We have so many great artists coming to the Celtic Arts Festival. One of them is The Irish Breakfast Band. The band is so named because for over 30 years its members have gathered every Saturday morning to share breakfast and to play traditional Irish music. The tunes played are those handed down by aural tradition.
Occasionally, a composition by a band member will be included. Arrangements are by the Band with a certain freedom of ornamentation and improvisation.
The Band plays for the joy of the music, the pleasure of shared accomplishment and the hope of engaging the audience. The music is made for dancing and this performance includes step dancers.
The Band’s first recording, Sean’s Treasure (1999), was named “Best Irish/Celtic Recording of the Year” by the Washington Area Music Association (WAMA). The group’s most recent recording, On High Cross Farm (2006) was also a WAMA award nominee.
The Irish Breakfast Band
Members of the Irish Breakfast Band
Rear row/from the left: Jannie Johnston,dancer, Catherine Beall, dancer, Lisa Anderson, Irish flute and whistles, Sandy Hoar, fiddle, Gordon Johnston, fiddle, Joyce Mercer, fiddle, Maddie O’Neill Dean, guitar, Chuck Moran,bodhran and percussion, Marcia Finnerty, concertina and whistle, Rick Netherton, bass, Emma Beall, dancer.
Second/middle row from left: Tom Van Wagner, fiddle, Martha Beall, piano, Becky Bates, Flute and Irish whistle, Sue McIver, hammer dulcimer, Karen Helbrecht, banjo and cello, Katie Duffy, mandolin, Abbie Desrosiers, Irish flute, whistle and bodhran.
Front seated: Chris Metzler, guitar and Sean Doherty, fiddle