The Blair Band's new release “Celtic Christmas� is a
exciting blend of ancient Irish and Scottish Christmas
carols with vocals (that few have heard before now),
celebratory traditional celtic instrumentals, and
classic Christmas carols (that everyone has heard)
performed with celtic instrumentation.
It is perfect blend of the old and the new but with a
very earthy warm fireside feel. You will hear the
haunting Scottish carol “Balulalow� which tells the
story of the angel proclaiming to Mary the birth of
Christ the Lord, God’s son and heir. You will also
hear the chilling classic “O’Holy Night� and Ric’s
moving original song “The Greatest Gift�.
Celtic fiddle, uilleann pipes, Irish whistles,
bodhran, acoustic guitar, piano, strings and ric’s
stirring vocals all come together to make this a
spine-tingling. heart warming, unprecedented Christmas
celebration.
Ric Blair’s “Celtic Christmas� will provide the
perfect background to celebrate Christmas with your
family this year and for years to come.
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Below is an interview/review that went out to press
in the UK:

New Release: "Celtic Christmas"
Artist: "The Blair Band"
Label: Celtic Isle Records

I love the haunting simplicity of the ancient Scottish
and Irish Christmas Carols of the past. Some of the melodies are so old
that they were coming out of the Gregorian Chant era. It reminds of the
profound simplicity of the Gospel message. So, basically what we have tried to do withthis project is bring together the ancient and the modern. My wife haslabeled this CD "Ancient Modern Celtic Music".

Christ's birth has been celebrated for 2000 years now
and although the style of music has changed considerably through time all
generations of Christians have shared the same appreciation and celebration of theincarnation. The salvation of mankind through Christ's birth. I have heard thetestimonies of those who have passed away and gone to heaven only to come back to tell of the story. Almost every story tells of unbelievable music in heaven. So, in a sense I have tried to imagine what it will be like singing with people like St. Patrick, hosts of Gregorian monks, and Christian musicians of today.
:)
I have tried to reflect this amalgamation of old and
new in the music by using natural acoustic instruments such as uilleann pipes,celtic fiddle, Irish whistle, bodhran (irish drum) and combining them with electronic drum loops and some electronic keyboard sounds. All of these ancient instruments have a warm sound and close connection with God's creation (ie.uilleann pipes using reeds from lakes, Bodhran (Irish drum) made from Goatskin and wood, and celtic fiddle made with wood and the bow with horse hair).

We are also performing ancient Irish and Scottish Christmas carols that many today have never heard before and putting a modern sound to them. Then taking modern Christmas carols that everyone knows today and coloring them with ancient instrumentation. So, again taking the high tech world we live in today with it's luxuries and complex stresses and melding it with the simplicity, beauty and the musical reflection of most certain hardships of the ancient Christians world.

One of my favorite songs is the ancient 16th century Scottish Christmas Carol "Balulalow" (in Gaelic meaning "lullaby"). While singing this I tried to imagine what it would have been like to actually experience visiting the Christ child. What significance! What importance! Nothing more meaningful for the human race! All of the world's sin and pain being rescued by the Son of God!

This song is sung in the broadscot dialect which is a
mixture of English and Gaelic. The 3rd verse reads:

"My saull and life stand up and see
Wha lyis in ane cribbe of tree
What Babe is that, sa gude and fair
It is the Christ, God's Son and Air
It is the Christ, God’s Son and Air "

I love the way the ancient lyricist brought together
symbolically how Jesus was perhaps lying in a wooden crib made from the same substance, a tree which He would eventually be hung from to save mankind. Chilling lyrics! How poignant it is that Jesus came into this world not as we in the world would imagine but in a lowly humble barn. The creator of the universe born in a barn. What a message that is to all of us both rich and poor.

I have wanted to record this CD for a long time. So far it is my favorite project of everything that I have done! It has also been my most enjoyable CD to work on. We got a new and up and coming producer/engineer by the name of Donnie Boutwell to work on this with us. I am sure you are going to hear more great music from Donnie. He was such a joy to work with. I felt like there was no better co-producer to work on this recording project for many reasons.

Many of the traditional reels and jigs were recorded almost live. So the CD has a fun mixture of celebratory tunes and contemplative carols. My hope is that listeners will enjoy "Celtic Christmas" with as much enthusiasm as I have had recording it. But more importantly that this can be another small way for people to celebrate the most important event in the history of mankind besides the death and resurrection of Jesus.