Green Linnet Records
Encyclopedia
Green Linnet Records was an American independent record label
that specialized in Celtic music. Founded by Lisa Null and Patrick Sky
as Innisfree Records in 1973, the label was initially based in Null's house in New Canaan, Connecticut
. In 1975, the label became Innisfree/Green Linnet and Wendy Newton joined Null and Sky. In 1976, Newton took over control of the now Green Linnet label and moved it to Danbury, Connecticut
. Newton became sole owner in 1978. Newton's love of Irish music had been sparked during a visit to Ireland where she heard traditional music for the first time in a small pub in County Clare
.
, The Tannahill Weavers
and many other significant bands and musicians. From its founding until its sale in 2006 Green Linnet was one of the most influential Celtic music
labels, releasing hundreds of albums by a panoply of Irish, Scottish, Breton
, Galician and Irish-American musicians. In 1992 a subsidiary called Xenophile Records
was added to feature world music
from Madagascar
, Nigeria
, Cuba
and other countries. In 1997 Green Linnet launched Celtophile Records
to offer budget-priced compilations. There was also a Green Linnet/Redbird series that featured singer-songwriters.
and Altan and artists Mick Moloney
, Joanie Madden
and Eileen Ivers
. Most artists were paid and most claims were settled in 2006. There remain, however, a number of outstanding claims that have yet to be resolved, clouding the legacy left behind by Green Linnet and its then-owner Wendy Newton.
In May 2006 Newton sold the label to the Digital Music Group, an aggregator of downloadable music. DMG in turn sold the rights to manufacture and distribute Green Linnet and Xenophile physical compact discs to Compass Records
. Both the Green Linnet and Xenophile catalogs remain available through Compass.
is a red-breasted song bird known for its twills and twitters, however in the Irish rebel song tradition the name "Green Linnet" has a specific meaning. It was the code name for Napoleon Bonaparte who they hoped would break the chains of British rule. Indeed in the early 19th century the Society of United Irishmen (the Irish independence organization led by Theobald Wolfe Tone
and Robert Emmet
), allied themselves with France against Britain, but as history would prove, to no effect. The songs, however, were passed down to latter generations.
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
that specialized in Celtic music. Founded by Lisa Null and Patrick Sky
Patrick Sky
Patrick Sky is a musician, singer and songwriter of Irish and Native American ancestry...
as Innisfree Records in 1973, the label was initially based in Null's house in New Canaan, Connecticut
New Canaan, Connecticut
New Canaan is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, northeast of Stamford, on the Fivemile River. The population was 19,738 according to the 2010 census.The town is one of the most affluent communities in the United States...
. In 1975, the label became Innisfree/Green Linnet and Wendy Newton joined Null and Sky. In 1976, Newton took over control of the now Green Linnet label and moved it to Danbury, Connecticut
Danbury, Connecticut
Danbury is a city in northern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It had population at the 2010 census of 80,893. Danbury is the fourth largest city in Fairfield County and is the seventh largest city in Connecticut....
. Newton became sole owner in 1978. Newton's love of Irish music had been sparked during a visit to Ireland where she heard traditional music for the first time in a small pub in County Clare
County Clare
-History:There was a Neolithic civilisation in the Clare area — the name of the peoples is unknown, but the Prehistoric peoples left evidence behind in the form of ancient dolmen; single-chamber megalithic tombs, usually consisting of three or more upright stones...
.
Artists and imprints
Green Linnet signed Altan, CapercaillieCapercaillie (band)
Capercaillie is a Scottish folk band, founded in the 1980s by Donald Shaw and fronted by Karen Matheson. They have seen four of their albums placed in the UK Albums Chart, and continue to perform and record to the present day.-History:...
, The Tannahill Weavers
The Tannahill Weavers
The Tannahill Weavers are a popular band who performs traditional Scottish music. Releasing their first album in 1976 they became notable for being one of the first popular bands to incorporate the sound of the Great Highland Bagpipe in an ensemble setting, and in doing so helped to change the...
and many other significant bands and musicians. From its founding until its sale in 2006 Green Linnet was one of the most influential Celtic music
Celtic music
Celtic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...
labels, releasing hundreds of albums by a panoply of Irish, Scottish, Breton
Breton people
The Bretons are an ethnic group located in the region of Brittany in France. They trace much of their heritage to groups of Brythonic speakers who emigrated from southwestern Great Britain in waves from the 3rd to 6th century into the Armorican peninsula, subsequently named Brittany after them.The...
, Galician and Irish-American musicians. In 1992 a subsidiary called Xenophile Records
Xenophile Records
Xenophile Records is a Nashville, Tennessee based sublabel of Green Linnet Records that specializes in world music from Madagascar, Nigeria, Haiti and other countries. The label was started in 1992 in Danbury, Connecticut by Wendy Newton as a subsidiary of Green Linnet. In 2006, Newton sold Green...
was added to feature world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
from Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
, Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
and other countries. In 1997 Green Linnet launched Celtophile Records
Celtophile Records
Celtophile Records was a Danbury, Connecticut-based sublabel of Green Linnet Records that specialized in budget compilations of Celtic music. The label was started in 1997 in Danbury, Connecticut by Green Linnet owner Wendy Newton. It operated until 2006, when Newton sold Green Linnet to Digital...
to offer budget-priced compilations. There was also a Green Linnet/Redbird series that featured singer-songwriters.
Artist lawsuit and legacy
In 2002, Green Linnet was sued for unpaid royalties by bands Cherish the LadiesCherish the Ladies
Cherish the Ladies is an American all-female Irish-American super group. The band began as a concert series in New York in January 1985, the brainchild of Mick Moloney who wanted to showcase the brightest female musicians in America in what had been a male-dominated scene...
and Altan and artists Mick Moloney
Mick Moloney
Michael "Mick" Moloney is a traditional Irish musician and scholar. Born in Limerick, County Limerick, he was an important figure on the Dublin folk-song revival in the 1960s. In 1973, he moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
, Joanie Madden
Joanie Madden
Joanie Madden is an Irish-American flute and whistle player of Irish Traditional Music. She is best known as leader of the all-female group Cherish the Ladies, but has also recorded and performed with numerous other musicians, and as a solo artist. She also teaches master classes and...
and Eileen Ivers
Eileen Ivers
Eileen Ivers is an Irish-American musician.Eileen Ivers was born in New York City of Irish-born parents and grew up in the Bronx. She spent summers in Ireland and took up the fiddle at the age of nine. Her teacher was the Irish fiddler Martin Mulvihill. She toured with Mick Moloney's band The...
. Most artists were paid and most claims were settled in 2006. There remain, however, a number of outstanding claims that have yet to be resolved, clouding the legacy left behind by Green Linnet and its then-owner Wendy Newton.
In May 2006 Newton sold the label to the Digital Music Group, an aggregator of downloadable music. DMG in turn sold the rights to manufacture and distribute Green Linnet and Xenophile physical compact discs to Compass Records
Compass Records
Compass Records is a Nashville-based independent record label founded in 1995 by musicians Garry West and Alison Brown. Currently home to nearly 100 folk, bluegrass, Celtic, jazz, and new acoustic artists, the label releases about 20 records a year...
. Both the Green Linnet and Xenophile catalogs remain available through Compass.
List of Green Linnet artists
- 3 Way Street
- Ad Vielle Que PourraAd Vielle Que PourraAd Vielle Que Pourra was a Quebec music group founded in 1985 performing traditional celtic music, mostly from Brittany. Members have included Daniel Thonon, Luc Thonon, Gilles Plante, Alain Leroux, Clement Demers-Recordings:...
- Altan
- Andy IrvineAndy Irvine (musician)Andrew Kennedy 'Andy' Irvine is a folk musician, singer, and songwriter, and a founding member of the popular band Planxty. He is an accomplished player of the mandolin, bouzouki, mandola, guitar-bouzouki, harmonica and hurdy-gurdy....
- Andy M. StewartAndy M. StewartAndy M. Stewart is a Scottish singer and songwriter, formerly the frontman for Silly Wizard.Stewart toured with Silly Wizard until the band broke up in 1988. Since then, he has recorded four solo albums, as well as three with Manus Lunny...
- Andy M. Stewart & Manus LunnyManus LunnyManus Lunny is an Irish producer and multi-instrumentalist from County Donegal, Ireland. He is the brother of multi-instrumentalist and producer Dónal Lunny.-Biography:...
- Billy McComiskey
- Brendan Mulvihill
- Brian Conway & Tony DeMarcoTony DeMarcoTony DeMarco is a boxer and world welterweight champion. He was born in Boston and grew up in that city's North End community. Tony DeMarco's actual birth name is Leonardo Liotta. Tony’s father Vincent and mother Giacomina came from Sicily.To box in the league, the minimum age was 18...
- Brian Keane
- Brooks WilliamsBrooks WilliamsBrooks Williams is an American acoustic guitarist and singer/songwriter. His style combines roots, jazz, blues, classical, and folk...
- Buttons & Bows
- CapercaillieCapercaillie (band)Capercaillie is a Scottish folk band, founded in the 1980s by Donald Shaw and fronted by Karen Matheson. They have seen four of their albums placed in the UK Albums Chart, and continue to perform and record to the present day.-History:...
- Celtic Fiddle Festival
- Celtic ThunderCeltic ThunderCeltic Thunder is a singing group composed of male soloists who perform both solo and ensemble numbers. Celtic Thunder debuted in August 2007 at The Helix in Dublin, Ireland...
- Cherish the LadiesCherish the LadiesCherish the Ladies is an American all-female Irish-American super group. The band began as a concert series in New York in January 1985, the brainchild of Mick Moloney who wanted to showcase the brightest female musicians in America in what had been a male-dominated scene...
- Daithi SprouleDáithí SprouleDáithí Sproule is a guitarist and singer of traditional Irish music from Derry, Northern Ireland. His niece is the singer songwriter Claire Sproule.-Biography:...
- DéantaDéantaDéanta is an Irish traditional music band from Northern Ireland. The name of the band is the Irish word for done or made. The band, formed in the early 1990s in County Antrim, played together until 1997 and regrouped in 2008. The band were noted members of the traditional music scene in Ireland...
- Donna Long & Brendan Mulvihill
- Eileen Ivers
- Ensemble Choral Du Bout Du Monde
- Eugene O'Donnell
- Ffynnon
- Green Fields of AmericaGreen Fields of AmericaThe Green Fields of America is an ensemble which performs and promotes Irish traditional music in the United States."The Green Fields of America" was formed in 1978 in Philadelphia and still led by musician and folklorist Mick Moloney. The band was created to present and tour some of Irish...
- The House BandThe House BandThe House Band was a musical group formed in Edinburgh in 1984 by musicians Ged Foley , Jimmy Young , Iain Macleod and Chris Parkinson...
- Irish Tradition
- James KeaneJames Keane (musician)James Keane is an Irish traditional musician and accordion player. The Italian Castagnari company issued and continues a line of signature instruments called keanebox in his honor....
- Jerry O'SullivanJerry O'SullivanJerry O'Sullivan is a contemporary Irish-American musician.Jerry was born in New York. As a youngster he learned Scottish highland bagpipes. Following a visit to his cousins in Dublin he took up uilleann pipes....
- Joanie Madden
- Joe Burke
- Joe Burke/Michael Cooney/Terry Corcoran
- Joe DerraneJoe DerraneJoe Derrane is an Irish-American button accordion player, the greatest exponent of the D/C# system diatonic accordion.Derrane's parents were Irish immigrants. His father played accordion and his mother the fiddle...
- John FaulknerJohn FaulknerJohn Philip Faulkner is an Australian politician. He has been a Labor member of the Australian Senate since 1989, representing the state of New South Wales. Following a period serving on various Senate Committees and as Deputy Whip, he was a Minister in the Keating Labor government 1993-96...
- John WilliamsJohn WilliamsJohn Towner Williams is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career spanning almost six decades, he has composed some of the most recognizable film scores in the history of motion pictures, including the Star Wars saga, Jaws, Superman, the Indiana Jones films, E.T...
- Johnny B. Connolly
- Johnny CunninghamJohnny CunninghamJohnny Cunningham was a Scottish folk musician. He was a founding member of Silly Wizard, as well as a member of Relativity, The Raindogs, and Nightnoise. Throughout his career, Cunningham was also a fiddler, composer and producer. His younger brother, Phil Cunningham, is a multi-instrumentalist...
- Kevin Burke
- Kevin Burke and Open House
- Kevin CrawfordKevin CrawfordKevin Crawford is a flute, tin whistle and bodhrán player. Born on 6 December 1967 in Birmingham, Englandto Irish parents who emigrated from Miltown Malbay, County Clare...
- Kips BayKips BayKips Bay is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Because there are no official boundaries for New York City neighborhoods, the limits of Kip's Bay are somewhat vague, but it is often considered to be the area between East 23rd Street and East 34th Street extending from...
- KornogKornogKornog is a Breton folk music band formed in the 1980s. They are notable in that they have been perhaps the only Breton band to have had a serious touring presence in the United States, so for many in North America, Kornog defines Breton music. The word ‘kornog’ means “west” in the Breton language...
- Liz CarrollLiz CarrollLiz Carroll is an Irish-American musician. She was born in Chicago of Irish parents. In 1974 she won the All-Ireland under 18 fiddle championship. The next year she won the All-Ireland Senior Fiddle Championship....
- LúnasaLúnasa (band)-History:Named after Lughnasadh, an ancient Irish harvest festival, Lúnasa was started when Seán Smyth, Trevor Hutchinson, and Donogh Hennessy briefly toured through Scandinavia in 1996. Upon their return to Ireland, they teamed up with Michael McGoldrick and John McSherry to record a few tracks...
- Manus McGuireManus McGuireManus McGuire is an Irish fiddle player born in County Sligo now residing in County Clare. In 1970, he won Sligo's prestigious "Fiddler of Dooney" competition,at age 14.He is a founding member of "Buttons and Bows" "Moving Cloud" and The Brock McGuire Band....
- Martin HayesMartin Hayes (musician)Martin Hayes is a fiddler, born in Maghera in East County Clare, Ireland, and now living in West Hartford, Connecticut. He has been the All Ireland Fiddle Champion six times, and has won a National Entertainment Award, and the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2000 award for Instrumentalist of the Year...
- Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill
- Martin Mulhaire, Seamus Connolly and Jack Coen
- Matt MolloyMatt MolloyMatt Molloy is an Irish musician, from a region known for producing talented flautists. As a child, he began playing the flute and won the All-Ireland Flute Championship at only seventeen years old...
- Mick MoloneyMick MoloneyMichael "Mick" Moloney is a traditional Irish musician and scholar. Born in Limerick, County Limerick, he was an important figure on the Dublin folk-song revival in the 1960s. In 1973, he moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
- Mick Moloney, Jimmy Keane, Robbie O'Connell with Liz Carroll
- Moving Cloud
- Niamh Parsons
- Oisín Mac Diarmada
- Old Blind DogsOld Blind DogsOld Blind Dogs is a Scottish musical group which plays traditional Scottish folk music and Celtic music, with influences from rock, reggae, jazz, blues and Middle Eastern music rhythms...
- Orealis
- Paddy O'Brien
- Pan Morigan
- Pat Kilbride
- Patrick StreetPatrick StreetPatrick Street is an Irish folk group.The band was formed in Dublin in 1986 with Kevin Burke on fiddle, Jackie Daly on button accordion, Andy Irvine on bouzouki and vocals, and Arty McGlynn on guitar...
- Rare AirRare AirRare Air, formerly Na Cabarfeidh, was a Canadian band that played an eccentric mix of instruments, including bagpipes, flutes, whistles, bombardes, bass guitar, and keyboards. The group, founded in the late 1970s as a celtic folk music band, was originally led by bagpipe virtuosos Grier Coppins and...
- Reeltime
- RelativityRelativity (band)Relativity was a Scotch-Irish quartet formed in 1985 consisting of two Scottish brothers and an Irish brother and sister. The four members of the band were brothers Phil Cunningham and John Cunningham , from the influential Scottish band Silly Wizard, and Irish sister and brother Tríona Ní...
- Seamus EnnisSéamus EnnisSéamus Ennis was an Irish piper, singer and folk-song collector.- Early years :In 1908 James Ennis, Séamus's father, was in a pawn-shop in London. Ennis bought a bag of small pieces of Uilleann pipes. They were made in the early nineteenth century by Coyne of Thomas Street in Dublin. James worked...
- SileasSileasSíleas is a Scottish harp duo. Patsy Seddon plays electric harp and gut-strung harp, and Mary Macmaster plays electric harp and metal-strung harp. Together they make up part of the all-women folk band The Poozies....
- Susan McKeownSusan McKeownSusan McKeown is an Irish songwriter, folk singer and producer.-Early years:Susan McKeown was born on February 6, 1967 to John Ryan and Jane Ann McKeown in Terenure, Dublin, Ireland. She was greatly influenced by her mother, an organist and composer who died in 1982...
- Tannahill Weavers
- TéadaTéadaTéada is a traditional Irish music group from Ireland. The band comprises five members. The members are Oisín Mac Diarmada who plays the Téada is a traditional [[Irish music]] group from [[Ireland]]. The band comprises five members. The members are [[Oisín Mac Diarmada]] who plays the Téada is a...
- Tom DohertyTom DohertyTom Doherty is an American publisher, and the founder of Tor Books. After working as a book salesman in the 1950s and 1960s, Doherty became publisher of Tempo Books in 1972; in 1975, he became, in addition, publisher of another company also owned by Grosset & Dunlap, the science fiction imprint...
- Tommy SandsTommy SandsTommy Adrian Sands is an American pop music singer and actor.-Early life:Born into a musical family in Chicago, Illinois, Sands' father was a pianist and his mother a big-band singer. While still young, he moved with his family to Shreveport, Louisiana...
- Touchstone
- Trian
- Tulla Ceili Band
- WolfstoneWolfstoneWolfstone are a Scottish musical group founded in 1989, who play Highland music combined with rock and roll. Their repertoire consists of both original songs and traditional folk pieces. To date, they have released seven studio albums, the latest, Terra Firma, in 2007. The band record on their own...
Source of the name "Green Linnet"
A linnetLinnet
The Linnet is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae.The Linnet derives its scientific name from its fondness for hemp and its English name from its liking for seeds of flax, from which linen is made.- Description :...
is a red-breasted song bird known for its twills and twitters, however in the Irish rebel song tradition the name "Green Linnet" has a specific meaning. It was the code name for Napoleon Bonaparte who they hoped would break the chains of British rule. Indeed in the early 19th century the Society of United Irishmen (the Irish independence organization led by Theobald Wolfe Tone
Theobald Wolfe Tone
Theobald Wolfe Tone or Wolfe Tone , was a leading Irish revolutionary figure and one of the founding members of the United Irishmen and is regarded as the father of Irish Republicanism. He was captured by British forces at Lough Swilly in Donegal and taken prisoner...
and Robert Emmet
Robert Emmet
Robert Emmet was an Irish nationalist and Republican, orator and rebel leader born in Dublin, Ireland...
), allied themselves with France against Britain, but as history would prove, to no effect. The songs, however, were passed down to latter generations.
See also
- List of record labels
- Compass RecordsCompass RecordsCompass Records is a Nashville-based independent record label founded in 1995 by musicians Garry West and Alison Brown. Currently home to nearly 100 folk, bluegrass, Celtic, jazz, and new acoustic artists, the label releases about 20 records a year...
- Xenophile RecordsXenophile RecordsXenophile Records is a Nashville, Tennessee based sublabel of Green Linnet Records that specializes in world music from Madagascar, Nigeria, Haiti and other countries. The label was started in 1992 in Danbury, Connecticut by Wendy Newton as a subsidiary of Green Linnet. In 2006, Newton sold Green...
- Celtophile RecordsCeltophile RecordsCeltophile Records was a Danbury, Connecticut-based sublabel of Green Linnet Records that specialized in budget compilations of Celtic music. The label was started in 1997 in Danbury, Connecticut by Green Linnet owner Wendy Newton. It operated until 2006, when Newton sold Green Linnet to Digital...