Beltaine's Fire on the Shaman's Den

(Erika wrote:)

Last night on the Shaman's Den was Beltaine's Fire: Revolutionary Celtic Hip Hop Fusion pulsing out deep ballads of Celtic bards blended with conscious Hip Hop. Lynx sang lead vocals in his kilt with Laura on bass and back up vocals, Todd on drums and John on electric Banjo. They also have a cello, mandolin & maybe fiddle player Kater who was not with them. Frank described their music as deep and cosmic, many layered. He said it was his kind of music, the people's music. Their sound blends music of the Scottish and Irish Diasporas with funk, rock, jazz and hip hop each member of the band bringing their pulse to the melting fusion of sound. This is music that you need to be active to listen to, not just sit back and take it in, but there is so much and so many layers to it that it requires listening deeply to all the words and taking in all the sounds.

At the beginning of the set Lynx said that the bands name came from Beltaine which marks the beginning of Summer, a sacred time of rebirth and renewal. Beltaine was reborn as May Day, international workers day. After the set Lynx talked about how it all began. His father always had Celtic and Folk music playing in the house, he was surrounded by it. Then his school and neighborhood was filled with Hip Hop so it felt natural to blend the two together. They are both music of the people that comes from roots of telling the stories of the people and expressing the protests and revolutions of the people. Beltaine's Fire plays Celtic Hip Hop ballads about needing a supersized revolution, that resistance is fertile its time to thrive, they sing about the environment, the future, the meting ice caps and when the floods are going to come.

Their last song was a love song Lynx wrote about Laura also in the band about their journey together. He said that they needed to have one love song and that actually all of their songs are love songs and Frank said yes! All of their songs are passionate poetry fighting beautifully for the human struggle, the good of the people, the working people, the illusions the government dishes out, wars and injustice. Their music fights for the human experience of pushing on for greater potential and the simple surrender to the human need of each other. Lynx said that they could not have put as much into the band had he and Laura not both been in the band, that it is what they do together and that is how it works. They talked about the evolution of the band through different band members and that they now have a core group that is solid.

Lynx read Frank's poem "Locked in Locked Out", adding a hip hop fusion to it that was magical. Its always amazing to hear different people read Frank's poems! Frank's poem spoke about the exact things that Beltaine's Fire had been expressing the whole night, all things that lock us in and lock us out from our potential and busting through that. Lynx said that Frank's poem was exactly what he sings about and some of the same imagery even."Great Minds!" Frank said. It's amazing all the great bands who come on the Shaman's Den!

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ah, yes! They are very inspiring... And very dance-able!

In Freedom,
Frank Moore