Featured Live Music Artist of the Week - Celtic Aire

Celtic Aire - just in time for St. Patrick's Day weekend (or entire week).

Much to my dismay however, this band is no longer making the rounds at the pubs.  However, I can still feature them!

Celtic Aire - simply put - Bagpipe Irish Rock and Reel.

Celtic Aire was a Chicago based band, with a home pub of The Duke Of Perth (near Piper's Alley).  But they also played many other locations ranging from the far north burbs to the far south burbs and every place in between.  The band had gone through a few personnel changes over the years, but continued to put on a show worth every dollar spent on those pint glasses of Guinness!

I know, I know, at first that doesn't sound right, Bagpipe Rock - but it works, and it REALLY WORKED for these guys.  Their live shows had people dancing jigs - literally.  Fans, like me, who couldn't dance anything, let alone a jig, sang along to the rock tunes.  Traditionalists enjoyed the lively and rocking renditions of longtime Irish reels and bagpipe tunes.  Celtic Aire was able to mix the traditional with the rock with the classics, seamlessly.  But what made them a great live band, aside from their talent and their spectacular arrangements, was their energy.  True to any good Irish Pub Band, these guys were on stage having fun, and by doing so, leading the crowd into a fun evening!

Since the bagpipes need no microphones or amplifiers, it freed the bagpipers up to walk the crowd, join the jigs, and entertain the crowd - leading to a live show different than most.

The original lineup consisted of six members, including a Catholic Priest (no lie, can it get more Irish?), with 2 bagpipers (sometimes playing together on a song, sometimes alternating), drums, keyboards, guitar, Bouzouki (no, not Bazooka), and vocals.  Later years saw the band contract to just four, with no vocals, to end up with 5, including a vocalist who sounded very very Scottish......probably because he was from Scotland.

To give a feel of what they played - from the "Rock" side of things: Rock Around The Clock, Scotty Be Goode (get it?), Edmund Fitzgerald (of course), Paranoid (YES, the one by Black Sabbath), Whiskey In The Jar, and many others.  Then, included in all that were many traditional Irish jigs and reels, of which I admit, I don't know the names. But wait, there's more!  They even had a catalog of originals written by the band members - some along the traditional lines, some rock, and some vocals, and even a "storyteller" style song or two.   The great thing about their show, you never knew what was next!  But, no matter what was next, they never disappointed!

Regarding Scotty Be Goode, not just a clever name change - they changed some lines "..a little Scottish boy named B" and "carrying his pipes" - and other nuances!  Talk about getting the attention of the audience - and some chuckles!!

This band was a perfect fit for the Irish Pubs they played, they could party, they could please the traditionalists, and they could rock the rockers.  And, on top of all that, they were GOOD!

They released 3 CDs - in chronological order : "Under The Influence", "Pay The Piper", and "Rock Piper Scissors".  These can all be found on that there interweb thing - and also at Rampant Lion Celtic Traders - http://www.rampantlion.com/.

You can't see them live anymore - but you can still buy their music!

By the way, rumor has it that one of the pipers will be joining Donnybrook and Naper Tandy at Fado's in Chicago on St. Patrick's Day.........just saying.

Cheers!