Culture
Acclaimed Irish-American Band Coming to Marietta
By: Mark Hellenberg
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Solas, the premier traditional Irish-American band, has been touring this country for nearly two decades. This month, the group will make a stop at The Adelphia Music Hall, located in Marietta.
Multi-instrumentalist Seamus Egan, who had won the prestigious All–Ireland competition on four different instruments before he was 20 years old, founded the band in New York City with fiddler Winifred Horan.
Although the band has had several personal changes over the years, the core has remained the same and their unique and distinctive take on the music continues to possess an instantly recognizable and cohesive sound.
The lineup is rounded out by longtime member Mick McAuley on accordion, concertina and low whistle, and by guitarist Eamon McElholm.
Currently on a six-week long Spring tour, Solas is being joined by vocalist Moira Smiley, a diverse artist who not only sings traditional Celtic and American music, but who, on other projects, can be heard playing classical piano or performing with tUnE-yArDs.
“Moira has quite the eclectic background not necessarily rooted in Irish…She’s Americana, bluegrass, pop, folk, classical…she’s an amazing pianist,” Winifred Horan said of Smiley.
Solas, which has recorded 10 albums since its inception in 1996, has never been purely traditional, according to Horan.
“Obviously most of us in the band come from that traditional background, but we’ve explored other musical avenues so Moira fits in amazingly well. We are delighted to have her with us,” she said.
After the tour wraps up on the 21st , Horan said that they’ll take a few weeks off and start their next recording project.
“We’re going back into the studio to record a new album for the 20th anniversary of Solas. We are going to have everybody who was ever in the band do some tracks, new recordings, new material, the original line-up, all the singers who have come and gone…It should be quite interesting. We’ll do half the recording here in the States and then we’ll go back to Ireland to finish,” she explained.
Solas will be performing at the Adelphia Music Hall in Marietta on Friday, March 20 at p.m. The Athens-based ensemble Boys of the Hock will open. For tickets, visit www.thegalleymarietta.com.