Keltia Musique is a French

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

and distribution company specializing in

Celtic music Celtic music is a broad grouping of music genres that evolved out of the folk music traditions of the Celtic people of Northwestern Europe. It refers to both orally-transmitted traditional music and recorded music and the styles vary considerab ...

. It was founded in 1978 in

Quimper Quimper (, ; br, Kemper ; la, Civitas Aquilonia or ) is a commune and prefecture of the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France. Administration Quimper is the prefecture (capital) of the Finistère department. Geography The ...

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

, by Hervé Le Meur.

History

The company was founded by Hervé Le Meur, co-founder of

Bagad Kemper Bagad Kemper (using the Breton name for the town of Quimper) is one of the oldest bagad, Breton pipe bands. Formed in 1949, its first president was none other than Loeïz Ropars, renovator of the Fest Noz (dance party) and kan ha diskan singer (Bre ...

and Bodadeg ar Sonerion (B.A.S.), who died in 1996. Le Meur sold Celtic music records and

bagad A bagad (, ) is a Breton band, composed of bagpipes ( br, binioù, french: cornemuse), bombards and drums (including snare, tenor and bass drums). The pipe band tradition in Brittany was inspired by the Scottish example and has developed since ...

instruments in his basement, apart from his other activities and his work as an accountant. Customers that visited the basement store include

Alan Stivell Alan Stivell (; born Alan Cochevelou on 6 January 1944) is a French, Breton and Celtic musician and singer, songwriter, recording artist, and master of the Celtic harp. From the early 1970s, he revived global interest in the Celtic (specifically ...

. He later moved to the historic city center of Quimper in order to share his passion and make it known to the public. The store in Quimper was opened in 1978, and Le Meur also began producing records under the Keltia Musique label at this time. The first records produced were by the Bagad Kemper. In France, the company distributes music from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Galicia, Cornwall, the Isle of Man and Brittany. The beginning of Keltia coincided with the decline of vinyl and the arrival of the CD. In 1986, Keltia Musique released its first five CDs of Breton music: Bagad Kemper's ''War an dachenn'',

Dan Ar Braz Dan Ar Braz (; born Daniel Le Bras on 15 January 1949 in Quimper) is a Breton guitarist-singer-composer and the founder of L'Héritage des Celtes, a 50-piece Pan-Celt band. Leading guitarist in Celtic music, Dan Ar Braz has recorded as a solo ...

's ''Music For the Silences To Come'', Dominig Bouchaud's ''Vibrations'',

Sonerien Du Sonerien Du is a group of Breton music adapted for the dances in Fest Noz. The group was born in 1972, in Alan Stivell's trail, harpist of the Celtic Revival. Driving force of the Breton culture, the group crossed periods of concerts and'' festo ...

's ''Amzer Glaz'', and one compilation album. The label's musical styles range from traditional to progressive. In the early 1980s,

Celtic rock Celtic rock is a genre of folk rock, as well as a form of Celtic fusion which incorporates Celtic music, instrumentation and themes into a rock music context. It has been extremely prolific since the early 1970s and can be seen as a key foundat ...

became popular with bands such as

Horslips Horslips are an Irish Celtic rock band that compose, arrange and perform songs frequently inspired by traditional Irish airs, jigs and Reel (dance), reels. The group are regarded as 'founding fathers of Celtic rock' for their fusion of tradit ...

Clannad Clannad () is an Irish band formed in 1970 in Gweedore, County Donegal by siblings Ciarán, Pól, and Moya Brennan and their twin uncles Noel and Pádraig Duggan. They have adopted various musical styles throughout their history, including f ...

The Waterboys The Waterboys are a folk rock band formed in Edinburgh in 1983 by Scottish musician Mike Scott. The band's membership, past and present, has been composed mainly of musicians from Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England. Mike Scott has remained ...

The Silencers ''The Silencers'' is the title of a 1962 spy novel by Donald Hamilton, the fourth in a series of books featuring assassin Matt Helm. Plot summary When a female agent in Mexico is killed before Helm can complete his mission to extract her, he f ...

Moving Hearts Moving Hearts is an Irish Celtic rock band formed in 1981. They followed in the footsteps of Horslips in combining Irish traditional music with rock and roll, and also added elements of jazz to their sound.Harris, Craig''Moving Hearts'' AllMusic ...

, U2, and

The Pogues The Pogues were an English or Anglo-Irish Celtic punk band fronted by Shane MacGowan and others, founded in Kings Cross, London in 1982, as "Pogue Mahone" – the anglicisation of the Irish Gaelic ''póg mo thóin'', meaning "kiss my arse". T ...

. Most of these bands had music distributed by Keltia. By 1990, the company had a catalog of 500 works. As the customer base expanded, the company began exporting internationally. In 1987, at

Midem Midem is the acronym for Marché International du Disque et de l'Édition Musicale, which is organised annually in and around the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès in Cannes, France. The trade show, organized by Reed MIDEM, a subsidiary of Re ...

, the company met with the producer of

Texan Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by bo ...

singer

Michelle Shocked Michelle Shocked (born Karen Michelle Johnston; February 24, 1962) is an American singer-songwriter. Her music has entered the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, been nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album, and received an award f ...

. As a result, Keltia distributed ''

The Texas Campfire Tapes ''The Texas Campfire Tapes'' is the first album by American singer and songwriter Michelle Shocked. The album was on a Sony Walkman during an impromptu set performed by Shocked around the eponymous campfire at the Kerrville Folk Festival in Texa ...

''. Since 1989, Hervé's son Alain Le Meur, along with Alain's brother Hervé, runs the family business. Alain's wife Eleanor drafts contracts in English and his brother Pol designs the album covers. On the covers, the Breton language is used as well as French and English. Keltia's catalog still has about 500 works. Artists found in the catalog include those produced by Keltia, such as the Bagad Kemper, Dan Ar Braz, Les Goristes,

Red Cardell Red Cardell is a Breton rock band that mixes Breton music with rock, folk, blues, world music and chanson réaliste. The group was formed in 1992 by Jean-Pierre Riou (vocals, guitars), Jean-Michel Moal (accordion) and Ian Proërer (drums). With t ...

and Michel Tonnerre, as well as artists distributed by the label, such as

Sinéad O'Connor Shuhada Sadaqat (born Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor on 8 December 1966; ) is an Irish singer-songwriter. Her debut album, ''The Lion and the Cobra'', was released in 1987 and charted internationally. Her second album, ''I Do Not Want What ...

and

Loreena McKennitt Loreena Isobel Irene McKennitt, (born February 17, 1957) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and composer who writes, records, and performs world music with Celtic and Middle Eastern influences. McKennitt is known for her ...

. In addition to albums, Keltia Musique also sells

sheet music Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses List of musical symbols, musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chord (music), chords of a song or instrumental Musical composition, musical piece. Like ...

and Breton

musical instruments A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...

Artists distributed by Keltia

The Celtic Social Club The Celtic Social Club is a musical band formed in 2013 and led by Manu Masko. The band is formed by a group of Bretons and Scots musicians, members of The Silencers, Red Cardell and Ronan Le Bars Group with guests related to the world Celti ...

* Sinead O'Connor *

The Chieftains The Chieftains are a traditional Irish folk band formed in Dublin in 1962, by Paddy Moloney, Seán Potts and Michael Tubridy. Their sound, which is almost entirely instrumental and largely built around uilleann pipes, has become synonymous wi ...

The Dubliners The Dubliners were an Folk music of Ireland, Irish folk band founded in Dublin in 1962 as The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group, named after its founding member; they subsequently renamed themselves The Dubliners. The line-up saw many changes in personn ...

Cécile Corbel Cécile Corbel (born 28 March 1980, in Pont-Croix, Finistère, France) is a French and Breton singer, harpist, and composer. She has released five albums of original music and worked for Studio Ghibli as a composer for its 2010 film, ''The Borro ...

* Solas *

Lúnasa Lughnasadh or Lughnasa ( , ) is a Gaelic festival marking the beginning of the harvest season. Historically, it was widely observed throughout Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. In Modern Irish it is called , in gd, Lùnastal, and in gv, ...

* Altan *

Dónal Lunny Dónal Lunny (born 10 March 1947) is an Irish folk musician and producer. He plays left-handed guitar and bouzouki, as well as keyboards and bodhrán. As a founding member of popular bands Planxty, The Bothy Band, Moving Hearts, Coolfin, Mozai ...

* * *

Gilles Servat Gilles Servat is a French singer, born in Tarbes in southern France in 1945, into a family whose roots lay in the Nantes region of Brittany. He is an ardent promoter ardent of the Breton culture, and sings in both French and Breton, as well as ...

Louise Ebrel Louise Ebrel (27 July 1932 – 30 March 2020) was a Breton singer whose parents Eugénie Goadec (one of the Goadec Sisters) and Job Ebrel were themselves singers. Her repertoire was composed of traditional Breton songs, either for dancing ('' ...

* *

Téada Téada, an Irish band, plays traditional music. Téada is Irish for "strings". The five members of the band are fiddle player Oisín Mac Diarmada, button accordion player Paul Finn, Damien Stenson performs on flute, Seán Mc Elwain switches be ...

* *

Pat O'May Pat O'May (born 1961) is a French musician who blends rock music with elements of world music. He originally worked with the heavy metal band Marienthal, and also produced several solo albums. He has written over 100 tracks for the TV show ''Eur ...

* Jimmie O'Neill * * * Les Ours du Scorff * * * * * * * * *

Kornog Kornog ("The West Wind" in Breton) is a Breton folk music band formed in 1980 which plays traditional Breton or Celtic tunes and compositions. It was one of the most influential Celtic groups of the 1980s and one of the only representative ...

* * * * David Hopkins

References

External links

* NB This web address is a Turkish online gambling company "Mobilbahis", NOT Keltia Musique! {{Authority control Record labels established in 1978 French independent record labels