Artist description Celticchaos is the swirling musical madness of our lives - here are some of the wonderful results of that chaos that performing and recording artists Melody Benbow and Gareth Hurwood have been involved with since 1995.

Music Style West Coast Celtic

Musical Influences Loreena McKennit, Stan Rogers, Kate Bush, Christy Moore, Clancy Brothers,The Corries, Maddy Prior, Dougie MacClean, Sileas, Sinaed O' Connor, Silly Wizard, Tannahill Weavers, Capercaille, Spirit of the West and many many more.....

Similar Artists All of the above.

Artist History Gareth Hurwood and Melody Benbow are founding members of the popular West Coast Celtic group Kitangus. The two met in a lovely, quirky fish & chip shop (Old Blighty's) on the fringes of the Tweed Curtain in Victoria, BC. Melody sang quietly enough to get Gareth's attention as he sang "She moved through the fair..." on his regular Friday night gig. Later, she captured his heart with her singing of "Ca the Yowes." First, the relationship, then the baby, then the musical partnership! Beginning as a duo, Melody and Gareth performed in and around Victoria from 1994 onwards until they met Alan Turnbull at "Scotland the Brave" - a Scots/Canadian marathon concert at the U-Vic Auditorium in 1995. They quickly became musical friends and shortly after started performing as a trio, though the name, a derivation of Angus the Kitty, did not come right away! Some highlights of this original line-up were performances at U-Vic Auditorium, Deep Cove, Nanaimo, and Victoria Folk Music Clubs, The Gulf Islands Celtic Festival on Hornby Island, The Ceilidh at the Armoury, Craigdarroch Castle Christmas, Hogemany, and Burns' Day, The Butchart Gardens Ltd., and many many more. In 1997 the trio released their first CD entitled "West Coast Celtic." It was a huge success selling out quickly and gaining the trio air time on Canada's national radio network the CBC. This powerhouse trio of talent played regularly over three years at a wonderul coffee-house called O'Beans, as well as a few other local favourite Celtic-inspired bands. The proprietors, Trevor and Lynn Bennett, decided to put a few of these bands together around Irish poetic recitations, history and hunmor, add traditional dancers et voila! "A Song for Ireland" was born. Hence the birth of a bigger band that performed within this powerful, magical production. This theatrical program of traditional Irish fare was so popular that "SFI" continued and toured for another two years. Appearances of "SFI" included Victoria Folk Fest, The Islands Folk Fest, Cowichan Regional Theatre, The W.I.S.E. Club in Vancouver, Summer in the Square (Victoria) and a successful run of shows on Victoria's waterfront Ship's Point venue. In 1998 after the eventual decline of SFI as a formal production, the remaining seven musicians re-named themselves "Myriad" and released a CD of Irish music & song called "Song of the Isles." This CD was also a sell-out and landed Myriad and the Kitangus trio seasonal work at the world famous Butchart Gardens Ltd. Shortly after this, Myriad dispersed as an official entity, but the connections between the local musicians was never to be lost. Some members continued to play with their original trios and others formed new musical entities such as "SYREN". Kitangus continued to survive as a separate group with Gareth, Melody and Alan. Unfortunately, in the fall of 2000 while working on their second CD, Alan had to leave the band. He will always be greatly missed. Gareth and Melody decided to continue the CD project adding several original compositions. They brought in other musicans from the "Myriad" of musicans they had worked with over the years and the end result is a fabulous CD with a true West Coast Celtic sound. Celticchaos indeed but from this chaos we reap many wonderful friends, musical experiences, and this fine music.

Group Members Our Celticchaos has swept up many fine artists including: Adam Bailey, Melody Benbow, Jordan Dyck, Kenneth Dyson, Derek Duffy, Tania Elizabeth, Ken Hall, Gareth Hurwood, Keith Malcolm, Glen Manders, Jason O'Connell, Peter Pokorny, Jaime Rokeby-Thomas, Alan Turnbull, Fae Wiedehoeft.

Instruments acoustic guitars, banjos, bodhrans, cello, electric bass, fiddles, flutes, vocal harmonies, kit drums, loonie whistles, mandolins, marching snare drums, penny whistles, recitations, smallpipes, spoons, stand-up bass, voices, and viola.

Albums Kitangus - West Coast Celtic / Myriad - Song of the Isles / Syren - Waves to the Sky / Cauldron - After the Mad King Died / Kitangus - Into the West

Location Sidney, British Columbia - Canada

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