Céad Míle Fáilte! A hundred thousand welcomes to everyone! Get ready for Craic agus Ceol which means fun and music.
The 2024 Yachats Celtic Music Festival is a delight for young and old. If you are not familiar with Celtic music, it is the grandparent of many of our American music genres. This year the festival is presenting 20 different artists, performing solo and in bands. The festival atmosphere invites rare unique collaborations among the musicians. The dates for this annual event are Nov. 8, 9, 10, 2024
The festival is continuing the popular daytime “pub style” format at the Commons. The doors open Friday at noon with free entertainment in the Commons. Three days of free, and ticket required concerts, workshops, jamming, dancing, vendors and whisky tasting, takes place in various venues around town. Celtic inspired food and beverages will be available in the Commons during the festivities. Five concerts will take place in the beautiful Yachats Comnmunity Presbyterian Church.
The “Church of the Agate Windows” at 360 West 7th Street, is a short walk from the Commons. The village embraces the festival and many Yachats shops and restaurants show their Celtic enthusiasm during the weekend. Experience the magic of watching the sunset at the edge of the earth , while listening to our 2024 ‘Piper on the Point’ . The always popular Free Ceili dance, with lessons, returns again along with our Sunday closing concerts.
PERFORMERS:
Kevin Burke
John Doyle and Mick McAuley
Skye Consort W/ Emma Björling
Seán Dagher
Bonny Wood Green
Cécilia
Caitlin Warbelow and Chris Ranney
Fiddlers Shee
Cayley Schmid and Aaron Guest
Kevin Burke has walked and played among music giants for almost his entire life.
His early work in the 70’s and 80’s helped to shape and define Irish music for the next 50 years.
We feel so fortunate to have him joining us again.
“From early days with The Bothy Band to his celebrated solo performances, Kevin Burke is considered one of Irish music’s luminaries. The recipient of a National Heritage Fellowship from the NEA in the US, and in Ireland the prestigious Gradam Ceoil award, he is acknowledged as a master of the tradition. ”
John Doyle: Name many of the most notable recordings and/or performers in Irish music and it’s a fair bet that John Doyle had something to do with them. Liz Carroll; Eileen Ivers; Karan Casey; Solas; Michael Black; Mary Black; the trio of McCusker, McGoldrick and Doyle; The Teetotalers (Martin Hayes, Kevin Crawford, John Doyle); and now Usher’s Island (Andy Irvine, Donal Lunny, Mike McGoldrick, Paddy Glackin and John Doyle) – a vertible who’s who of the greatest names in Irish music. These are just a very few of the stellar artists for whom John Doyle’s signature guitar sound, singing or songwriting is essential.
Mick McAuley: Mick McAuley is an Irish musician, composer and songwriter who has recorded and toured internationally for many years. While his music is rooted firmly in the Irish tradition, he has been part of a movement which continues to push the musical boundaries of that tradition to bring Irish music to a wider and more diverse audience around the world. As a long-time member of the Irish-American ensemble SOLAS, he has recorded and toured nine albums with them and received widespread international acclaim. The Boston Herald hailed SOLAS as “the best Irish traditional band in the world”.
Bonny Wood Green: Flute player and singer Nuala Kennedy has been making music with Eamon O’Leary as a duo, and also in the trio ‘The Alt’, (with John Doyle) for over ten years .
Eamon O’leary and Jefferson Hamer have been sharing the stage for about the same amount of time as ‘The Murphy Beds’.
Now the three of them have teamed up to bring their masterful interpretations of traditional and contemporary Celtic music
into new focus with their current project ‘Bonny Wood Green’.
Expect to be enchanted and amazed by what you hear from these three long time veterans of the Celtic music tradition.
Nuala Kennedy with Eamon O’Leary and Jefferson Hamer have teamed up to bring their masterful interpretations of traditional and contemporary Celtic music into new focus with their current project ‘Bonny Wood Green’.
Skye Consort with Emma Björling perform songs and tunes from Sweden, Norway, Ireland, Scotland, England, Québec, Acadia, the USA, as well as original compositions. Each musician brings their own individual interpretation to these traditions to create this extraordinary collaboration, consisting of voices, fiddle, nyckelharpa, cello, bouzouki, banjo, and percussion. Collectively, the band present an assortment of whirling polskas, groovy reels, passionate love songs, breathtaking hymns, and original compositions.
‘Fiddlers Shee’ Fiddlers Shee, features Caitlin Warbelow, Bronnie Griffin, and Aarun Carter, all seasoned masters at the craft of Celtic, Classical, and Bluegrass fiddling.
Bringing their diverse styles of musicianship together, each concert begins with a short solo performance from each fiddler to demonstrate their individual styles of music. They then join together on stage with piano virtuoso Chris Ranney, and other guests.
Although performing predominantly Celtic based music, the individual styles of each player add an unusual flavor to the pieces they perform together, where the undertones of each player come through, but with a subtlety that always results in a delightful sound.’
Caitlin Warbelow hails from a family of entrepreneurs and bush pilots in Alaska and for the last seven years served as the violinist/fiddler in the original Broadway cast of the Tony Award-winning and Grammy Award-nominated musical, Come From Away. (When Come From Away closed in late 2022, it was the 40th longest-running musical in Broadway history, and the longest running musical featuring a fiddler.) Caitlin holds degrees from Columbia University (M.S., Urban Planning) and Boston University (B.A., Anthropology and B.Mus., Violin Performance), and, oddly, once turned down a PhD in Epidemiology at NYU. Though she’s made her career as a musician, that was a bit of a fluke. She originally planned to be a scientist, and has never quite managed to retrain her brain to be anything else.
‘Cecilia’ is Erin Leahy, Timi Turmel, and Louis Schryer.
With their mix of Celtic, Québecois, and Cape Breton styles they rock the house wherever they play. This band will make you move!
“They bring the best of many musical worlds together in their explorations of traditional, Celtic and Quebecois music. Every one of their pieces is skillfully arranged and highlighted with influences from contemporary, classical, jazz and swing styles.
Cècilia’s recent debut album Accent is an impressive offering full of vibrant rhythms and melodies, all resonating with a unique warmth and richness of expression. ”
Chris Raney: Originally from Washington State, Chris Raney now resides in New York and most recently served as the Associate Conductor of the hit Broadway musical Come From Away. Chris can frequently be seen in concert with Tony nominee Jenn Colella as her music director and pianist. During the pandemic Chris launched the critically acclaimed online traditional music platform Tune Supply along with partner Caitlin Warbelow. He also works as a musical director for readings, workshops, and recording sessions around New York, and plays traditional Irish button accordion. Chris has worked extensively at Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre and Village Theatre as a musical director, conductor, and pianist.
Cayley Schmid and Aaron Guest met at the Bellingham Farmers Market in 2009. Desperately jealous of each other’s busking success, they neutralized the competition and started a band together. This was the beginning of a decade-long musical partnership that descended into marriage. After the retirement of their band, Polecat, in 2020, Aaron and Cayley suddenly found themselves musically unsupervised by their bandmates for the first time. Together they play instrumental Celtic music on fiddle and piano.