Gaelic Storm is a

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foo ...

band founded in

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to i ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

in 1996. Their musical output includes pieces from traditional Irish music,

Scottish music Scotland is internationally known for its traditional music, which remained vibrant throughout the 20th century and into the 21st, when many traditional forms worldwide lost popularity to pop music. In spite of emigration and a well-developed con ...

, and original tunes in both the Celtic and

Celtic rock Celtic rock is a genre of folk rock, as well as a form of Celtic fusion which incorporates Celtic music, instrumentation and themes into a rock music context. It has been extremely prolific since the early 1970s and can be seen as a key foundatio ...

genres. The band had its first big break in 1997, appearing in the film ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, Unite ...

'' and recording songs on the movie's

soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' ...

. Their most recent album, '' One For The Road'', was released on March 17, 2021.

History

Gaelic Storm's origins can be traced back to 1996, when Patrick Murphy and Steve Wehmeyer joined with Steve Twigger, drummer Shep Lonsdale, fiddler Samantha Hunt, and Uillean piper Brian Walsh to perform at O'Brien's Irish Pub and Restaurant in

, of which Murphy was the manager. This led to a number of pub performances for the next year. Steve_Twigger

In 1997, Gaelic Storm appeared in the film ''

'' as the steerage band, performing "Blarney Pilgrim" ( Jig), "John Ryan's

Polka Polka is a dance and genre of dance music originating in nineteenth-century Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. Though associated with Czech culture, polka is popular throughout Europe and the Americas. History Etymology The te ...

", "Kesh Jig" and "Drowsy Maggie" (

Reel A reel is an object around which a length of another material (usually long and flexible) is wound for storage (usually hose are wound around a reel). Generally a reel has a cylindrical core (known as a '' spool'') with flanges around the ends ...

).The announcement of "Drowsy Maggy" as next title can be heard in the film The first two were published on the second soundtrack album as "An Irish Party in Third Class", while the band's second album, '' Herding Cats'', featured "Blarney Pilgrim" and "Drowsy Maggie" as "Titanic Set (Medley)". After this film appearance, Gaelic Storm started touring, and have performed in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

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, the

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and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

. Brian Walsh left the band before the first album was recorded in 1998. Samantha Hunt left sometime in 2000 after the group's second album. The group has released 13 albums since its inception, including the compilation album ''

Special Reserve The Special Reserve was established on 1 April 1908 with the function of maintaining a reservoir of manpower for the British Army and training replacement drafts in times of war. Its formation was part of the military reforms implemented by Rich ...

''. The band is known for their energetic renditions of

traditional Irish music Irish traditional music (also known as Irish trad, Irish folk music, and other variants) is a genre of folk music that developed in Ireland. In ''A History of Irish Music'' (1905), W. H. Grattan Flood wrote that, in Gaelic Ireland, there we ...

and

Scottish traditional music Scottish folk music (also Scottish traditional music) is a genre of folk music that uses forms that are identified as part of the Scottish musical tradition. There is evidence that there was a flourishing culture of popular music in Scotland duri ...

, and for their albums which consistently top the Billboard world music charts. From 2002-2006, the band's membership underwent a transition period. The second fiddler, Kathleen Keane, left the band after their third album, "Tree," and drummer Shep Lonsdale left leaving only Murphy, Wehmeyer, and Twigger as the original members. Their soundman at the time, Tom Brown, was also a bagpiper and whistle player and began playing at periods in their show. Ryan Lacey was recruited on drums. This quintet recorded three new tracks for their fourth album, ''Special Reserve'', also a compilation album of their previous three albums. Deborah Clark Colon was the fiddler on the three new tracks, "Courting in the Kitchen," "Schooner Lake Set," and "Nancy Whiskey." Chinese-born Shasha Zhang toured with them on fiddle for several months in 2002. For a brief time in approximately 2003, the band recruited their, to date, only male fiddler, Bob Banerjee. Teresa Gowan was also the group's fiddler during this transitional period. Finally by 2004, Ellery Klein was hired as full time fiddler. Gaelic Storm's fifth album, ''

How Are We Getting Home? ''How Are We Getting Home?'' is a 2004 album by Gaelic Storm Gaelic Storm is a Celtic band founded in Santa Monica, California in 1996. Their musical output includes pieces from traditional Irish music, Scottish music, and original tune ...

'', was released in August 2004 and debuted at #3 on the

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

World Music Charts, #10 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart, and re-entered the September 2005 World Albums Chart at #3. By 2005 Tom Brown had left the band and Peter Purvis was brought in to play bagpipes, uillean pipes, deger pipes, and whistle. In January 2006, the band released their first DVD, ''Gaelic Storm: Live In Chicago'', filmed live at the House of Blues in Chicago. In early 2006, founding member Steve Wehmeyer retired full time from the band and became a college professor. As of 2022, he still co-writes the music with Murphy and Twigger, and makes occasional appearances with the band. He is the only member that has not been replaced. After Wehmeyer's full time departure, the band's membership stabilized and remains largely unchanged with the exception of the fiddler which has since changed hands numerous times. The band's sixth album, ''

Bring Yer Wellies ''Bring Yer Wellies'' is the sixth album by Celtic band Gaelic Storm. It was released on July 25, 2006. "Wellies" is a nickname for Wellington boots, which feature prominently in the lyrics of "Kelly's Wellies" and on the album cover. Track l ...

'', was released on July 25, 2006 and debuted at #2 on the Billboard World Chart, #16 on the Internet Sales Chart, and #31 on the Independent Album Chart. Gaelic Storm's next album, ''

What's the Rumpus? ''What's the Rumpus?'' is the seventh album by Celtic band Gaelic Storm. It was released on July 8, 2008 and reached #177 on the ''Billboard'' 200. Track listing All arrangements by Gaelic Storm. #"What's the Rumpus?" (Murphy, Twigger, Wehmey ...

'' was released on July 8, 2008 on the band's own label, Lost Again Records. It reached #1 on the Billboard World Chart. A

Simlish Simlish is a fictional language featured in EA's ''Sim'' series of games. It debuted in ''SimCopter'' (1996), and has been especially prominent in ''The Sims'' franchise, as well as in its spinoff ''MySims'' series. Simlish can also be hear ...

version of the song " Scalliwag", from the album ''Bring Yer Wellies'', was recorded and featured on the World music channel in the expansion pack, '' The Sims 2: Bon Voyage'', for the PC Game,

The Sims 2 ''The Sims 2'' is a 2004 strategy game, strategic life simulation game, life simulation video game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. It is the second major title in ''The Sims'' series, and is the sequel to ''The Sims (video ...

. , original members Murphy and Twigger are still in the band, joined by Ryan Lacey (since 2003), Pete Purvis (since 2005) of Merrickville, Ontario, and Natalya Kay (since 2022).

Band members

Current members: * Patrick Murphy (

Accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a ree ...

Spoons Spoons may refer to: * Spoon, a utensil commonly used with soup * Spoons (card game), the card game of Donkey, but using spoons Film and TV * ''Spoons'' (TV series), a 2005 UK comedy sketch show *Spoons, a minor character from ''The Sopranos'' ...

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 oth ...

Harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica in ...

Lead Vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

) * Steve Twigger (

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 string ...

Bouzouki The bouzouki (, also ; el, μπουζούκι ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', from Greek ), also spelled buzuki or buzuci, is a musical instrument popular in Greece. It is a member of the long-necked lute family, with a round body with a flat top and ...

Mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of ...

, Lead Vocals) * Ryan Lacey (

Djembe A djembe or jembe ( ; from Maninka language, Malinke ''jembe'' , N'Ko script, N'Ko: ) is a rope-tuned skin-covered goblet drum played with bare hands, originally from West Africa. According to the Bambara people in Mali, the name of the djembe ...

Doumbek The goblet drum (also chalice drum, tarabuka, tarabaki, darbuka, darabuka, derbake, debuka, doumbek, dumbec, dumbeg, dumbelek, toumperleki, tumbak, or zerbaghali; arz, دربوكة / Romanized: ) is a single-head membranophone with a goblet-s ...

Surdo The surdo is a large bass drum used in many kinds of Brazilian music, such as Axé/Samba-reggae and samba, where it plays the lower parts from a percussion section. It is also notable for its association with the cucumbi genre of the Ancient Near ...

Cajón A cajón (; "box", "crate" or "drawer") is a box-shaped percussion instrument originally from Peru, played by slapping the front or rear faces (generally thin plywood) with the hands, fingers, or sometimes implements such as brushes, mallets, o ...

Ukulele The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings. The tone and volume of the instrumen ...

Vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

, Various Percussion) * Peter Purvis (

Highland Bagpipes The Great Highland bagpipe ( gd, a' phìob mhòr "the great pipe") is a type of bagpipe native to Scotland, and the Scottish analogue to the Great Irish Warpipes. It has acquired widespread recognition through its usage in the British milita ...

Uillean pipes The uilleann pipes ( or , ) are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland. Earlier known in English as "union pipes", their current name is a partial translation of the Irish language terms (literally, "pipes of the elbow"), from their ...

DegerPipes The electronic bagpipes is an electronic musical instrument emulating the tone and/or playing style of the bagpipes. Most electronic bagpipe emulators feature a simulated chanter, which is used to play the melody. Some models also produce a harm ...

Whistle A whistle is an instrument which produces sound from a stream of gas, most commonly air. It may be mouth-operated, or powered by air pressure, steam, or other means. Whistles vary in size from a small slide whistle or nose flute type to a lar ...

) * Natalya Kay (

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, the ...

, Vocals) Former members: * Katie Grennan (

, Vocals) *

Kiana Weber Kiana June Weber (born January 14, 1990) is an American violinist, best known as a former member of the Irish band Gaelic Storm. Early life and education Weber was born near Chelsea, Michigan to her parents David Weber and Connie Weber. In 2007 s ...

(Fiddle, Vocals, Mandolin) * Jessie Burns (Fiddle, Vocals) * Brian Walsh (Uillean pipes) * Samantha Hunt (Fiddle) * Kathleen Keane (Fiddle, Whistle, Vocals) * Ellery Klein (Fiddle, Vocals) * Shep Lonsdale (Djembe, Doumbek, Surdo, and Various Other Percussion) * Steve Wehmeyer (Bodhrán,

Didgeridoo The didgeridoo (; also spelt didjeridu, among other variants) is a wind instrument, played with vibrating lips to produce a continuous Drone (music), drone while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. The didgeridoo wa ...

, Vocals) * Tom Brown (Bagpipes, Tin Whistle, DegerPipes) * Bob Banerjee (Fiddle) * Teresa Gowan (Fiddle)

Guest musicians by album

* '' Herding Cats'' ** John Whelan (Button Accordion) **

Eric Rigler Eric Rigler is an American player of the Uilleann pipes, Great Highland Bagpipes, and tin whistle. He performs as a solo artist and with the band Bad Haggis, and has been featured on a number of movie soundtracks. He has been described as "th ...

(Uilleann pipes, Low "D" Whistle) ** Marie Reilly (Fiddle) * ''

Tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

'' **

Mike Porcaro Michael Joseph Porcaro (May 29, 1955 – March 15, 2015) was an American bass player known for his work with the rock band Toto. He retired from touring in 2007 as a result of being diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). He was t ...

(

Bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

) * ''

'' ** Deborah Clark Colón (Fiddle on Tracks 1, 3, & 8) * ''

'' **

Dave Pomeroy Dave Pomeroy (born April 26, 1956) is an American musician, known as a Nashville vocalist, songwriter, and producer (Earwave Productions), but is best known as a bassist. He has played electric and acoustic bass for many world renowned artists, ...

(

Bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

s) **

Nanci Griffith Nanci Caroline Griffith (July 6, 1953 – August 13, 2021) was an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. She appeared many times on the PBS music program ''Austin City Limits'' starting in 1985 (season 10). In 1994 she won a Grammy Award f ...

(special guest vocals on Track 5) * ''

'' ** Jeff May (Bass guitar) ** Rob Forkner (Bodhran) ** Michael Ramos (Accordion) ** Lauren Dilbert (Didgeridoo) * ''

'' ** "Crazy" Arthur Brown (Vocals) ** Jeff May (Bass guitar) **

Lloyd Maines Lloyd Wayne Maines (born June 28, 1951) is an American country music record producer, musician and songwriter. He was inducted into the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame as one of the first three members, the other two being Willie Nelson and Stev ...

(

pedal steel The pedal steel guitar is a console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all steel guitars, it can ...

, Mandolin,

Banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

) ** David Boyle ( Keyboards,

) * ''

Cabbage Cabbage, comprising several cultivars of ''Brassica oleracea'', is a leafy green, red (purple), or white (pale green) biennial plant grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. It is descended from the wild cabbage ( ''B.&n ...

'' ** Jeff May (Bass guitar) **

Kevin Smith Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American filmmaker, actor, comedian, comic book writer, author, YouTuber, and podcaster. He came to prominence with the low-budget comedy buddy film '' Clerks'' (1994), which he wrote, directed, ...

(Bass guitar) ** David Boyle (Keyboards) ** Michael Ramos (Accordion)

Discography

* '' Gaelic Storm'' (July 28, 1998) * '' Herding Cats'' (September 20, 1999) * ''

'' (June 19, 2001) * ''

'' (August 19, 2003) (compilation) * ''

'' (August 3, 2004) * ''

'' (July 25, 2006) * ''

What's The Rumpus? ''What's the Rumpus?'' is the seventh album by Celtic band Gaelic Storm. It was released on July 8, 2008 and reached #177 on the ''Billboard'' 200. Track listing All arrangements by Gaelic Storm. #"What's the Rumpus?" (Murphy, Twigger, Wehmey ...

'' (July 8, 2008) * ''

'' (August 3, 2010) * '' Chicken Boxer'' (July 31, 2012) * '' The Boathouse'' (August 20, 2013) * '' Full Irish: The Best of Gaelic Storm 2004–2014'' (July 29, 2014) (compilation) * '' Matching Sweaters'' (July 24, 2015) * '' Go Climb a Tree'' (July 28, 2017) * '' One For The Road'' (March 17, 2021)

Filmography

* ''Titanic'' (1997) * ''Gaelic Storm Live in Chicago'' (2006)

Interviews

Rambles.NET interview with Patrick Murphy

References

Notes

External links

Irish Echo ONLINE Gaelic Storm Interview

Gaelic Storm Homepage
{{Authority control Celtic fusion groups Musical groups from California Sony Classical Records artists Celtic rock music