A chairde,
Can anyone help with this? I'm looking for either music suggestions (artists who sing in Irish) or for read along book/cassette combinations. The language cassettes seem to be mainly short phrases and sentences, and I want to get a sense for how it all flows together. In much of the music I've listened to (which isn't much), the voice is overpowered by the instruments.

Something else I've been wondering about. In some of the language tapes, I think I'm hearing a variety of accents. In some cases, the Irish (to my Midwestern American ear)sounds accented by Irish-English, as if the speaker's birth language was English, learning Irish later. Is the Irish manner of speaking English a direct result of the Irish language, or is the Irish accented with the speakers birth language, English? I notice these differences in the quality of the vowels, and the broadening of consonants.

Go raibh maith agaibh!

A Roibeárd, a chara,

There are so many tapes with Irish stories and songs for you to listen to. And if I may be so bold as to suggest it, if you contact Siopa Dhaltaí, Tomás, an siopadóir, would be glad to get them for you if he doesn't already have them in stock. Of course you should consider Ceolta na Sí le Pádraig Mac A'Ghoill, cainteóir dúchais as Dún na nGall, reading poetry and Cogar, a set of very useful conversational tapes.
but here are a few more -

for stories & books to read along with:
Blaiseadh
Finscéalta na hÉireann
Seoda ár Sinsear
Íosagán agus Scéalta Eile

for music as Gaeilge your choices are endless - here are a few that are not sean nós:
A Stór a Stór le Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin (children's songs)
Skara Brae - le Skara Brae
Singing from Memory - by The Cassidys
Éist & Éist Aríst - compilations with many newly written songs

for sean nós -
An Dara Craiceann le Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin
An Buachaillín Bán le Áine Meirbhic
From my Tradition by Joe Heaney
An Clochar Bán le Treasa Ní Mhiolláin

Bain sult as an gceol . . . Rath

A Rath, a chara,
Thanks for taking the time to respond, and especially thanks for the great suggestions.
Slán,
Bob

Try listening to Radio na Gaeltachta on the Internet:
There is both a live stream and archived programs - news etc.
see : http://www.rte.ie/rams/rnagnew.ram for the live stream and
http://www.rte.ie/radio/av_rnag.html for downloads