The Chieftains

Not only are the Chieftains among the chief exporters of Irish musical culture; they've also lent their Celtic chops to several musical styles that originated far from the Emerald Isle. Almost makes you wonder: is "Cotton Eyed Joe" originally an Irish tune that Americans adopted, or the other way around?

Because of their musicianship and wide-ranging interests, the Chieftains have become the hip band to jam with. How many artists can say they've shared the mic with the Rolling Stones, Jackson Browne, Chet Atkins, Elvis Costello, Joni Mitchell, Sting, Doc Watson, and Ziggy Marley? We rest our case.

Ready to take up the uilleann pipes or the bodhran? It should take you only a half-century or so to catch up with the Chieftains' expertise. In the meantime, don't be discouraged. Just sit back and enjoy the most celebrated folk-musical ensemble ever to emerge from fair Erin's shores.

Lads and lassies, there once was a dark, dark time in Irish music, when the country's only records available in the United States were either maudlin or jokey or both. Saints preserve us, the Chieftains appeared about 40 years ago to save us all. Though they later embraced a wide variety of musical styles, they started close to home with traditional Celtic tunes, earning themselves a cherished position in the national psyche and on the world music scene.