VIDEO - CREEDS CROSS "Devil's Deadly Hand"

Creeds Cross (Bart Foley - Lead vocal, guitar, Maria Kroon - Fiddle/Keys/Mandolin, Andreas Jensen - Bass, Grant Wildy - Drums and Percussion) have released today a new single which is available at Amazon and iTunes.

This is the official video for the song:

Creeds Cross - Devil's Deadly Hand

 

BEST OF 2014 - ALBUMS

Best of 2014. The list has 35 albums, like the previous year.

17 albums from Europe: 4 from Italy, 2 from Ireland, 2 from Germany, 2 bands based in Spain (Basque Country and Catalonia), 1 from Austria, 1 from Belgium, 1 from Denmark, 1 from France, 1 from Hungary, 1 from Sweden, 1 from the UK and 1 from Ukraine

11 albums from North America: 8 from the USA and 3 from Canada

1 album from South America: Brazil

1 album from Africa: South Africa

2 albums from Australasia: Australia

2 albums from Asia: 1 from Indonesia and 1 from Japan


Remarks

1) As usual, this post is titled as “the best of”. However,  this is not  a competition, but a sort of a game. Remember that I give neither points, nor stars to the albums that are reviewed. I’d say that, IMHO,  this is the list of the most enjoyable albums of 2014.  It's a party!

2) This list is subjective, but not unfair: it covers the albums that I have enjoyed. Other lists are being posted on other sites and they'll be different. And I feel that diversity is good.

3) Important: Please remember that it’s a list of albums, not a list of bands.

4) I've tried to be coherent. Everybody should know that I prefer original material to over-exposed standards.

5) Please remember that I'm only a fan. Maybe some albums are technically or musically better than others. I have taken into account catchy songs, fresh approaches, originality and maybe I've given priority to raucous sounds rather than to polished sounds

6) Yes, this is a Celtic Punk e-zine. Then priority has been given to Celtic punk bands, but you'll also find quite a few Celtic rock and folk punk bands.

7) Only the albums that have been received for review/airplay purposes and/or that have been shared for free by the bands have been rated. Other recordings were released in 2014, but unfortunately no copy was submitted. Anyway, I feel that this is not biaising the list.

8) This Best of 2014 covers the albums that have been released from December 2013 to November 2014.

9) Neither Live albums, nor only covers albums have been taken into account. The same applies to compilations.

10) To be at the bottom of the list doesn't involve that an album is rather poor. The difference between the 5th place and the 20th place would be a tiny nuance. The same applies to the places going from 21st to 35th.

11) A lot of songs from these albums have been added to the streaming radio along the year and they are regularly played.

http://www.radionomy.com/es/radio/celtic-folk-punk/index

http://celtic-folk-punk.playtheradio.com

12) To the fans: feel free to share your comments below.

13) To the bands: it’s extremely difficult to rank every recording and I guess that some people won’t be happy. However, I really appreciate and respect the hard work by every single band. The quality of all of the recordings has been very high!


Albums 2014

01 - Bastard Bearded Irishmen "Rise of the Bastard"    Review
02 - The Ramshackle Army    "Letters from the Road Less Travelled"    Review
03 - Creeds Cross    "Gods & Fighting Men"    Review
04 - Uncle Bard and The Dirty Bastards    "Get the Folk Out!"    Review
05 - Craic    "Amongst the Mischief and Malarkey"    Review
06 - The Black Tartan Clan    "Scotland in Our Hearts"    Review
07 - Paddy Murphy    "CoffinShip" Review
08 - Finegan's Hell    "Drunk, Sick and Blue"    Review
09 - Rovers Ahead    "Always the Sinner, Never the Saint"    Review
10 - Mosche di Velluto Grigio "In te ho sognato, in te spero morir"    Review
11 - Roughneck Riot    "Out of Anger"    Review
12 - Whiskey Wagon    "Somewhere Under the Table"    Review
13 - The Fighting Jamesons    "Every Day Above Ground" Review
14 - Drink Hunters    "Lurking Behind the Woods"    Review
15 - Lugh    "Quando os canecos batem"    Review
16 - The Clan    "The Clan"    Review
17 - Fiddler's Wage    "A Needle Pointing North"    Review
18 - The Wages of Sin    "Queensbury Rules"    Review
19 - The Mahones    "The Hunger & The Fight Part 1"    Review
20 - Firkin    "Finger in the Pie"    Review
21 - Celkilt    "On the Table"    Review
22 - O'Hamsters    "Kiev, Dublin, Alcohol"    Free Download
23 - The Sunday Punchers    "The Sunday Punchers"    Review
24 - Blood or Whiskey    "Tell the Truth and Shame the Devil"    Review
25 - McOnak    "Piraten Matxinada"    Review
26 - Kilkenny Knights    "Brady's Pub Tales"    Review
27 - Craic the Lens    "The Cannon"    Review
28 - Auld Corn Brigade    "Rebels till the End" Review
29 - Jay Wars    "Carry Me Home"    Review
30 - Homeland    "The Show" Review   
31 - Kitchen Implosion    "Pretty Work Brave Boys!"    Review
32 - Charlie's Rum and The Chaplin  "Ballad of Motherland" Review
33 - Birmingham Six    "Move On"    Review
34 - Kilt the Messenger    "Hero Punk"    Review
35 - 16 Tons with Ally    "Safari"    Review

Honorable mention:

Remember, no compilation albums are elegible for the list. But this album is really amazing:

VA "Wind from the Foreign Land - An Indonesian Celtic Punk Compilation"  WLRV Records Review

Thanks to all the bands for sending their stuff to be reviewed. Special thanks to Drink Hunters for stating my name on the "Thanks" section of their album!

Enjoy!

CREEDS CROSS - NEW SINGLE "Third Light"

"Third Light" which came out yesterday is Creed Cross new single with all proceeds for November and December going to the charity Warchild.

Buy from iTunes

The new single from Creeds Cross depicting life in the trenches during war time. All proceeds from download sales for November and December 2014 are going to the fantastic children's war charity War Child. Please share this message and help us to raise awareness and as much money as possible for this amazing charity. Thank you.

Creeds Cross - Third Light

REVIEW - CREEDS CROSS "Gods & Fighting Men" (2014)

Creeds Cross "Gods & Fighting Men" Fiachra Records FR01401
Release date:3 March 2014
Running time: 37:08, 11 tracks

Creeds Cross is Bart Foley’s new project.  As he clearly states at the Foreword (yes, the booklet has a foreword), after having spent a lot of time writing songs and performing for other people’s projects, he felt that he should go back to basics and write his own album. Even if he didn’t have a master plan, he knew that it should be a real Irish album, full of stories and it had to have a fiddle and a banjo.

He put together a lot of friends, Denis Dowling (guitars, bckg vocals), Pete Jupp (FM, drums & percussion), Bob Skeat (Wishbone Ash, bass), Pat McManus  (Mama Boys/Celtus, fiddle), Brian Kelly (The Popes, banjo & mandolin) and Micki Hutchins (flute & whistle), and they recorded this 11 track album. With songs such as “The Irish Band”, “The Sam Maguire Cup”, “Gods  & Fighting Men” and “Half a Chance”, it’s obvious that his project has been a huge success.

I’d say that the sound is very Irish on both the (hard) rock and the traditional ends. To put it in a nutshell, Creeds Cross could be defined as  a cross between Goats Don’t Shave and The SawDoctors. The fiddle and banjo sounds make you travel to Donegal’s finest  second album era, and the rocking attitude, guitars and lyrics move you to the band from Galway territory. If the SawDoctors have songs like “Red Cortina” and “Joyce Country Céilí Band”, Creeds Cross answer with “Half a Chance” and “The Irish Band”.

The album begins with and instrumental intro, the well-known “She Moved through the Fair” tune. It’s an ethereal number based on keyboards and flute, but the second track, “The Harvest” set the tone to the rest of the album: excellent fiddle and banjo, brilliant guitars and a superb rhythm section.

The following number is the first single from the album, “The Irish Band”. This catchy song features “The King of the Fairies” tune. I guess that it’s a sort of a tribute to Horslips. “The Irish Band” will soon become a classic song, since it’s perfect to sing-a-long at the pub.

Track 4 is the second single of the album. It’s a poignant song about emigration that SIR REG’s fans will appreciate. Not only have  the Swedish band written songs about the same topic, but there is a similar sound on this number.

“The Sam Maguire Cup”, a song about the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, is another number that stands out. I love the gang vocals, the epic feeling and the drumming.

Hard rock albums normally have a ballad, and Creeds Cross' debut album has two, “Good Enough” and the last song, “A Lullaby”

Track 7 is an Irish rock at its best number. Do you want to know what happens when the guys get their wages on Friday? Then listen to “Gods & Fighting Men”, one of the top 4 songs on the album. “One two three / Then we’ll drink to all the dear departed / Friday nights are for gods and fighting men / We’ll drink until we’re sober / And then we’ll start again / Fridays are for gods and fighting men”

If “One By One” was a song about emigration, “I’m Coming Home” is the other side of the coin. Good rocking number with a slight The Corrs twist.

The next song is another powerful number  about the Catholic Church influence on the Irish population. Be careful guys! The (effigy of  The) Virgin Mary is watching YOU!!!

Finally, “Half a Chance” is a wonderful song about a kid’s first love.

Creeds Cross “Gods & Fighting Men” is a fantastic disc. Bart Foley and his mates have been able to re-write the Ireland’s musical history of the last 40 years in one album. Enjoy!

Tracklist:

01 - Intro / Irish Air 1:28
02 - The Harvest 3:24
03 - The Irish Band 4:03
04 - One by One 3:33
05 - The Sam Maguire Cup 3:35
06 - Good Enough 3:13
07 - Gods & Fighting Men 3:36
08 - I'm Coming Home 4:08
09 - The Virgin Mary 3:34
10 - Half a Chance 3:13
11 - A Lullabye 3:15

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Click to buy:

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Review by Kinksmarkham

VIDEO - CREEDS CROSS "One By One"

Creeds Cross have a new video. The song is "One by One", about emigration from ireland.

Creeds Cross - One by One

BAND OF THE MONTH - CREEDS CROSS

The Band of April 2014 is Creeds Cross. Remember that you can watch their video for the song "The Irish Band" HERE.

Their debut album will be reviewed soon. Stay tuned!

"Creeds Cross are a collective of top session musicians put together and led by Bart Foley.

Bart Foley was born in Co Cork, grew up in Dublin then moved to England, to work on the busy London music circuit from an early age.

The studio musicians were: Pete Jupp (FM) Drums / Bob Skeat (Wishbone Ash) Bass / Pat McManus (Mamas Boys, Celtus) Fiddle / Brian Kelly (Shane McGowan) Banjo & Mandolin. Additional musicians for both studio and live, Mark Conyard (Fiddle), Grant Wildy (Drums).

The name Creeds Cross symbolises all creeds getting together and celebrating through music, as the lyric from The Irish band goes “Both North and South and all in the middle, will join together for the Irish band.”

Irish Rock takes on a new twist with this guitar driven traditionally influenced release. It’s a journey from Mayhem to Melancholy, stopping at every pub in between.

Written and Produced by Bart Foley, whose background as a songwriter and a session player has seen him signed to some of the biggest music labels in the business, including Rondor Music and Peer Music International.

Regular trips to the songwriting capital of the US, Nashville, meant that he would learn about song crafting from some of the best writers in the world

Drawing on inspiration from memories of growing up in Ireland and the rich and varied tapestry of Irish music, the songs are both autobiographical and fictional at the same time. With influences from the great Irish rock bands like Thin Lizzy and the Horslips and the more traditional Moving Hearts and Stocktons Wing, Creeds Cross have, in making the album "Gods & Fighting Men", created a new niche and genre of music - we call it Paddy Rock."

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Free EPK from ReverbNation.com

VIDEO - CREEDS CROSS "The Irish Band"

Creeds Cross are Bart Foley and Denis Dowling Flying the flag for Cork, Dublin and Kildare New album "Gods & Fighting men" is released March 3rd 2014.

“Gods & Fighting Men", the new album by Creeds Cross out March 3rd 2014

The album features an all star line up of musicians including Pete Jupp (FM) Drums, Bob Skeat (Wishbone Ash) Bass, Pat McManus (Mamas Boys and Celtus) Fiddle, and Brian Kelly (Shane McGowan) on Banjo.

Paddyrock takes on a new twist with this guitar driven traditionally influenced release. It’s a journey from mayhem to melancholy, stopping at every pub in between!

Written and Produced by Bart Foley, who’s background as a songwriter and a session player has seen him signed to some of the biggest music labels in the business, including Rondor Music and Peer Music International.

Regular trips to the songwriting capital of the US, Nashville, meant that he would learn about song crafting from some of the best writers in the world

Bart Foley was born in Co Cork, but grew up in Dublin and met guitarist, Denis Dowling, a Co Kildare native on the busy London music circuit. The spark for a different Irish rock album was born and "Gods & Fighting Men" is the result.

Drawing on inspiration from memories of growing up in Ireland and the rich and varied tapestry of Irish music, the songs are both autobiographical and fictional at the same time. With influences from the great Irish rock bands like Thin Lizzy and the Horslips and the more traditional Moving Hearts and Stocktons Wing, Creeds Cross have, in making the album "Gods & Fighting Men", created a new niche and genre of music.

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Creeds Cross - The Irish Band