Entertainment

Drawing favorable comparisons to Wolfstone, Afro Celt Sound System, and Trans-Siberian Orchestra and consistently providing performances from Grade 1 bagpipers and other world class musicians this high-energy Canadian/American group has electrified audiences on three continents for years. They have expanded their ever-growing family of fans at music festivals, theatres, military bases, weddings, memorial ceremonies, corporate events, and more. This has even included shows with world-renowned violinist/composers Lindsey Stirling and Alison Krauss, as well as airplay on TV and radio, and shows at non-Celtic venues such as the World Music Festival in Quebec where they have both kicked off and closed the 6 day event to widespread acclaim (they've been asked to play this festival 10 years in a row and counting).

The Prodigals are one of the iconic Celtic rock bands. They have released ten albums, the most recent in 2022, and have headlined major venues across the United States and Ireland.

The Prodigals’ sound retains authentic Irish traditional melodic roots, while embracing eclectic world rhythms infused with NYC energy.

Venues have ranged from Madison Square Garden, Lincoln Center, and Webster Hall in New York, to the House of Blues in Las Vegas, Cleveland, and Boston, to Whelan's in Dublin and Dolan’s Warehouse in Limerick; festival appearances range from the Guinness Fleadh, to Music Midtown Atlanta, to the Dublin, Milwaukee, Austin, Chicago, Michigan and Montana Irish Festivals, and many more.

On The Lash formed in early 2021, with their very first set of shows being a tour through PA and DE. Since then, OTL has been busy performing at festivals and concert venues across the US, as well as sharing their unique background and experience in the genre through educational workshops. Some notable festivals include the KVMR Celtic Fest in Grass Valley, CA; the Yachats Celtic Fest in Yachats, OR; the Longs Peak Highland Fest in Estes Park, CO; and the Celtic Classic in Bethlehem, PA. Their recorded work includes the 2022 single Dog in the Distance, with a five song performance EP to be released in 2024.

In 1989, Joey (Father) and Shawn (Son) started a band with their friends. Over the last 30 years they have played their brand of Celtic/Americana Folk Music at festivals, theaters and pubs all across the country. Finding themselves incredibly fortunate to have played on the Mumford and Sons, Gentleman Of The Road Tour and having received an Irish Music Award Nomination for "Top Traditional Band in a Festival, Theatre, Pub". Currently, Father Son and Friends can be heard on countless radio stations and television programs/documentaries including The American Woodshop on PBS.

Jenny and the Weazels are a newly formed Celtic trio from Northeast Tennessee. The three of them - Keegan Luckey-Smith (bouzouki, guitar, vocals), Rheva Myhre (fiddle), and Jamie McDermott (bodhrán, flute) - met at ETSU’s roots music program in Johnson City, TN around 2014. Since then, the three musicians have played together around the region in various configurations. By St. Patrick’s Day 2024, they had become Jenny and the Weazels and landed a steady residency at Mulligan’s Irish Pub in Johnson City.

Now the band enjoys bringing Scottish and Irish fiddle tunes and songs to Celtic festivals, dances, weddings and more around the southeast and beyond. Jenny and the Weazels are sure to keep your feet tapping for hours!

Andrew McManus, Mark Whalen Jr and Tessa Thistlethwaite make up the Andrew McManus Trio. Andrew a singer-songwriter from Armagh, Northern Ireland. Growing up at the tail-end of the Troubles near the ancient Celtic site of Emain Macha, Andrew was heavily influenced by the local myths and legends of Irish literature that were set there; the tales of Cú Chulainn, Queen Macha, and the epic saga of the Táin Bó Cúailnge. These stories deeply inspired his creativity and a love for Irish folk tunes which led him to producing artwork and music with a distinctly Celtic and ethereal quality.

Karen & Alastair both hail from the far North of Scotland, where they grew up learning amongst some well-known musicians such as Addie Harper (of The Wick Scottish Dance Band), Bobby Coghill and Ian Sinclair who led the folk group, Mirk.

Karen has a strong, rhythmic style of fiddle playing, influenced by her highland dance training. With the bagpipes traditionally accompanying highland dancing, Karen was exposed to a strong repertoire of strathspeys, jigs, and reels, long before she started learning the fiddle at the age of 13.

Alastair also started learning the accordion when he was 13 and was soon playing regularly for dances across Scotland and the North of England with Addie Harper’s Scottish Dance Band.

The twinning of the Highlands of Scotland with Cape Breton Island, Canada, in 1986 enabled both Karen and Alastair to travel to Cape Breton performing on a tour of the island and this gave them exposure to some of the great players and groups such as the Barra MacNeils and The Rankin family.

Formed in 1997, the Brass Band of the Western Reserve is an award-winning British-style brass band performing a wide variety of music at the highest possible standard of performance and, in so doing, creating an enjoyable experience for its audience. The band is able to perform impressively across a wide spectrum of emotions whether the music is quiet and delicate or strong and powerful.

Led by conductor Jay Wardeska, the band presents an annual Concert Series at the Medina Performing Arts Center. Additionally, the band is delighted to accept many of the invitations it receives to perform at other locations, many of which are repeat bookings. Prestigious concert venues have included The Amphitheater, Chautauqua Institution, Hoover Auditorium, Lakeside Chautauqua and Severance Hall, Cleveland.

Robert Mouland is a multi-instrumentalist who performs a wide varietyof unique presentations in both historical and Irish music. His most popular offering over the past few years has been Dancers On A String which presents a cast of different characters called marionettes a laplanchette, or jig puppets. But he still has been known to do performance lectures with 18th century instruments, background music for corporate events (which he did for years at Philadelphia’s City Tavern and Carpenters Hall), storytelling with or without his rolleaux transparent (modern people renamed it a crankie) and stage presentations such as his Legacy Of The Irish Harp. He can be found playing Irish traditional music with friends at sessions around the Philadelphia area when his full time music career doesn’t have him travelling about.

All photo credit belongs to: DELAWARE STATE NEWS/LOGAN B. ANDERSON

Steeltown Acoustic Instruments Experience (SAIE) is an interactive, educational and a “play music on the spot” experience for people to show their musical talent and to learn about a variety of instruments and how they connect to Celtic music.

For the past ten years Jim and Sue Borowski have exhibited and shared their personal collection of instruments with the outside public. The collection includes violins, violas, Cello, mandolins, guitar, bouzouki, harp, autoharp, lap dulcimer, hammered dulcimer, bodhrans, Small pipes, Highland Bagpipes and Uilleann pipes. Many people have commented that the SAIE inspired them or someone in their family to learn to play an instrument.

Friends, Musicians, and OSAS alum who have found a love in gathering and performing music on their smallpipes. The group plays both traditional and modern compositions. The group looks forward to gathering at events where they can enjoy making collective music and educating the public about the music and instruments they appreciate.

The Royal Scottish Country Dance Society (RSCDS) exists to promote and develop Scottish Country Dancing worldwide for the benefit of present and future generations. Our dedicated and passionate membership community aims to promote traditional Scottish Country Dance and Music for current and future generations to enjoy, and are always welcoming to new dancers. To get in touch and inquire about dancing, membership or any of our events please visit our website.

The Leneghan Academy, under the direction of Catherine Leneghan Fox, is celebrating it's 30th year of Irish Dance instruction in the Cleveland area. The studio holds classes in Euclid, Parma Hts and Westlake. Dancers have opportunities to train for fun and fitness, for performance and for competition.

Leneghan Academy has been successful nationally and internationally and is well known locally for exciting performances. If you know anyone who would like to join our school please visit our website or see anyone at the side of the stage for information.

If you hear Irish music and it makes you want to skip or kick your heels, then Irish dancing may be perfect for you!

The Brady Campbell Irish Dance School welcomes new students—beginning at age 4—all year round to join their family. The school welcomes everyone join in the dance!

They have two locations on the west side of Cleveland for classes. Their teachers have a long history of sharing the traditional steps while intertwining creative choreography to tell tales of the old country. Their students dance and win awards all over the world, but they know that Cleveland, and its special Irish community, is their home.