PAtrick o-Shaun Young, That KelticDead Guy

Creator of the KelticDead Music "Broadside" Initiative

Shaun is a retired systems engineer, and after retiring he took up his childhood "hobby interest" in finding, collecting, and arranging folk tunes and songs that are part of the Celtic, Folk, Americana, Country, and Seafaring genre. Starting in the 1980s he began working as a columnist with the Southwest Celtic Music Association's Newsletter (CEILI), where he began arranging the tunes and songs that he found into simple, 8-bar formats for folk to use with acoustic folk instruments like the six-hole whistle and harmonica. His favorite instrument now is the Irish-tuned, Low-Octave Mandolin or Bouzouki, and he is an aspiring bodhran player.

Shaun is a self-taught musician (with a LOT of help from his musician friends), a writer, storyteller, and an audio-visual engineer.  Shaun began the concept of relaying the stories about the tunes and songs he finds into free, on-line publications as "Broadsides" as a music-education experience.

His musician friends help him with his live acoustic "projects," and while these musicians have their own pursuits, they are greatly appreciated in helping to create the Video and Story Broadside projects that are part of the KelticDead Music initiative.
KelticDead Musician friends
These are the musician friends who help to create the KelticDead Music projects. They are listed in each KDM Video that they help to create. Each KDM Video provides a listing of what instrument they use and any other support that they provide. 

Earnie Taft

Earnie Taft is a self-taught fiddler and a long-time veteran of the North Texas folk music scene.  Through the 1970’s and 80’s he performed with Saltlick, an eclectic bluegrass band based out of Fort Worth, Texas.  His interest in Old Time music led him to help form the New Dallas String Band in the late 1970’s performing nineteenth century rural dance music from America and Ireland.  This led to six years in the mid-1980’s with Tinker’s Dam, the first Irish Ceili band of Dallas, Texas.  In 1993 he joined The Irish Rogues which was known as “Dallas’ Premier Irish Pub Band”.  The band, until it disbanded in 2023, was an integral part of the Southwest Celtic Music Association and the North Texas Irish Festival.  Earnie continues to fiddle with the Lone Star String Band, performing American fiddle tunes from the nineteenth century.

Earnie uses a variety of folk instruments like the fiddle, mandolin, and banjo. Watch a full stage production with Earnie Taft and the Lone Star String Band. 

Linda King

Linda King has been involved in Folk music in the Southwest and Texas for many years, and has just recently moved to Little Rock, Arkansas where she continues to play her guitar and sing in folk and Celtic music bands. Her current group projects include Seisiun (a group of six musicians playing in session style), and Straw Cross (in honor of Brigit) as a female duo team with a focus on playing and singing music of our foremothers and other lost voices. 

She has a classic music education and widely known within the North Texas Irish music groups as part of the Amberhawke group. She provides supporting guitar and voice for the KelticDead Music projects, and adds her chording interpretations with the KDM sheet music arrangements. These are part of the KDM Broadside PDF stories.

Linda continues to perform at the North Texas Irish Festivals in Dallas, Texas each year and works with Veterans at St. Francis House in Little Rock, Arkansas.
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