Accessibility links
The Chieftains The Chieftains artist page: interviews, features and/or performances archived at NPR Music

The Chieftains

The Thistle & Shamrock: Best Of The Best

The Bothy Band, active 1974-1979, is featured on this week's episode of The Thistle & Shamrock. Val Wilmer/Redferns hide caption

toggle caption
Val Wilmer/Redferns

Music

The Thistle & Shamrock: Best Of The Best

Explore the world of Celtic music with songs from the most beloved names.

The Thistle & Shamrock: Best Of The Best

  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/705197232/705201632" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
The Chieftains Shares Sounds Of Ireland With The World

Chieftains peforming for World Cafe at Windmill Lane Recording Studios in Dublin, Ireland Kimberly Junod/WXPN hide caption

toggle caption
Kimberly Junod/WXPN

World Cafe

The Chieftains Shares Sounds Of Ireland With The World

XPN

Spend your St. Patrick's Day feeling like your having a pint surrounded by friends and family as we visit the six-time Grammy-winning band in Dublin.

The Chieftains On World Cafe

  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/703474713/703517506" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
The Thistle & Shamrock: Kickstarters

Noel Duggan, Ciaran Brennan, Moya Brennan, Padraig Duggan and Paul Brennan of Clannad on November 24, 1982. H. McCarthy/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
H. McCarthy/Getty Images

The Thistle & Shamrock

The Thistle & Shamrock: Kickstarters

Hear vintage sounds from some of the trailblazers of Celtic music, artists who influenced a generation of musicians across the world.

The Thistle & Shamrock: Kickstarters

  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/611684595/611695987" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

In Performance

The Chieftains, Ambassadors of Celtic Folk

In 1962, Dubliner Paddy Moloney put together a band to play traditional Irish music, and to celebrate his homeland's folk culture. More than 40 years later, The Chieftains are going strong.

The Chieftains, Ambassadors of Celtic Folk

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5244695/5244696" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
¡Mami! Four Latin Songs For Mother's Day

Grandma Sara Garcia holds Jasmine's mother, Marta. Courtesy of Jasmine Garsd hide caption

toggle caption
Courtesy of Jasmine Garsd

Alt.Latino

¡Mami! Four Latin Songs For Mother's Day

NPR Music's Alt.Latino co-hosts, Felix Contreras and Jasmine Garsd, share a musical tribute to the women who raised them.

¡Mami! Four Latin Songs For Mother's Day

Listen · 8:09
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/152496498/152609778" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
The Chieftains In Concert On 'A Celtic Sojourn'

The Chieftains kicked off their North American tour at WGBH's Fraser Studio in Boston. WGBH hide caption

toggle caption
WGBH

Favorite Sessions

The Chieftains In Concert On 'A Celtic Sojourn'

Fifty years into a storied career, The Chieftains have no intention of slowing down, as evidenced by appearance at WGBH's Fraser Performance Studio in Boston. Folk-rock stars The Low Anthem join.

The Chieftains In Concert On 'A Celtic Sojourn'

  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/148765922/148752957" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
First Listen: The Chieftains Featuring Ry Cooder

Ry Cooder (bottom left) collaborated with the Irish music icons in The Chieftains on San Patricio. Judith Burrows hide caption

toggle caption
Judith Burrows

First Listen

First Listen: The Chieftains Featuring Ry Cooder

Cooder's latest recording project is a cultural mashup of Mexican and Irish music called San Patricio. The album is performed by the Irish music icons in The Chieftains, along with Cooder himself and a handful of celebrated Mexican musicians. Hear the album in its entirety for the week leading up to its release.

World Cafe

Ry Cooder With The Chieftains On World Cafe

XPN

In creating San Patricio, Paddy Maloney and Ry Cooder were inspired by a group of Irish immigrant soldiers who left the American army to fight for Mexico in the Mexican-American War. The album's seamless combination of Irish and Mexican folk songs makes this World Cafe appearance a distinctive listening experience.

Ry Cooder With The Chieftains On World Cafe

  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/124742213/124742212" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
The Chieftains And Ry Cooder Tell 'San Patricio' History

Ry Cooder (left) and Paddy Maloney of The Chieftains. Judith Burrows hide caption

toggle caption
Judith Burrows

Music Interviews

The Chieftains And Ry Cooder Tell 'San Patricio' History

With St. Patrick's Day just ahead, an unusual musical mash-up has surfaced. Paddy Moloney and his legendary Irish group The Chieftains have joined forces with Ry Cooder and Latino artists on a new album called San Patricio. The record takes its name from a battalion of the Mexican-American War.

The Chieftains And Ry Cooder Tell 'San Patricio' History

Listen · 9:57
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/124333729/124414110" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Browse archive or search npr.org