Experience Celtgrass music with We Banjo 3
A new year is a chance to experience fresh things. Entertainment-wise, Springfield can explore the musical hybrid known as Celtgrass.
Mixing traditional Irish Celtic folk with bluegrass, We Banjo 3, from Galway, Ireland, has pioneered the new form with banjo, fiddle, guitar and mandolin to perform at the Clark State Performing Arts Center at 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 25.
The show is presented by the Springfield Arts Council as part of its Broadway and Beyond Series.
Combining their love of American folk with traditional Irish folk, the band — consisting of brothers Enda and Fergal Scahill and Martin and David Howley — set out to make something unique based on their interests in multiple genres.
“It’s not like four Irish guys trying to play bluegrass,” said David Howley, the group’s singer who plays banjo, guitar and mandolin.
“It’s essentially the drive in Irish music, total body energy, with the pyrotechnics of bluegrass that creates a rootsy vibe. It’s a cool time in folk music.”
Howley insists although he’s the singer, he’s not the center of attention, it’s four talented individuals who “reap the mayhem.”
Martin Howley is a seventime All-Ireland Banjo Champion and the first Irish banjo player to perform at the Grand Ole Opry. Howley describes Enda as the “Professor Dumbledore of the band, while Fergal is “the magic, such a force.”
“Our songs are by all the band members, it’s a rare way to write,” Howley said. “I like to say I was born with one brother and I’ve inherited two.”
If the math on the band name and the number of members don’t add up, it does in the bigger picture. Howley compares it to a group like Maroon 5, which has six members, just having fun with the title.
When We Banjo 3 hits the Kuss Auditorium stage, Howley said the audience will be in for something it never experienced, and knowledge or appreciation of Irish music isn’t necessary.
Their tour is called the Roots to Rise Tour and is tying in to Mental Health America, raising awareness of suicide prevention. The proceeds of the song “Don’t Let Me Down” are going to help organizations
Howley wrote some of the songs from personal experience, about how it’s hard to be human and look for a place of safety, and that’s what he wants audiences to experience at the show, since music is the outlet that works for him.
“I promise you’ll have a good time,” he said. “You’ll leave your problems at the door and you’ll be singing. I’ve seen it happen so many times.”