GAELIC STORM landed their career-catapulting role in Titanic while still drinking pints and playing weekly at O'Brien's on Main, a local Irish pub in their adopted hometown of Santa Monica. After the film's release, huge crowds met the band on their first tour. However, they still pride themselves on remaining as accessible as ever and sharing a pint with fans whenever possible.A mini-documentary about Gaelic Storm airs regularly on Cinemax, and the band has appeared numerous times on national and international TV.
Perhaps the best indication of Gaelic Storm's newfound international success came when Michael Flatley (of Lord of the Dance fame) met Gaelic Storm vocalist and songwriter Patrick Murphy in Murphy's hometown, Cork City, Ireland. "I told him he did a superb job of advancing Irish culture throughout the world, like the Chieftains have for years," Murphy says, "and he said, 'In fairness to you, you've probably introduced Irish music to five minutes of fame with that little film clip.'"
On St. Patrick's Day, 1996, co-founders Patrick Murphy of Cork City, Ireland (vocals, piano, accordion, spoons, harmonica) and New Yorker Steve Wehmeyer (bodhrán, vocals, digeridoo) officially joined forces with Steve Twigger of Coventry, England (guitar, mandolin, bouzouki, vocals), at O'Brien's pub in Santa Monica. Their first performance was such a hit that the crowd refused to let them off the stage for the next act. Adding additional players, the band has fine-tuned their line-up to this day. Currently, Gaelic Storm also includes: Ryan Lacey on drums and world percussion (graduated twice from the Los Angeles Music Academy, once for hands and once for sticks), Ellery Klein on fiddle (who holds a MA degree in Traditional Irish Music from the University of Limerick) and Pete Purvis of Merrickville, Ontario on Highland Pipes (a Grade 1 piper who toured with award winning pipebands including the Braemar Pipe Band and played at 2000 Syndey Olympics).
KEN O'MALLEY was born and raised in Dublin City, and is one of seven children born into a musical family. At nine years old, his father gave him a ukulele; later he taught himself guitar and mandolin. By age 14 he was playing coffeehouses in Dublin's then-burgeoning traditional music scene. Soon thereafter he opened for legendary balladeer Paddy Reilly at the equally legendary Old Sheiling. By age 18, he was gathering professional credits, polishing his Irish language skills, and adding to his collection of songs and stories. He arrived in Los Angeles more than 20 years ago with red and blue platform shoes, his guitar, and the idea that he should find a pub and play. Within two weeks he found himself at Molly Malone's in LA's Fairfax district. He hasn't stopped playing since.
Ken performs solo and with such groups as The Mulligans, Blended Spirits and, currently The Twilight Lords. He has shared bills with such artists as Mary Black, Johnny Cunningham, Paul Brady and Brian Setzer, The Chieftains, Eric Rigler, and Shana Morrison. He's performed at clubs, pubs and festivals across the country, and continues to be an ever-popular, and near legendary, constant on Southern California's Celtic music circuit. Most Monday nights he can be found sitting in on the weekly seisiún at the Celtic Arts Center. Ken is devoted to nurturing Irish music traditions and Irish culture, and has become a mentor to such artists as The Young Dubliners' Keith Roberts, The Fenians' Terry Casey and Garrison White.
His latest CD with The Twilight Lords is The White Seahorse, a mix of such traditional material as "Carrickfergus," "Silver Spear/Maid Behind The Bar" and "Black Is The Color," as well as original compositions like "The High Wire Waltz," The Sailor Song" and the title track. The White Seahorse showcases the group's irresistible blend of Celtic traditional, American roots rock and eclectic world beat.
DAN CONROY has been singing the songs of Ireland since the age of five, a tradition handed down to him by his father. Early exposure to performing eventually led him to New York, where he worked in theatre, film and television, and where he had the good fortune to work with Tommy Tune in the Tony Award-winning Grand Hotel. Since moving to the West Coast, Dan has made his living in film, television, theatre, commercials and animation voice-over. He keeps his passion for Irish music alive by performing either solo, with friends like Ken O'Malley, and with his traditional Irish band, Clann na Gael. He also started, and leads, a traditional pub seisiún on Thursday nights at Maeve's Re$iduals in Studio City.
His on-going pursuit of the Irish language allows him to delve into the wonderful Irish tradition of sean nós ('old style') singing. Dan dedicates his endeavors to the memory of his father, Eddie Conroy.
www.danconroy.com & www.ClannNaGael.com
CIÚNAS, pronounced "key-OO-nis" in Irish, means "quiet" or "shh!" As a band, Ciúnas is made up of Joey Abarta (bodhrán, uilleann pipes), Nicolas Buckmelter (flute, whistle), Jimmy Murphy (guitar, mandolin, vocals), and Kira Ott (fiddle, vocals). They perform the traditional music of Ireland on acoustic, handmade instruments. The music itself is the sound of the public houses and kitchen dances of rural Ireland — the music of spontaneity, joy and profound sorrow. It is also the music Irish immigrants brought with them to North America, where it fed the same cultural spring that eventually produced Bluegrass and other related American musical forms.
Listening to Ciúnas play, you'd think the band members were all born in some rural hamlet in western Ireland. Listening to them speak, however, you'd quickly discover that they're unmistakably American, born and raised in Southern California. That four young musicians born thousands of miles from the shores of Ireland should each, separately, find their way to traditional Irish music, and then later join together as a formidable quartet in a region where Irish music is all but unknown, is in itself extraordinary. Add to this that the band members, in various combinations, have already played alongside some of the most well-known and respected Irish musicians in the world, and you have something of a minor miracle.
Although Joey, Nic, Jimmy and Kira have been friends, and have played together, for years, it was only a year ago that they officially became a band. Ciúnas played its first concert in July 2004 at the Inyo Council for the Arts in Bishop. That performance set the theater's concert attendance record and brought a wildly enthusiastic audience to its feet. Their next show was a few weeks later at the Celtic Arts Center. That, too, sold out. In the year since, Ciúnas has performed at venues and festivals all over the state, including the High Desert Center for the Arts in Victorville, Mill Creek Station in Bishop, Sherwin's Folley in Mammoth Lakes, Dargan's in Ventura, The Coffee Gallery Backstage in Altadena, and WorldFest in Los Angeles. They are currently scheduled to perform at the 2005 Millpond Music Festival in Bishop later this month. Their first CD, Up at the Crack of Noon, was released last March.