The Boston Celtic Music Festival returns to Camberville for its 23rd year from Jan. 15-18. Performers will take over local stages small, medium and large, including headliners Old Blind Dogs (Jan. 16 at the Armory) and Altan (Jan. 17 at Somerville Theatre).
Old Blind Dogs and Altan represent two aesthetic pillars of the festival, traditional Scottish and Irish music, respectively. But what makes this event a joy to revisit each year is the expert and thoughtful curation that mixes old with new, charting pathways in contemporary folk that’s inspired by, but not overdetermined by, tradition.
And if you missed out on local favorites Scottish Fish after its recent Club Passim date sold out in December, don’t worry, you can catch the band at the festival Jan. 17 at Crystal Ballroom.
There are offerings aplenty, but my eye always seeks out one event in particular: the Boston Urban Ceilidh. Take note of the Thursday date (Jan. 15) because the popular participatory night of social dancing, set to traditional Scottish and Irish folk music, has slid to a new slot this year.
Take note also of the word “participatory.” That means you! Veterans and newbies alike are invited to practice and learn their steps. No partner required. An in-time “caller” will direct the action from the stage, mic in hand, to make certain that everyone is dipping, diving, ducking and dodging in the right direction.
Does that sound complicated? It’s much easier than it sounds, and it’s a marvelous experience.
Each time I’ve attended I make a resolution to relive the fun by attending the various Boston Urban Ceilidh functions held throughout the year. (There was even a Boston Urban Ceilidh event at Somerville Porchfest.) That resolution suffers the same fate as the rest of my resolutions, but it’s the thought that counts, right?
Hit this
Saturday: Hammered Saint, Jackie and The Idiots, The Farewell Drugs, Yes Nanny (Middle East, Cambridge)
A punk rock four stack highlighted by the only Hammered Saint show in 2025. The last time this band played The Square Root, it was banned for life. The list of offenses includes (but is not limited to): performing half nude, walking out the emergency exit, littering the stage with used rubber surgical gloves and generally freaking out ownership. Oh, it’ll never be the darling of the so-called “city fathers” of Roslindale, who cluck their tongues, stroke their beards and wonder, “What’s to be done with this Hammered Saint?” Cambridge’s Middle East offers a more elastic and accommodating sense of humor.
Monday: Monday Jazz Jam (Cantab Lounge, Cambridge)
There are open jazz jams all over town. You bring an instrument, plus a little courage, and climb onstage to join the band. Is there a pecking order among the different offerings at different venues? Maybe a “beginner,” “intermediate” and “advanced” range of options to help newbies avoid getting in over their head? That sounds like the makings of a Cambridge Day article. In the meantime, just know that the semiregular Monday night jazz jam is one of those offerings. Strut your stuff in the storied digs of Central Square’s historic “bucket of blood” jazz joint.
Jan. 1: Ward Hayden & The Outliers New Years Day Hank Williams Celebration (Lizard Lounge, Cambridge)
Sleep it off with your eyes wide open. I’m out of the NYE recommendation business. Too many competing events. But I’ll gladly place my modest imprimatur on local country favorite Ward Hayden & The Outliers as it tries on Hank Williams for size the next day. Chase the hair of the dog that bit you while enjoying classics that warm up a room like a roaring hearth. Is it the 17th edition of this New Year’s Day music staple already? Time flies. Pretty soon this showcase will be headed off to college with a social media addiction and mediocre math competency that never quite recovered from learning gaps incurred during the pandemic.
Live: Bella’s Bartok at Middle East
Folk punkers Bella’s Bartok stormed through the upper reaches of the Middle East on Friday. A band with a washboard at centerstage always makes a statement. And if you don’t think a 19th century scrubbing plank with corrugated metal ribbing can raise the temperature of a room, you’ve never seen this outfit out of Amherst perform live.
There are a lot of names for this band’s kind of music, because Bella’s Bartok sets up shop at the intersection of a lot of traditions. Rock, disco, glam, dance and upbeat varieties of folk from zydeco to Romani. Mix it all together with an attitude that’s equal parts gypsy and punk.
The night’s set featured a few tracks from its latest LP, “Apocalypse Wow!” The vibrant dual harmonies of lead vocalists Asher Putnam and Julia Posin lit up “Aching Bones,” especially during the swaying, half-tempo breakdown in the second half of the song. The ska-adjacent “Brick By Brick” picked up the room and set it dancing. The bouncy and buoyant “Love in the Time of Corona” delivered a joyous energy that belied its dreary pandemic origins.
All of the above was executed without the brass accompaniment that features prominently in many studio recordings – one of those details that’s conspicuous by its absence, but only if you’ve listened to the albums. Touring is expensive, and, contrary to the old military motto, men get left behind.
Local psych rawkers The Rupert Selection opened with a bombshell of a set that squeezed a lot of textures and rock ’n’ roll esprit out of your standard guitar, bass and drums three-piece. Shout out to the weird “cat man” sitting on the lip of the stage, which seems to be a band mascot of sorts. Everyone needs their spirit animal.
Michael Gutierrez is an author, educator, activist and editor-in-chief at Hump Day News.
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