Music of the Isles

  • Found on HD4

Share this:

MUSIC OF THE ISLES; a new weekly show each Saturday

LISTEN On Demand to current show ‘anyday-anytime’ at wmnf.org/isles

CELTIC MUSIC & More, ancient to modern, with co-hosts Bill Dudley & Seán Sexton.

The best of traditional folk & contemporary songwriting from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and England… Eclectic Celtic across the spectrum of the evolving genre– new releases & classics, tunes & ballads; history & culture! Broadcasting since 1979 on WMNF Tampa Community Radio.

Don’t miss each new show of TRAD & Neo-folk! Listen to the weekly archive anytime.

Take Music of the Isles on the go! Download the Free WMNF App

Turn on a music lover to Celtic folk! Send a friend a link to our show’s webpage: wmnf.org/isles

Like Us on Facebook!   www.facebook.com/islesonwmnf

VIDEO!  Check it out: Music of the Isles Facebook video links are of artists being played on our current week’s program. Thanks for following us, Facebook friends. Keep sharing those posts!

To Support WMNF & Music of the Isles, hit the TIP JAR above! Each bit helps the station and is considered a VOTE for keeping Music of the Isles on the program schedule. (It’s also feedback letting the show’s hosts know you enjoyed a particular weekly edition.) There’s always the option to MAKE A DONATION by calling WMNF at 813-238-8001 or use the station’s webpage: wmnf.org

FRIENDS of MUSIC OF THE ISLES: WMNF is a tax deductible, registered 501 (c) 3 organization.

Support volunteer-based, not-for-profit, commercial-free WMNF Tampa Community Conscience Radio by becoming a Monthly Sustaining Member; designate your donation to Music of the Isles by joining the “Celtic” CIRCLE OF FRIENDS 

WE APPRECIATE your support! THANK YOU GIFTS are available for each contribution; call WMNF at 813-238-8001.  

EXPLORE Playlists– scroll up & down the playlist feed below the Listen On Demand Player for present & past shows. 

Playlists indicate song & album title, artist, release date, country of origin, band members, & songwriting credit.

What’s Coming Up on MUSIC OF THE ISLES?

CALENDAR — Upcoming on Music of the Isles Spotlighting:

9/9.  All the songs in our show this week have something in common. All are traditional songs whose melodies were borrowed by Bob Dylan. He put his lyrics to these tunes. So, they may seem familiar to you, but trust us they didn’t originate from Dylan. Some are hundreds of years old.

9/16. This week’s show is sort of a Part Two of last week’s show when we played Traditional songs whose melodies had been borrowed by Bob Dylan for use in his own compositions. This week we turn the tables with Celtic artists covering those Dylan compositions.

9/23.  Our program this week is our annual Back to Folk Rock School Special—The Education of a British Folk Rocker—the melding of folk & rock on campus, on pirate radio, at festivals & in clubs. This is our Comparative Studies edition: U.S. influences (1965-1972). You’ll hear from The Byrds, and The Band, to Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span– with lots in between.

9/30.  For our show this week, we take a sober look at drinking songs. We’ve in the past aired many sets celebrating Whiskey, or in Gaelic “uisce beatha” (the water of life.) We’ve played many a set celebrating beer, ales & wines of the best. But this week we serve songs of a darker side of drink. We call it our anti-Arthur’s Day Show. Arthur’s Day, an annual festival that’s now defunct, was a marketing scheme for the celebration of Arthur Guinness and the consumption of his famous stout. Sadly, often this faux holiday was a day of inebriation with increased drink driving rates leading to tragic results.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hosted By...

Bill Dudley  [email protected]

Since growing up in Cleveland (the Home of Rock and Roll) Bill Dudley has spent a lifetime in radio, beginning in his high school years, which coincided with the Great American Folk Scare. After starting out part time at a tiny little FM station in New Jersey, he became active in campus radio in upstate New York before moving to Florida in the 1960s. After working at a number of stations in the Tampa Bay Area, he was fired from his last commercial job (a country music station) just a few months after WMNF went on the air, which could be seen as some kind of omen. Started in late 1979 by station staffer Cameron Hendrix, the Music of the Isles Show was given to Bill in early 1980, along with a daytime Big Band and Swing program (later supplanted by the Live Music Showcase in 1996.) Along the way Bill founded the first Irish traditional band in Florida, the Wind That Shakes the Barley. Since the eighties he has made a living recording acoustic music albums for folks in Florida and other states, as well as producing radio documentaries for the Florida Humanities Council, and, more recently, promotional and documentary video. Bill also plays guitar in several Contra Dance bands, of which three have toured as far north as New England. An outdoorsy guy, Bill has a love of history, the old ways and traditions, and "hippie values." You can check out some of his work on the web at billdudley.com.

Seán Sexton  [email protected]

Seán Sexton, co-host Music of the Isles, 2000 to present, is a retired English teacher. He received his MA degree in the Creative Writing of Poetry while residing in Ireland. He holds both an Irish passport and a US passport.