Solas
Contemporary and Traditional Celtic
$20/advance,
$22/door, Under 17/$10
Children under 12 free with paying adult
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Unitarian Center, 4th and C Streets, Ashland
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 • 8PM
- Seamus Egan – flute, tenor banjo, mandolin, tin whistle,
low whistle, guitars, bodhran
- Winifred Horan – violins, vocals
- Mick McAuley – accordians, contertina, low whistle,
vocals
- Eamon McElholm – guitars, keyboards, vocals
- Máiréad Phelan – vocals
Since its birth in 1996, Solas has been loudly proclaimed as
the most popular, influential, and exciting Celtic band to ever
emerge from the United States. Even before the release of its
first Shanachie CD, the Boston Herald trumpeted the quartet as “the
first truly great Irish band to arise from America,” and
the Irish Echo ranked Solas among the “most exciting bands
anywhere in the world.” Since then, the praise has only
grown louder. The Philadelphia Inquirer said they make “mind-blowing
Irish folk music, maybe the world’s best.” The New
York Times praised their “unbridled vitality“, the
Washington Post dubbed them one of the “world’s finest
Celtic-folk ensembles” and the Austin American-Statesman
called them “the standard by which contemporary Celtic
groups are judged.”
Solas is virtually unique in the new territory it has opened
up for Celtic music. It has performed at all the major Celtic
and folk festivals, including Philadelphia, Edmonton, the legendary
National Folk Festival, and Milwaukee’s Irish fest; but
also at Telluride Bluegrass Festival, and the chamber music summer
series at Steamboat Springs, Colorado. It has performed at Symphony
Hall, Wolf Trap, the Ford Amphitheater, and Queens Hall in Edinburgh,
Scotland. In New York City, where the band was based in its early
years, it has played at the legendary Bottom Line folk club,
but also at vaunted classical venues Town Hall and Symphony Space.
The Solas sound today is anchored by founders Seamus Egan,
who plays flute, tenor banjo, mandolin, whistle, guitar and bodhran,
and fiddler Winifred Horan. They are two of the most respected—and
imitated—musicians anywhere in acoustic music. Mick McAuley
from Kilkenny plays accordion and concertina; Eamon McElholm
from Tyrone plays guitar and keyboards.
Although Solas can play undiluted traditional Irish music as
well as anyone alive or departed, they are always varying the
mix of fire-tested tradition and contemporary sensibility with
an ease and naturalness that is as astonishing as their overwhelming
musicianship. As a result, they transcend musical genres into
the realm of pure musical expression that only a relative handful
of musicians attain.
The internationally acclaimed supergroup has not only captured
the hearts and ears of Irish music fans, but fans all around
the globe with their blend of Celtic traditional, folk and country
melodies, bluesy sometimes jazz-inspired improvisations and global
rhythms. Solas has built a fanbase that includes the likes of
Bela Fleck, Emmylou Harris and the much sought-after rap producer
Timbaland who surprisingly sampled the band on his radio hit “All
Yall.”
Their latest release is a live CD and DVD called “Reunion” (Compass
Records) which celebrates the bands tenth anniversary.
For more information, visit www.solasmusic.com. |
