I'm from the east coast of Canada where almost all of the nation's celtic rock comes from and it is very interesting to see the way that it is recieved around the world. You guys seem like rabid fans of the kind of music that is played in multiple bars around Halifax (my home town) on a nightly basis. Where I, myself(also a musician) see it as coloquial and derivative, you see at as fresh, exciting and new. I remember the way it used to make me dance and swing even sitting down at places like The Lower Deck and The Split Crow, then it became so popular that you couldn't escape it, with lots of very talented musicians playing the sound into the ground.
I hope to catch off-kilter on my upcoming trip so that I can perhaps recapture some of the magic I used to cherish by listening to it with people around me that are just discovering its virtues. If you are a fan of this music, then I strongly suggest that you come and visit Halifax some summer. There's a ton of very talented musicians playing it.