1987-1989Ireland / Scotland

Contemporary Celtic

Also known as Celtic contemporary

A useful tag for late-20th-century and later Celtic-rooted recordings that lean modern without losing their traditional center of gravity.

Origins and context

Documented as a modern extension of Celtic-rooted music from the Celtic nations, with strong links to the 1980s and 1990s revival and to artists who blended traditional Celtic material with contemporary popular styles.

IrelandScotlandBrittanyCeltic diaspora

The sound

Characteristics

Fiddle
Tin whistle
Bagpipes
Harp
Pipes
Flute
Guitar
Keyboards

History

The term gathered momentum in the 1980s and 1990s, when artists began stretching Celtic-rooted music beyond revivalist folk into a broader contemporary style. AllMusic describes that period as the point when musicians such as Clannad expanded the boundaries of Celtic music by adding pop, rock, folk, jazz, and new age elements. Loreena McKennitt is one of the best-documented examples of the style in practice: her official site calls her work “eclectic Celtic,” notes that she became interested in Celtic music in the late 1970s, and frames albums such as Elemental and The Visit as part of a continuing exploration of Celtic and folk influences in a contemporary light. That makes the genre feel less like a fixed sound than a meeting place, where inherited melodies and modern arranging habits keep talking to each other.

Notable artists