Castlebay Music
We have always loved Scottish music and this recording contains some gems. This was recorded on four-track analog equipment except for the Highland Suite, which was recorded live on an eight-track machine by Wayne Bean. This recording had a limited release on cassette tape.
CM009 © 1989 Castlebay Music
Songs are like islands; they exist unto themselves yet are connected to the greater body of music and humanity. All the songs on this album are from or about islands and the sea which touches them.
This was our second (and last) recording as a quartette, not counting several home-recorded cassette projects which predated the eponymous Castlebay release.
CM008 © 1988 Castlebay Music
Most of this recording was recorded in a live Mother's Day concert at the Olen Arts Center, Bates College, Lewiston, Maine, in 1988. It was released on LP and cassette. This album received substantial airplay both here in the U.S. and in the U.K.
CM001 through 7 © 1984-1987
As a quartette Castlebay released A Yuletide Sampler in 1987. Castlebay also recorded and sold at concerts two "official pirate" recordings which helped to finance our Castlebay LP. We don't have any copies of those, or records of what was on them. Members of Castlebay also released several recordings in different configurations prior to forming the quartette.
This recording includes two original songs; the first iteration of "Waiting for the Snow" and Brian's "Holiday Song," a seasonal parody of the sea shanty, "Paddy Lay Back."
Barra
CM003 © 1986
Julia Lane released a solo recording in 1985.
Golden Apples
CM002 © 1985
CM001 © 1984 Masthead Music
2024-07-29 © Castlebay, Inc.
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