Based on a True Story

(2018) From the allegedly deep “Farewell to Erin’s Musical Priest” instrumental, to “John Riley’s” tribute to unappreciated history, the stories these tracks tell are not entirely candid. Nevertheless, each in its own way comes from something very real. Even the collision of songs in our Liverpool set gives a sly nod to a traditional Irish session, with chairs filled by aging revolutionaries, work-worn immigrants, lonely veterans, and a few young idealists. This sampling of people comes together to play a scattering of melodies from a smattering of centuries—and it becomes something greater.

More than stories of people, Irish folk music is the story of a people. We strive to leave a fresh mark, but we acknowledge that in the end, we are custodians of a tradition which finds in us neither its beginning nor its end.

To this end, we wished for a flawless album, and we’ve worked hard at realizing that dream. But it’s probably better that we didn’t get our wish: this album is our story as well, and if it were perfect, it would not be true.

Rowan Street

(2015) We play a lot of folk, small-town music, in a large urban center, and that contrast forms the idea behind the album name Rowan Street. The rowan tree, or mountain ash, is a symbol in ancient Celtic cultures, and as we happen to practice frequently on a local “Rowan" street, we’re symbolizing this blend between ancient and modern, between rural and urban, between soft, poetic rain, and parched, realistic ground. Because Celtic music - or any music, really, is an expression of us, what we aspire to, and what life is really like, and since we see the world as pretty and beautiful, we hope to capture that beauty in our music.

Broken Whistle

(2014) As our début album, this collection of songs has a particular emphasis on the enormous variety found even within the traditional Celtic genre, but it also stays true to the tradition of fiery, musical gracefulness. You can even see this thread in our cover art. Our unique sound draws from many different styles, from a little classic rock and jazz to classical orchestral pieces, to traditional Irish and Celtic, and back again to R&B, electronic, and hip-hop, but all of the various sounds contribute in their own ways to the traditional Celtic style.