Solas (

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

: light) was an American musical group officially formed in 1996, playing

Irish traditional 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 ...

as well as original compositions influenced by the country, rock, and Americana genres. With several members who are prominent performers, both solo and in other constellations in the Irish traditional music scene, Solas has been described as a " Supergroup". Their name comes from an

word meaning "light". At the time, the band was made up of

Séamus Egan Séamus Egan is an Irish-American musician. Early days Séamus Egan was born in Hatboro, Pennsylvania to Irish immigrants Mike and Ann Egan. At the age of three his parents moved the family back home to County Mayo, Ireland. He learned acc ...

, who had already recorded two solo albums as well as a soundtrack to a film; Winifred Horan, a member of

Cherish the Ladies Cherish the Ladies is an American female super group that plays Celtic music. The band began as a concert series in New York in January 1985. It was the brainchild of Mick Moloney who wanted to showcase the brightest female musicians in Ameri ...

; John Doyle, previously a member of Susan McKeown & The Chanting House with Egan;

Karan Casey Karan Casey (born 1969) is an Irish folk singer, and a former member of the Irish band Solas. She resides in Cork, Ireland. Early years Casey was born in Ballyduff Lower, Kilmeaden, County Waterford, Ireland. Her family encouraged her to si ...

and John Williams. In June 2008 the band announced Mairead Phelan had joined the group as their new singer. In September 2010, Niamh Varian-Barry from Cork replaced Mairead Phelan as lead singer of Solas. On July 11, 2013, they announced on their Facebook page that Niamh was leaving the band and that Noriana Kennedy would be replacing her. The band announced an indefinite hiatus in early 2017.

Discography

* 1996 — ''Solas'' * 1997 — ''Sunny Spells and Scattered Showers'' * 1998 — ''The Words That Remain'' * 2000 — ''The Hour Before Dawn'' * 2002 — ''The Edge of Silence'' * 2003 — ''Another Day'' * 2005 — ''Waiting for an Echo'' * 2006 — ''Reunion: A Decade of Solas'' * 2008 — ''For Love and Laughter'' * 2010 — ''The Turning Tide'' * 2013 — ''Shamrock City'' * 2016 — ''All These Years''

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Solas Celtic music groups Irish folk musical groups Musical groups established in 1996 Irish-American culture in Philadelphia Irish-American culture in Pennsylvania

Discography

References

Further reading

External links