Thanks Hobie,

Once again you introduce me to some artists I had never heard of and whom I like very much. I wanted to hear more and found a whole playlist and am going through it now.

There is something about Irish and Scottish tunes which often grabs me and puts me in a kind of emotional state, and this happens so consistently I can't help but attribute it to my Scotch-Irish-Welsh genetic makeup. Is this possible? Can the presence of all those ancestors in my DNA affect how I hear music? I don't know but I have no other explanation.

Here's another sample of The High Kings from the playlist I found, a song called 'The Red Rose'. You will probably recognize the tune since it is the same as the more widely known Scottish song 'Loch Lomond'.

The High Kings - Red Is The Rose

http://youtu.be/Hl3Ce3XJSD8?list=RDTV05CrUOaoc

You can view the full playlist by clicking the upper left of the video, or an even better full frame view by clicking this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hl3Ce3XJSD8&index=22&list=RDTV05CrUOaoc&spfreload=1

The High Kings have their own website here:

http://www.thehighkings.com/

Meanwhile I am mystified and amazed by the idea that one's DNA might actually affect one's reaction to something like music. Sometimes the effect comes on very profoundly, bringing on a state where the heart region is deeply moved and inexplicable tears start to flow. There is a feeling of nostalgia (wordweb: 'longing for something past') which seems to reach back beyond one's current ('known') lifetime and gives credence to the concept that 'all my ancestors are within me'.

Even modern DNA research is supporting this concept. Here are a few quotes from articles on this topic:

Phobias may be memories passed down in genes from ancestors
Memories may be passed down through generations in DNA in a process that may be the underlying cause of phobias

Memories can be passed down to later generations through genetic switches that allow offspring to inherit the experience of their ancestors, according to new research that may explain how phobias can develop.

Scientists have long assumed that memories and learned experiences built up during a lifetime must be passed on by teaching later generations or through personal experience.

However, new research has shown that it is possible for some information to be inherited biologically through chemical changes that occur in DNA.

Researchers at the Emory University School of Medicine, in Atlanta, found that mice can pass on learned information about traumatic or stressful experiences – in this case a fear of the smell of cherry blossom – to subsequent generations.

The results may help to explain why people suffer from seemingly irrational phobias – it may be based on the inherited experiences of their ancestors.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/10486479/Phobias-may-be-memories-passed-down-in-genes-from-ancestors.html#disqus_thread

Deep DNA memory theories: Can we remember our ancestors' lives?

In addition to determining our physical characteristics, our vulnerabilities to certain diseases, and maybe even our personality, is it possible that the DNA helix holds some of the important memories of our ancestors?

For humans, with our relatively complex brain, feelings and memories, what other kinds of experiences might be saved in our DNA over the many thousands of years when our ancestors were born, lived and died? And, can they be accessed by us here and now?

OUR ANCESTORS WITHIN US

Because learning about situations that are necessary for survival of a species are probably saved as a kind of unconscious genetic memory, those fundamental human experiences could be deep down in our DNA somewhere.

This study of what used to be called "junk DNA" is now known as "epigenetics". It is a field which has exploded in the last two decades. I have read enough about it to conclude that my otherwise inexplicably intense and emotional response to Scotch-Irish-Welsh music is indeed from the epigenetical presence of my ancestors within me via my father (Welsh) and mother (Scotch and Irish).

I find it amazing