The Calvin Theatre and Iron Horse Music Hall will host a number of Celtic musicians this month.
Gaelic Storm will perform at the Calvin Theatre in Northampton on March 23 at 8 p.m.The St. Patrick’s Day celebration in Northampton will last longer than March 17 as live Celtic music is on tap throughout month.
“We have everything from old to new,” said Jim Neill, marketing director for Iron Horse Entertainment Group.
From veteran musicians to young talent, the performers will provide numerous opportunities for Irish music fans to fill their cup to overflowing with the music they enjoy.
“This area is like ‘Little Ireland’ in a way,” Neill said. “People come out in droves to see these musicians.”
Celtic music “appeals to the soles of your feet and to your soul,” he said. “People like to dance to it, and it is also poignant.”
Teada plus Maeve Gilchrist will perform at Iron Horse Music Hall on Thursday at 7 p.m. The “Best Young Irish Traditional Act” winners in Ireland’s Music Awards 2009, Téada is established now as one of Irish music’s leading exponents on the international world music stage. The group continues to be driven by a fascination with the timeless, expressive force of traditional tunes inherited from previous generations of musicians.
Returning to Northampton on March 11, The Saw Doctors will play at the Calvin Theatre at 8 p.m. A little-known local bar band in County Galway when they were invited by Mike Scott to be the opening act on the Waterboys’ 1988 tour of Ireland and the United Kingdom, The Saw Doctors have emerged as one of the most successful Irish rock bands since U2. Their most recent album is “The Further Adventures of The Saw Doctors.”
Alan Reid of The Battlefield Band with Rob van Sante plus Abby and Harrison Adams are scheduled for Iron Horse Music Hall on March 15 at 7 p.m.
Reid was a vital member of Battlefield Band from its inception in 1969 until his departure in 2010. van Sante worked for Battlefield Band for 13 years as sound engineer for both live and recorded work. The evening of music old and new will feature Reid’s compositions, Battlefield Band favorites and van Sante’s songs.
On March 16, at 7 p.m. Zoe Darrow and the Fiddleheads will perform at Iron Horse Music Hall. Darrow blends traditional Cape Breton, Scottish and Irish fiddle tunes. With Phil Darrow on guitar and Tom Coburn on piano, she performs fiery reels, lively jigs and hornpipes and soulful airs.
On St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, Big Bad Bollocks will perform at the Iron Horse Music Hall at 7 p.m. The St. Patrick’s Day show highlights the Northampton and Boston-based Big Bad Bollocks, what band leader John Allen calls “a mongrel collection of lads and musicians” who “welcome anyone and everyone who wants to celebrate people getting together and having as much fun as they can.”
Allen, the lead singer who plays squeezebox and tin whistle, said people who attend the show can expect “a bloody good night out and the chance to scream and shout and laugh and dance with people they don’t know, as well as the ones they do know.”
The band has grown out of diverse influences, incorporating rockabilly, punk rock, vaudeville, pop and folk. “The Celtic element is a kind of glue spread around here and there which loosely holds it all together,” Allen said.
Maura O’Connell and John Mock come to Iron Horse Music Hall on March 18, at 7 p.m. Since her first appearance as a lead vocalist with the celebrated traditional Celtic group DeDanaan in 1981, O’Connell has combined her deep, rich, flexible voice and her talent for finding what’s most potent in the work of a select but broad array of genre-jumping songwriters to pull the listener with her to the heart of a song.
Gaelic Storm takes to the Calvin Theatre stage on March 23 at 8 p.m.
After playing monthly gigs for friends at O’Brien’s Tavern in Santa Monica, Calif., in 1995, Gaelic Storm’s popularity skyrocketed when members appeared in James Cameron’s “Titanic” movie as the Celtic party band in the ship’s steerage. “Cabbage” is the seventh Gaelic Storm studio album.
The appeal of the band’s music is its energy, its spirit and its history that connects people to the past.
On March 29, Celtic rock band Enter the Haggis will be in town for one show at 7 p.m. Neill said the group is “very popular” in Northampton.
Band members are no strangers to Northampton where they have played at the Iron Horse and Pearl Street; one of their live albums was recorded at the Iron Horse. Various styles – like bluegrass, Latin, rock and Americana – find their way into Enter The Haggis songs to give the band its appeal.
“The diversity of musical taste of people in the (Pioneer) Valley is impressive and eclectic,” Neill said.
For tickets or more information, visit iheg.com. Tickets are also available by phone at (413) 586-8686 or at the 76 Main St. box office in Northampton.