Clandestine is a

Celtic music Celtic music is a broad grouping of music genres that evolved out of the folk music traditions of the Celtic people of Northwestern Europe. It refers to both orally-transmitted traditional music and recorded music and the styles vary considerab ...

group from

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. Featuring

bagpipes Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, No ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

, and

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

s (

bodhrán The bodhrán (, ; plural ''bodhráin'' or ''bodhráns'') is a frame drum used in Irish music ranging from in diameter, with most drums measuring . The sides of the drum are deep. A goatskin head is tacked to one side (synthetic heads or othe ...

and

conga drum The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest). ...

s), they play traditional Celtic music (both instrumental and vocal) as well as some modern tunes (including some originals) in a Celtic style. Some songs include additional instruments like the

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

, bombarde and various

whistles Whistling without the use of an artificial whistle is achieved by creating a small opening with one's lips, usually after applying moisture (licking one's lips or placing water upon them) and then blowing or sucking air through the space. The a ...

. They formed in 1991, stabilized as a

quartet In music, a quartet or quartette (, , , , ) is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers; or a musical composition for four voices and instruments. Classical String quartet In classical music, one of the most common combinations o ...

in 1996, and dissolved for a time in 2003. In their original incarnation, the band made 4 discs and toured heavily around the US and also performed in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. They were favorites at McGonigel's Mucky Duck Pub in their hometown of Houston, as well as the

Cactus Cafe The Cactus Café is a live music venue and bar on the campus of The University of Texas at Austin. Located in Austin, Texas, a city frequently referred to as "the live music capital of the world," a number of well-known artists have played in th ...

in nearby

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

. The band reformed with a change in membership in late 2006.

History

The original Clandestine was a pipe-and-drum quartet in Houston. Original member bagpiper E.J. Jones moved to

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, met guitarist and singer Jen Hamel in Pittsburgh, and convinced her to return to Houston to perform as part of Clandestine. In 1995, fiddle player Gregory McQueen joined. The first disc (''The Ale is Dear'') featured this trio. In 1996 percussionist and singer Emily Dugas joined, and the remaining 3 discs include all 4 members. Jen Hamel and Emily Dugas both sang. In February 2003 the band performed their last show in that original incarnation. In 2005, E.J., Emily and Gregory began playing with various other artists as the Emily Dugas Band. In 2006, with Jen's blessing, they officially reformed Clandestine with themselves and a fourth member, Al Cofrin, on Irish

cittern The cittern or cithren ( Fr. ''cistre'', It. ''cetra'', Ger. ''Cister,'' Sp. ''cistro, cedra, cítola'') is a stringed instrument dating from the Renaissance. Modern scholars debate its exact history, but it is generally accepted that it is d ...

, folk guitar, and medieval bagpipes. The band made their formal debut as Clandestine at the Mucky Duck Pub in Houston on St. Andrew's Day, November 30, 2006.

Discography

* '' The Ale Is Dear'' (1996) * '' The Haunting'' (1997) * '' To Anybody at All'' (1999) * ''Music from Home'' (live album, and the band's last) (2001) * ''Fine Small Storm'' (Jen Hamel) (2001) * ''The Willow'' (E.J. Jones) (2002) * ''ReD'' (2008) Apparently Clandestine also appears on 2 discs ''The Houston Music Council Eclectic Music Showcase'' and ''Blarneyfest'', according t
Celtic Nations World

External links

Clandestine

Kennedy Center performance

E.J. Jones' website

Celtic music groups Musical groups from Houston {{US-folk-band-stub

History

Discography

See also

External links