Julie Murphy and Sharon Shannon are two of the most talented, forward-looking and musically challenging women in Celtic music. Both have captured the spirit of the times, setting a benchmark for a new generation of musicians in their respective traditions. They will soon be performing in Japan with fine bands, in gigs that should not be missed by anyone with even a passing interest in Celtic or roots music.

Welsh music isn't obviously "Celtic" music at all, sharing few similarities with its better-known Irish or Scottish cousins and their medieval and baroque elements. While Welsh rock bands from Manic Street Preachers to Gorky's Zygotic Mynci were putting Welsh contemporary music firmly on the music map -- sometimes even singing in Welsh -- nobody had really picked up the mantle for the traditional music with the same zest. That is, until Fernhill arrived on the scene with its first album in 1996.

It came as quite a shock to discover that the voice behind those Welsh lyrics, delivered with a remarkable intensity and beauty, was in fact that of a woman from Essex, England -- Julie Murphy.