Programs

This page of my web site describes, in alphabetical order, all of the radio programs available on the Internet of which I am aware that would be of interest to aficionados of traditional Scottish music as played in Cape Breton. I have included a few other programs from Scotland, Ireland, and the United States that I find worth listening to because of the common heritage they share with Cape Breton music, though the music has clearly gone in very different directions; while you will hear little to no Cape Breton music on some of these programs, I expect you will enjoy them as much as I do.

If you know of any Internet radio programs that are not listed in this area of my web site that should be, please let me know using the feedback address in the footer below.

A’ mire ri Mòir

Program URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007jdf6
Source: BBC Radio nan Gàidheal
Broadcast Frequency: Weekdays: Mondays through Fridays at 10h-12h GMT [5h-7h ET]
Language: Scottish Gaelic
To Listen: The Program URL above takes you to the program’s home page, where you can hear the current day’s program by clicking on the speaker icon in the “Available Now” box; this will take you to a BBC Sounds page with audio controls to start and pause the broadcast; a list of the selections played on the program appears below the audio controls. You can also click on the “All Available Episodes” link, which leads to a number of the most recent broadcasts (on the day I checked, twenty-two broadcasts were available), any of which you can also listen to.
Presenter: Mòrag Dhòmhnallach (Mòrag MacDonald)
Description: The hostess of this fine show has a gorgeous speaking voice and a fine ear for traditional Gaelic music. She offers a gorgeous mix of Gaelic songs, often a cappella, pipe tunes, and dance music. Though it’s not the show’s emphasis, you will hear Cape Breton music played by Cape Bretoners on most shows.
Comment: I have become addicted to this show; the music is simply tremendous! The accordion, which I love, is front and centre, although I find it a bit disorienting to hear the fiddle tunes I know and love so well featured on accordion. The hostess of the show sometimes concludes with a phone call to one of various friends that lasts a few minutes; I understand only a handful of words, so I only get a clue to what they’re discussing from the occasional place name or English word that crops up, but I love listening to the musical rhythms of the speech as the conversation progesses. And for anyone trying to learn the Scottish Gaelic language, this is a marvellous educational resource. Enjoy!

Aiseirigh Nan Gàidheal (The Awakening Gaels)

Program URL: https://www.ckjmfm.ca/en/programming/schedule/11-english/about-us/124-aiseirigh-nan-gaidheal
Source: CKJM: Chéticamp Community Radio, 106.1 FM (Chéticamp), 92.5 FM (Pomquet), or 97.5 FM (greater Sydney area)
Broadcast Frequency: Weekly: Saturdays at 18h-19h AT [17h-18h ET]
Rebroadcasts: Two Lochs Radio (Scotland):
Weekly: Tuesdays at 19h-20h GMT [14h-15h ET]
Weekly: Saturdays at 11h-12h GMT [6h-7h ET]
Weekly: Saturdays at 23h-0h GMT [18h-19h ET]
Languages: Scottish Gaelic and English
To Listen: The Program URL above takes you to the program’s home page, where you can hear the program at the appointed hour by clicking on the “Listen to Live Radio” button in the right hand column. This will take you to a page with audio controls to start and pause the broadcast.

The rebroadcasts on Two Lochs Radio work similarly: at the appointed hour, click on the “Listen Live” button in the left hand column of the Two Lochs Radio home page.

On-demand listening is not available for this program.
Presenters: Geoffrey May and Rebecca-Lynne MacDonald-May of Margaree Harbour
Description: For over a decade, this bilingual Gaelic-English program originating from CKJM in Chéticamp, and, since 2003, rebroadcast on Two Lochs Radio in western Scotland, has offered a wide variety of music, from Gaelic song to Celtic instrumental music to Celtic rock. Many Cape Breton musicians appear on these shows. In addition to commercially available material, the program also features traditional Gaelic singing from the hosts’ own collection of field recordings, as well as material recorded especially for the show at the Marcel Doucet Studio in Chéticamp.
Comment: Recommended

Cape Breton Fiddle Tunes

Program URL: CJFX: https://www.989xfm.ca/cape-breton-fiddles-sundays-7pm-8pm/
CKJM: https://www.ckjmfm.ca/en/programming/schedule/11-english/about-us/136-cape-breton-fiddle-tunes
CKOA: http://coastalradio.ca/about/program-schedule/
Source: CJFX: “X-FM”, 98.9 FM (Antigonish)
CKJM: Chéticamp Community Radio, 106.1 FM (Chéticamp), 92.5 FM (Pomquet), or 97.5 FM (greater Sydney area)
CKOA: “The Coast”, 89.7 FM (Glace Bay)
Broadcast Frequency: CJFX: Weekly: Sundays at 19h-20h AT [18h-19h ET]
CKJM: Weekly: Sundays at 17h-18h AT [16h-17h ET]
CKOA: Weekly: Wednesdays at 22h-23h AT [21h-22h]
Language: English
To Listen: CJFX: Visit the station’s web site at https://www.989xfm.ca at the appointed hour (the actual starting time tends to be a bit variable, depending on whether or not the Inside Sports program runs over into its time slot) and click on the “Listen Live button” in the right column. Archived shows from the past, some more than three years old, can be found at https://yourlisten.com/989XFM/cape-breton-fiddles, though the interface for accessing any but the first few listed is rather ragged.

CKJM: Visit the station’s web site at https://www.ckjmfm.ca/en/ at the appointed hour (the actual starting time tends to be a bit variable) and click on the “Listen to Live Radio” button in the right column. Some weeks, the show is preëmpted for other programming, e.g., telethons, so try the next week if that should be the case. No on-demand listening is available.

CKOA: Visit the station’s web site at http://coastalradio.ca at the appointed hour and click on the “Listen Live” tab in the menu bar. Because of the newscast at the start of the hour, CKOA forces an hour show into a 55-minute time slot, which unfortunately causes the end of each show to be truncated. But, 55 minutes is better than nothing! No on-demand listening is available.
Presenter: David Gillis
Description: David Gillis hosts an hour show of almost exclusively Cape Breton fiddle music (a Gaelic song or a piano solo or a set of pipe tunes is sometimes in the mix), featuring fine Cape Breton musicians as heard on the recordings they have made, from the very earliest extant albums through today’s, as well as on any of his very extensive collection of live recordings in homes, at cèilidhs, and in concerts. Many of the cuts played in past shows I had not heard before, though I had indeed heard of the great musicians featured on them. He strikes an impressive balance between the old and the new, giving a very fine sampling indeed of the best traditional Scottish music in Cape Breton over the years it has been recorded.
Comment: I first became acquainted with this show in early 2011 and its variety and excellence have quickly forced it onto my “must listen” list. In many respects, it is like a selected tour through the great audio archives at the Celtic Music Interpretive Centre in Judique, one of the very few places where one can hear music like that played on this show. Do tune in!

Cape Breton Fiddle Tunes now airs on three different stations. The shows on each station differ for any given week, so you get to hear three different top-notch shows each week! And, if you miss one, you will likely be able to hear it later on one of the other stations.

Ceílí House

Program URL: https://www.rte.ie/radio1/ceili-house/
Source: https://www.rte.ie/radio/
Broadcast Frequency: Weekly: Saturdays at 21h02-22h GMT [16h02-17h ET]
Languages: English, Irish Gaelic
To Listen: The Program URL above takes you to the program’s home page, where you can hear any of the recent programs by clicking on one of the dates in the right-hand column (you will have to disable any pop-up menu blockers). Archives of previous shows—to as far back as 2011 October!—are available from the Program URL: click on “Programme Archive” in the right column, so you can listen to any of these shows whenever you want.
Presenter: Kieran Hanrahan
Description: This program is “one of RTÉ Radio’s most popular programmes of traditional Irish music and song”. Over 40 years on the air, it broadcasts from all around Ireland, at house parties, competitions, festivals, and other events.
Comment: Much of the commentary is in English, but Gaelic is definitely spoken on this show as well. The music, however, needs no translation. This is a very fine series!

Celtic Crossings

Program URL: https://wrsi.com/celtic-crossings/
Source: WRSI: “The River”, 93.9 FM (Northampton, Massachusetts) and 101.5 FM (Marlboro, Vermont)
Broadcast Frequency: Weekly: Sundays at 7h-9h ET
Language: English
To Listen
Presenter: Louise Dunphy
Description: This program features mostly Celtic music, with interviews and commentary between the selections.
Comment: I’ve heard some very good music on this show I’ve not come across elsewhere; however, judging by the shows I’ve heard to date, you may also hear music that is (to my ears, anyway) not distinctively Celtic; although a good deal of “modern” acoustic music is played, some fine traditional music is also to be heard as well.

Celtic Power Hour

Program URL: https://www.facebook.com/CelticPowerHour
Source: https://soundcloud.com/ryan-joseph-macdonald-924278576/
Broadcast Frequency: Weekly: Sundays around 18h AT (17h ET)
Language: English
To Listen: The Program URL above takes you to the program’s Facebook page, where you can hear the most recent program by clicking on the topmost post titled “Celtic Power Hour”. New shows are published weekly on Sundays in the afternoon, usually around 17h, but you can listen whenever it best suits you. Previous shows are also available by scrolling down the Facebook page looking for posts titled “Celtic Power Hour”.
Presenter: Ryan MacDonald
Description: Each program features ten tracks of great contemporary Cape Breton traditional music, running an hour more or less, featuring mainly the fiddle tunes I so love. In addition to a large collection of commercial recordings, he also has access to a number of selections which are not generally available to the public.
Comment: When Bob MacEachern’s beloved The Highland Fling show sadly ended with the sale of CIGO “The Hawk”, 101.5 FM (Port Hawkesbury) in 2019, Ryan MacDonald ably stepped into the giant hole left at 17h Sundays with this fine program. It’s on my “must-listen” list every Sunday, just as The Highland Fling was.

Coup d’Archet (Bow Stroke)

Program URL: None
Source: CKJM: Chéticamp Community Radio, 106.1 FM (Chéticamp), 92.5 FM (Pomquet), or 97.5 FM (greater Sydney area)
Broadcast Frequency: Weekly: Mondays at 18h-19h AT [17h-18h ET]
Partial Rebroadcast: Weekly: Fridays at 20h40-21h GMT [19h40-20h ET]
Languages: Not Applicable
To Listen: The Source URL above takes you to the station’s home page, where you can hear the program at the appointed hour by clicking on the “Listen to Live Radio” button in the right hand column. This will take you to a page with audio controls to start and pause the broadcast.

The partial rebroadcast is a truncated form of the Monday show that begins whenever Radio Bingo ends, usually around forty minutes past the hour.

On-demand listening is not available for this program.
Presenter: None
Description: This program consists of uninterrupted recorded fiddle music featuring Cape Breton musicians. There is no commentary and no way of finding out the names of the tunes one is hearing nor who is playing them.
Comment: Recommended

Cross-Canada Fiddling

Program URL: https://www.valleyheritageradio.ca/index_28.html
Source: CJHR: “Valley Heritage Radio”, 98.7 FM (Renfrew, Ontario)
Broadcast Frequency: Weekly: Sundays, 12h-14h ET
Language: English
To Listen: The Program URL above takes you to the program’s home page, where you can hear the program at the appointed hour by clicking on the “Listen Live” button in the top right corner. This will take you to a page with audio controls to start and pause the broadcast. No on-demand listening is available.
Presenter: Dennis Harrington
Description: This show presents fiddle music from all across Canada performed by fiddlers who play in all styles of fiddling, including in the Cape Breton style. The knowledgeable host is a fiddler himself and knows many of those whose music he airs.
Comment: I am a fanatic for the Cape Breton style of fiddling, which makes up only a small part of this program, but I have been surprised to find myself generally enjoying the wide-ranging fiddle styles in the music presented here, exposing me to music I would otherwise be unlikely to hear. This is a commercial radio station, so it pays for its programming by offering ads, unfortunately more than I like and, annoyingly, the same ones multiple times per show. Still, it is concentrated fiddle fare you are unlikely to find elsewhere in a single package and I now regularly tune it in over the internet on Sundays, making good use of the mute button on the remote to shut off the ads I can now recite by heart.

Celtic Twilight

Program URL: http://wumb.org/programs/GailGilmore.php
Source: WUMB: The University of Massachusetts Station broadcasting on 91.9 FM (Boston, Worcester, Falmouth), 91.7 FM (Newburyport, Stow, Marshfield), 91.5 FM (Gloucester), 88.7 FM (Milford, New Hampshire)
Broadcast Frequency: Weekly: Saturdays from 16h-20h ET
Language: English
To Listen: The Program URL above takes you to the program’s home page, where you can hear the program at the appointed hour by clicking on the “Listen Live” button in the upper left. This will pop up a mini-page with audio controls to start and pause the broadcast. No on-demand listening is available (but see the note below).
Presenter: Gail Gilmore
Description: A Celtic music enthusiast exposed to Celtic culture throughout her life, the hostess presents all kinds of Celtic music, including a significant amount of Cape Breton music.
Comment: Recommended.
Note: Although there is no on-demand listening, a 24/7 stream containing much the same music as the program, is available here that you can listen to whenever you wish.

The last program available is dated 2017 Oct 22. There are four shows with Catrìona NicNèill in 2019, but the latest of those is 2019 May 30 and ’tis now the end of June.

Crunluath

Program URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09bdyqn
Source: BBC Radio and an Gàidheal
Broadcast Frequency: Thursdays at 16h03-17h GMT [11h03-12h ET]
Language
To Listen
Presenter
Description
Comment
Note

Time Slot: Thursdays at 16h03-17h GMT [11h03-12h ET] on BBC Radio nan Gàidheal and on demand
URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09bdyqn
Description: Cailean MacIlleathain (Colin MacLean) presents programs, aired in Gaelic, featuring pipe music.
Comment: Only pipe music is played and some Canadian pipers (PEI and Calgary on one show) are occasionally featured. I love pipe music and find this program quite enjoyable.
Note: The URL above takes you to the program’s page, where you will find the lastest program available on-demand: click on the triangular icon at the bottom left of Cailean’s photo to listen to it. You can also click on the “Episodes” link, which leads to a month’s worth of the most recent broadcasts.

Pipeline

Program URL: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0079g6v
Source: BBC Radio Scotland
Broadcast Frequency: Biweekly: Saturdays 21h-22h GMT [16h-17h ET]
Language: English
To Listen: The Program URL above takes you to the program’s home page, where you can hear the current day’s program by clicking on the speaker icon in the “Available Now” box; this will take you to a BBC Sounds page with audio controls to start and pause the broadcast. You can also click on the “All Available Episodes” link, which leads to a number of the most recent broadcasts (on the day I checked, three broadcasts were available), any of which you can also listen to.
Presenter: Gary West
Description: According to the web site, this is the “definitive pipe music programme, featuring news and recordings from the piping world”. A previous, and more informative, version of the web site said that “Gary West presents music and news from the heart of the piping world with pipe band tracks, CD releases, and weekly recording sessions featuring top solo players from Scotland and overseas.” He also dips into his “archives from time to time, with recordings dating from the 1940s to the present, and a chance to hear some vintage music and comment from the great pipers of the past.”
Comment: A fan of pipe music, I regularly listen to this show and I greatly enjoy what I hear. A lot of the tunes are familiar to me from Cape Breton, some of which are heard on this program; as well, one also occasionally hears Cape Breton pipers on the show.

Take the Floor

Program URL: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07y72yv
Source: BBC Radio Scotland
Broadcast Frequency: Weekly: Saturdays from 19h-21h GMT [14-16h ET]
Rebroadcast: Sundays from 17h-19h GMT [12h-14h ET]
Language: English
To Listen: The Program URL above takes you to the program’s home page, where you can hear the current program by clicking on the speaker icon in the “Available Now” box; this will take you to a BBC Sounds page with audio controls to start and pause the broadcast. You can also click on the “All Available Episodes” link, which leads to a number of the most recent broadcasts (on the day I checked, three broadcasts were available), any of which you can also listen to.
Presenter: Gary Innes
Description: Take the Floor, according to a previous version of the web site, is the “longest-running radio programme in Scotland. It began in the 1930s on the Scottish Home Service under the title Scottish Dance Music to be renamed Take the Floor in 1978 when Radio Scotland came on air.” At that time, hosted by Robbie Shepherd, it played “the best in Scottish dance music with live sessions from bands the length and breadth of the country, recordings from the archive, profiles of musicians young and old and special features on leaders in the field of traditional music.” Gary Innes has now taken over the show, which retains the flavour it had under Robbie Shepherd.
Comment: I have become a fairly regular listener to this show, which features contemporary Scottish dance music played by Scottish dance bands. The accordion dominates the fiddle, if the fiddle is even present at all, making it very different from Cape Breton dance music, but since I love accordion music, this is not a problem for me. If you’re a fan of Aly Bain and Phil Cunningham, I suspect you’ll love this show.

Tiompan

Program URL: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007jddb
Source: BBC Radio nan Gàidheal
Broadcast Frequency: Weekly: Saturdays 11h-12h GMT [6h-7h ET]
Rebroadcast: Fridays 20-21h GMT [15h-16h ET]
Language: Scottish Gaelic
To Listen: The Program URL above takes you to the program’s home page, where you can hear the current program by clicking on the speaker icon in the “Available Now” box; this will take you to a BBC Sounds page with audio controls to start and pause the broadcast. You can also click on the “All Available Episodes” link, which leads to a number of the most recent broadcasts (on the day I checked, four broadcasts were available), any of which you can also listen to.
Presenter: Mairead NicIllinnein (Margaret MacLennan)
Description: This program features Celtic music, new recordings, and the hostess’s contacts. The music is inspired by Malinky, Bruce Springsteen, Molly Sarle, and many others.
Comment: The music is an eclectic mix of Celtic music, much, but not all, of it non-traditional, including some songs in English. My Gaelic dictionary translates the show’s name as “cymbals”. And indeed some of the music can be rather too noisy for my taste, though it may appeal to non-traditionalists.