According to the latest U.S. Census, 34.5 million people in the United States claim Irish ancestry.  To put that into perspective for you, Ireland only has a population of 4.1 million people – that means America has almost nine times the amount of Irish Ireland has.  (It’s amazing what the Irish can do when they are no longer being repressed by the British, geographical restrictions, and condoms.)  It really is no surprise then that St. Patrick’s Day is rapidly becoming one of the biggest holidays in the U.S.  I suppose it also doesn’t hurt that it is one of the few holidays that openly encourages getting completely soused on beer or whiskey in public.  Since I am one of those people who claims Irish descent, and with St. Patrick’s Day this month, I felt that it was my duty – no, obligation – to pull up my kilt, straighten my sporran, and steer y’all in the direction of some good Irish music – with the emphasis on good.

Thanks to Sinead O’Connor and Enya, most Americans think of Irish music as either slow and whiny or eerie and sleep-inducing.  And I’m not even going to begin to go into what Michael Flatley and his Riverdancing did to the image of Irish music.  The truth is that there is more to Irish music than that, and most of it rocks!  Unfortunately for Baton Rouge, none of these bands seem to have formed here, so I am going to tell you how you can get your St. Patty’s music fix without having to go to Boston to do it.

The first band that I want to mention actually is a band based out of the Boston area, but their music, not to mention their merchandise, is so cool that I had to mention them in this article.  Called The Gobshites, this band’s sound is a combination of traditional Celtic music with a punk rock edge.  They are masters at turning punk songs, like the Ramones’ “Long Way Back,” into Irish sing-alongs and traditional Irish tunes into punk rock and roll.  They are so good at doing this that they actually got Tommy Ramone to sing with them at a gig.

You can hear some of their songs for free at their website, www.gobshites.com. Click on the “Downloads” link for the audio or to check out some of their videos on YouTube.  (A brief warning here: You have to be over 18 years of age to access some of their videos on YouTube.  Irish rock is not for the faint of heart or those with delicate sensibilities.)

They also have for sale on their website the only clothing that you will need to buy for your St. Patrick’s Day wardrobe. Make sure you check out the “Merch” link: Each item is guaranteed to offend your mother and abuse the innocence of children. 

For an Irish rock band a little closer to home, there is Blaggards.  (Don’t you just love these names?) This band is based out of Houston and defines itself as being “Stout Irish Rock.”  This is also a punk, Irish-inspired band with a sound that is more like that of The Pogues combined with Flogging Molly.  (For those of you who are unfamiliar with The Pogues or Flogging Molly, do yourself a favor: Go to Amazon.com and check them out.  You’ll only get to hear a few seconds of the songs, but you will get an idea of the sound.)

To hear Blaggards, you can go to www.blaggards.com, click on the “MySpace” link, and check out free downloads from their album Standards.  They have an awesome version of “Drunken Sailor” that will work great at irritating your friends and making you feel like an Irish pirate.  Or you can hear them play live on March 15 at Brian O’Neill’s in Houston, TX.

If you would prefer to restrict yourself to fun “Irish” drinking songs to sing while getting pissed in the bar on St. Patrick’s Day, you almost can’t beat YouTube for the sheer diversity and comedy of selection.  The most popular seems to be a song simply titled “The Irish Drinking Song.”  The chorus goes like this: “I’ll drink and drink, and drink and drink, and drink and drink, and fight, and if I see a pretty girl, I’ll sleep with her tonight.”  Although I must admit that I was also a fan of “Bugger Off” and “F–k You, I’m Drunk.”

To end this article, I will leave you with an Irish toast that I think natives from Baton Rouge will cleave close to their breast.  It goes like this:  “When we drink, we get drunk.  When we get drunk, we fall asleep.  When we fall asleep, we commit no sin.  When we commit no sin, we go to heaven.  So, let’s all get drunk, and go to heaven!”  Sláinte! And have a happy St. Patrick’s Day.