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FREE CONCERTS ON DOUGLASVILLE’S O’NEAL PLAZA IN MAY
<<BACK TO NEWSPRESS RELEASE:
April 25, 2008
For immediate release:
Through May 24, 2008 For more information:
Laura Lieberman 770/949-2787
AN ALL-IRISH SPRING
Douglasville, Georgia – The Cultural Arts Council of Douglasville/Douglas County is pleased to present its annual Spring Concerts on the Plaza at the O’Neal Plaza in historic downtown Douglasville on Saturday, May 3rd, Saturday, May 10th, and Saturday, May 24th. All evening performances begin at 7 p.m. The 2008 spring series showcases an all Irish spring with the Buddy O’Reilly Band playing traditional Irish tunes, Póg! performing contemporary Celtic music, and Keltic Kudzu exploring the Celtic roots of many Southern music traditions. Sponsored by the Irish Bred Pub, these special outdoor events are free and open to the general public. Ample free parking is available near O’Neal Plaza.
On the first Saturday of the spring series, May 3rd, Douglas County’s own (and one of Atlanta’s finest Bazouki players) Doug Murray rejoins THE BUDDY O’REILLY BAND after a long hiatus. The Buddy O’Reilly Band consists of some of the Southeast’s leading traditional Celtic musicians including piper John Machinot, fiddler Kurt Ptacek who also plays banjo and harmonica, Ray Campagnoli who plays the bodhr’an, a traditional handheld goatskin drum, vocalist Lisa Edwards, and stepdancer and violinist Kathie Baughman. For two decades, "The Buddies", as they are known to their fans, have been performing the beautiful songs and rollicking dance tunes of the Irish and Scottish countryside. Called "the leading exponent for Celtic music in the Southeast" by Dirty Linen Magazine, the band has made its mark on the Southern music circuit. Douglasville can expect to hear haunting sea-nosin in ancient Gaelic, turn-of-the-century Irish-American dancehall sin-a-longs, vibrant old-style jigs and reels, and even arrangements of today’s hot Gaelic tunes as the Buddies turn O’Neal Plaza into a ceilidh (dance party) in celebration of Douglasville’s new Irish Bred Pub.
The second Saturday, May 10th, the PÓG! (pronounced Pogue) performs a progressive brand of Celtic music unique unto them. Most of the members come from established bands and brought with them a wide range of that experience. Póg! has great rhythm, wailing fiddle and screaming whistles and pipes. The name Póg is Gaelic for kiss. Musician and vocalist Lance Jones, the founder and front man for Mickle-a-do, plays guitar, bouzouki, bandolin, whistles and bodhr’an; Owen Devine who also plays with the Athens-based Celtic band, Calico Jig, is the group’s percussionist; Mary Carey plays traditional Irish fiddle with Póg, and the Father O'Reilly Ceili Band; and piper James Dunning who founded Séamus & Dave, Blackwater and Doctor Paddy bands has been known to play the war pipes (piob mhor) as well as Irish uilleann pipes and whistles.
On the third Saturday evening, May 24th, the Cultural Arts Council welcomes KELTIC KUDZU, which offers traditional and contemporary Celtic music with a ‘Southern accent’ as well as a healthy dose of Southern music with a Celtic root. Ranging from early madrigals to Elvis, from Dougie MacLean to Dolly Parton, from Loch Lomond to Louisiana to Led Zeppelin, its music features strong vocal harmonies accompanied by a wide variety of instruments including guitars, fiddle, keyboard, mandolin, highland bagpipes, small pipes, bodhra’n and the fabulous Gypsy zils. The solid vocal harmonies of Maggie Anderson (who also plays keyboard) and Merideth Northcutt (who is a classically trained violinist, also sings with the all-female a capella group, The Divas, and was the first fiddler with the well-known Atlanta bluegrass band, Cedar Hill) form the foundation of Keltic Kudzu’s sound. Tom Crawford, an aficionado of rock and roll, rhythm and blues, punk and bluegrass, Indian and Irish, classical and country, has never met a musical style or instrument he was not interested in but in Keltic Kudzu he performs on guitar, mandolin, bass, Highland pipes and small pipes. The newest member of the group, guitarist Tim Porterfield was the Pat Walsh group’s principal guitarist and co-arranger, has also performed as a musician at Marietta’s Theatre-In-The-Square, and participates in the Atlanta Kitchen Party, performing music of Newfoundland.
The Cultural Arts Council of Douglasville/Douglas County and its programs are supported by the City of Douglasville, the Douglas County Board of Commissioners, and the Georgia Council for the Arts, which is supported in part the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes a great nation deserves great art. All three free spring concerts, which are sponsored by the Irish Bred Pub in 2008, are presented at the O’Neal Plaza in historic downtown Douglasville. Contact the Cultural Arts Council at 770/949-2787 or visit our website, www.artsdouglas.org, for further information and directions to the concert venue. PRESS RELEASE: April 25, 2008 For immediate release: For more information: Through May 24, 2008 Laura C. Lieberman, 770/949-2787 CALENDAR LISTINGS: MUSIC PERFORMANCES TITLE: AN ALL-IRISH SPRING Free Concerts on the Plaza PLACE: O’Neal Plaza in Historic Downtown Douglasville Exit #36 from I-20 DATE: Saturday, May 3rd The Buddy O’Reilly Band Saturday, May 10th Póg! Saturday, May 24th Keltic Kudzu TIME: 7 p.m. COST: Free to the public CONTACT: Cultural Arts Center, 770/949-2787
