Artist description The Homespun Ceilidh Band plays toe-tapping, foot-stomping, "get up and dance" music of Celtic Lands. With a strong core of Scottish tunes, as well as Irish, Manx, Welsh, Breton, and Cape Breton tunes, we stand ready to provide a unique experience to any celebration. Homespun Ceilidh Band is a very full sounding band. Fiddles, whistles, flutes, bouzouki, a viola de gamba, a hammered dulcimer, guitar, cittern, and two bodhrans provide a distinctive celtic sound. We can play music both lively and sweet, and we love playing it. Come and watch us have fun. You will have fun too.

Music Style Celtic

Similar Artists The Chieftans, Silly Wizard

Artist History Founded in 1994, the Homespun Ceilidh Band (pronounced Kay-Lee) has performed at numerous festivals and concerts throughout the Mid-Atlantic U.S.

Group Members D Glenn Arthur Jr., Felicia Eberling, Bill Mitchell, Jennifer Silverman, Mike Stoddard, John Ward, Trix Whitehall

Instruments Fiddle, Bodhran, Hammered Dulcimer, Guitar, Flute, Whistle, Viola deGamba, Bouzouki, Cittern

Albums Spinning Reels (Oct 2001)

Press Reviews Arts Center Presents Delightful Celtic Music by Barbara Likowski There was some of the familiar and some of the unfamiliar in the St. Andrews program at the Greenbelt Arts Center (GAC) on November 23. It is always a delight to hear the fiddling and singing. Each time we attend GAC's Celtic program we expect more of what we've heard before. In a way we get it, but there is always something different, something unique and we find an interesting, entertaining program once again. We thought this last program was more lively than the one before. This time we were treated to some lovely Christmas carols. Some were sung in the Gaelic language. But always they were explained or translated first, so that the audience could feel and understand the mood of each. Others were played on instruments. Of added interest to us from Prince George's County were songs of Celtic origin which had been played in early Annapolis. This seemed so fitting in this our tricentennial year. The singers and players have begun to seem like friends to us. We looked forward to each. Mac-Talla, the Scottish Gaelic singers sand and recited mostly in the Gaelic language. Some of their accompanying instruments were strange to us. We were particularly intrigued by bells in the form of a Christmas tree, so fitting for the carols that were sung. Not all of their songs were carols, of course. Some were working songs, some we thought we had heard before and we had. They were even more beautiful this time. The Homespun Ceilidh Band was just as the ad had declared, a big band playing lively music from the Celtic lands. this group with their Renaissance instruments showed their enjoyment in their faces and actions as they played. One young man was playing with such rhythm and gusto that his instrument went up over his head. Undaunted, he continued playing and finally the instrument righted itself. Some of their old instruments such as the viola da gamba and hammered dulcimer were new to many. A smaller group, Skye Gathering, played Celtic music with fiddle, harp, cello, drum and voice. Because the group was small we were able to make out each instrument. We were especially glad to hear the clear, smooth sound of the Celtic harp. We'd like to hear more of that. Conducting the program was Greenbelt's own John Ward. He and Trix Whitehall belong to all three groups. John fiddled all evening and never seemed to run out of steam. It was John who also explained the music and opened our eyes to the different kinds of music played in Scotland, Ireland, Brittany, Nova Scotia and the Isle of Man. Maybe some Welsh next time? Trix played the Celtic drum, the bodhran. She also gave us, as expected, another song of infidelity revenged. Of course, she sand other songs, too, in her high, clear voice. We enjoyed them all. An added attraction was the combination of story-telling and music. Jan Brenner told of the superstitions and fears that ancient people had at the end of the year when there was very little daylight. This came to a climax with booming drums and other instruments. Darkened lights helped to create the fearful mood. No Celtic program is complete without toe tapping fiddling. Interspersed in the rest of the program, this sort of fiddling was obviously the audience's favorite. They swayed, they tapped toes, clapped hands and yelled. When the main program ended, the audience didn't want to stop. They clapped until their hands were sore for another and yet another encore to be played. Finally the performers had to stop, even though the audience tried hard to get them to play one more tune. In fact we were thirsting for more, and then we heard the good news that there would be another Celtic program in the spring. We'd like to hear all three groups again and we'll never get tired of this magic fiddling.

Location Washington, DC - USA

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