e-Keltoi: Journal of Interdisciplinary Celtic Studies Volume 9 Book Reviews Article 13 6-10-2015 Wayfaring Strangers: The uM sical Voyage from Scotland and Ulster to Appalachia. Fiona Ritchie and Doug Orr. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2014. 361 pages. ISBN:978-1-4696-1822-7. Michael Newton University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.uwm.edu/ekeltoi Recommended Citation Newton, Michael (2015) "Wayfaring Strangers: The usicalM Voyage from Scotland and Ulster to Appalachia. Fiona Ritchie and Doug Orr. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2014. 361 pages. ISBN:978-1-4696-1822-7.," e-Keltoi: Journal of Interdisciplinary Celtic Studies: Vol. 9 , Article 13. Available at: https://dc.uwm.edu/ekeltoi/vol9/iss1/13 This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by UWM Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in e-Keltoi: Journal of Interdisciplinary Celtic Studies by an authorized administrator of UWM Digital Commons. For more information, please contact open-
[email protected]. Wayfaring Strangers: The Musical Voyage from Scotland and Ulster to Appalachia. Fiona Ritchie and Doug Orr. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2014. 361 pages. ISBN: 978-1-4696-1822-7. $39.95. Michael Newton, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill It has become an article of faith for many North Americans (especially white anglophones) that the pedigree of modern country-western music is “Celtic.” The logic seems run like this: country-western music emerged among people with a predominance of Scottish, Irish, and “Scotch-Irish” ancestry; Scotland and Ireland are presumably Celtic countries; ballads and the fiddle seem to be the threads of connectivity between these musical worlds; therefore, country-western music carries forth the “musical DNA” of Celtic heritage.