Ceilidh Bands - for your Event
Live Music Booking Service for Your Party, Wedding or Event from - Midsummer Music - the music people
To see available Ceilidh Bands
select your County or Location
About Ceilidh Bands
The Ceilidh Band pages, above, list bands that are available in your area. People are occasionally unsure of the difference between a Ceilidh dance, a Barn dance & and a Hoedown. In case you're uncertain, to find out what style of dance band would be ideal for your wedding day or event in your area, click the link below:
The most difficult thing for many people is pronouncing the word 'Ceilidh'.
It is said like 'Kay-lee'. Before you read the bit about ceilidh and a barn dances, let's look at the
bands in more detail. You might expect a Ceilidh Band to play predominantly
Celtic tunes (Scottish & Irish mostly). But this may not be the case as a lot of
bands that call themselves Ceilidh Bands play a mixture of musical styles,
sometimes as diverse as Eastern European and Klezmer. In fact about half of all
bands will use ceilidh and barn dance interchangeably to describe themselves. To
an extent it is a fashion thing, what is the current in word. Celtic music has
been in fashion, so the celtic name for traditional folk dancing tends to get
used more.
Therefore, make sure you read what the bands have said about themselves and
listen to their audio tracks so that you are aware of their style and can decide
whether or not you like them. (all the bands are good Ceilidh Bands, but you
will like the sound of some and not of others. Styles of playing are very
different as are the instrumental line-ups.)
If you want a specific style of music and band e.g. Irish or Scottish, then use
the drop down boxes at the top of this page to choose either Irish Ceilidh Bands
or Scottish Ceilidh Bands. These bands will either be bands that include a
substantial amount of the relevant folk music and dances, or are out and out
specialists i.e. entirely Scottish or entirely Irish.
If the dance is not intended to be specifically a Scottish or Irish evening, it can be a sensible option to go for a band who play a range of musical styles, so that there variety.
A Ceilidh Band can be great fun and is brilliant for Wedding Receptions, Birthdays, corporate entertainment at conferences etc. At a wedding it helps both sides of the family and friends to get to know each other and the volume is such that people can still hear each other speaking - (Unlike when there's a DJ in full swing!)
The band often get the dance under way by playing some instrumental music to
set the mood.
For a Wedding Ceilidh dance a Ceilidh Band would normally start with a first
dance that involved the Bride, Groom and all the guests. The Caller would ask
everybody onto the floor to join the Couple. (No one can refuse, as it would be
rude). The Caller will make the first dance very easy so that even those people
who were nervous of dancing or frightened of the prospect, find they could do
it. This gets the Ceilidh going. (Some couples like to do a first dance to a
waltz, then ask everyone to join in, or alternatively do their first dance to a
track provided by them on a MP3 player. This can work well too.)
For a birthday party Ceilidh or corporate event, it is very similar. The first
dance is generally very simple, so that the Caller can gauge whether dancers are
first timers, or experienced, how quick on the uptake they are, and how fit they
seem. The guests become more sure of themselves, and the caller can gauge the
best level of dances that would run well for the Ceilidh.
Ceilidh Bands always have a Caller who teaches the dances, so even those who
have not been to a Ceilidh before can get involved. The Caller invites people to
get into sets, often not knowing what dance to do until they see how many people
have come up. They will explain the dance, running the dancers through the dance
slowly. They might run them through all or some of the dance a second time,
based on how challenging it is and how whether the dancers still seem confused.
Then the band play a brief introduction and the dance begins. The caller keeps
an eye on what is going on, perhaps calling directions and sorting out those who
have got tangled up or got lost. Mistakes are part of the fun, so don't take it
too seriously!
Normally there is be an interval half way through the Ceilidh for a hog roast or
buffet, so that people can get a rest and stump up some more energy for the
remainder of. If there are some expert dancers, the Caller {could include a few
harder dances for them, but in general they will make sure that everyone is
managing the dances and {having a good time.
Not everyone understands the difference between a Ceilidh dance and Barn
dance. The fact is they are essentially the same thing. They both include a
caller who teaches the dancers and the band will play traditional folk music to
dance to.
Ceilidh is the Celtic terminology, so this would tend to cover Scottish Ceilidh
Bands and Irish Ceili Bands. (Notice the different spelling. Other spellings are
Caleigh, Kaley, kaylee, kayleigh etc. so you can't really spell it wrong!) The
bands would mostly play Celtic folk tunes. Many songs are claimed by the
Americans, Scotts, Irish and English, but the style of performing them would be
different.
Barn Dance ends to be the English and American terminology, where English or
American folk tunes would be played. However, a lot of the dances are the same
for both a Ceilidh dance or a Barn dance.
Many bands play a range of music and do dance that suites all styles. This is
particularly suitable for a wedding ceilidh or birthday barn dance, where styles
need to be catered for. For an event lake a Irish St Patricks night, or a
Scottish Burns night, then a specialist band would be more suitable.