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Celtic music of Ireland and Scotland

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  History: Celtic music has been around since the 1600s, traditionally used for weddings, funerals, and other rituals. The music developed with oral tradition in the Northern regions of Ireland and is continued today. The music likely originates from Celts coming to Ireland around 2000 years ago. The Celts are a cultural group from Europe prior to the Roman conquest. During the Irish potato famine and the Scottish Highland Clearance many Celtic descendants moved to North America, specifically Nova Scotia, New York, Boston, and Chicago. They brought their music and traditions with them and served as a connection to their homeland. Instruments:  The Fiddle is a major player in Celtic music. A fiddle is essentially a violin, but played differently and often made with steel strings as opposed to the nylon of the violin. The Celtic Harp is a regional harp, believed to have originated from Egypt. It is strung with 34 gut strings and used for not only music, but as an addition to sto...
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Music and Family

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 This interview is about 10 minutes long and includes me asking my mom, Karen Kirby, a series of questions about her relationship to music while on a Zoom call.
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A History of Soul Music

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  What is Soul Music, and Where Did it Come From?           The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame defines soul music as “music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of funky, secular testifying”. After all my research and listening, this definition is near perfect in my opinion. Soul music derives from African-American gospel music with a strong influence of Rhythm and Blues. Many of the most important soul musicians actually began as gospel musicians who moved into secular music and carried their gospel background with them. Sam Cooke started his career in a gospel group before making secular music, which inspired many other artists including Reverend Al Green. Green is a great example of the connection between soul and gospel music because at the height of his career he transitioned from secular music to a life fully dedicated to being a pastor and singing gospel. He did make...
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Music and Gender

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          Gender norms are something I notice mostly within genres. Both who sings what genre, and who listens. The easiest example is that in hip hop, men are the dominant artists, and when a female rapper comes around I feel like girls listen to her a lot more than men do. For a long time usually if a female was in a rap song she sang the chorus and bridge but never rapped, like in Nas’ If I Ruled the World where a well respected female rapper (Lauryn Hill) sings but doesn't rap. I know that most of the time when I get in my male friends' cars I usually don’t hear Nicki Minaj, but it’s more common in a female friend's car. While on the subject, Nicki Minaj is a great example of somebody who has pushed and broken these gender norms within hip hop. On the 2010 Kanye West song Monster, Nicki delivered one of the coolest (and a personal favorite of mine) verses of all time. She has a fast flow, great word play, imagery, and even switches between voices. This ...
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Music and Rituals

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 Intro:           Music is used in just about every form of a ritual that I know of. My blog today is about two polar opposite types of ritual, both of which I have personal experience with. Funerals:           I have unfortunately been to many funerals for both family and family of friends, and all of them played similar music. The first funeral I remember specifically was that of my Pops (my dad’s dad) where most of the music played was 90s and early 2000s country songs about life and death that my Pops liked. These songs were Remember When by Alan Jackson (a song about reflecting on life), Almost Home by Craig Morgan (a story of an old man just ready to get to Heaven), and Song for Dad by Keith Urban (a song my dad and uncle found to honor their father). The thing that was different about his funeral was the burial when a 21 gun salute was done because he served in the US Army during Vietnam. This ritual included the pl...
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Music and Me

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     Intro:   Hello everybody my name is Spenser Kirby. I have lived in Douglasville, Georgia my entire life and decided to come to Converse so I could get a degree, go somewhere different, and experience life away from home while also running track and field as well as cross country. A little heads up for my blog, I love music but I have zero musical talent and only really know what I hear. I also love albums a lot more than individual songs. Here is a picture I like of me at the beach over the summer that my girlfriend took when I caught a fish. Music that I personally enjoy : Possibly my favorite genre of music is hip hop, but not in the traditional sense. I do love traditional hip hop, some of my favorite artists are Pusha T and Gucci Mane who both make pretty cut and dry rap songs. But I prefer the genre bending, experimental side of it. Even my favorite “old head” artists such as Outkast are pioneers in the game. Andre 3000 and Big Boi made the greatest souther...
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