At BCMFest, a celebration of Celtic music with few boundaries
Go, Celts! That’s what you call Celtic musicians, right? So get ready to dance, strum, and sing at Passim’s 21st annual Boston Celtic Music Fest, running Thursday through Sunday.
And this isn’t your Nana’s music festival: A Celtic EDM party. Fiery Gen Z fiddlers. A brunch where you might soak up tunes from Cape Breton or Shetland with your avocado toast. A high-voltage finale with Québécois Juno Award winners. An Irish storyteller (no, not your buddy Sully — different guy).
Also known as BCMFest, the four-day extravaganza aims to “showcase Greater Boston’s deep tradition of music, song and dance from Irish, Scottish, Cape Breton, Quebecois and other Celtic communities,” according to Passim’s website. This year, some 32 acts — an estimated hundred or so artists — will perform in various venues.
The fest is organized again by Summer McCall — a Celtic cellist, fiddler, and Scottish ceilidh dance caller who previously told the Globe that attending the 2020 BCMFest as an audience member “was the moment I thought, ‘OK, here’s my community. This is it.’ ”
But whether you’re a hard-core fiddler or didn’t know Canada counted in the world of Celtic music, there’s something for you here, said Matt Smith, managing director of Club Passim.
“It’s funny, when I first started working at Club Passim, I didn’t understand there were different Celtic traditions,” he says with a laugh. “Over time, I started to learn, to hear the difference: Oh, that’s an Irish tune. Oh, that’s a Cape Breton tune. Like, oh, my goodness! I think I’m getting it!’
“Celtic music is not one thing. It is not monolithic.”
BCMFest is “like a buffet — try everything,” Smith urges fest-goers. What’s on the menu?
The fun kicks off Thursday at 7 p.m. with “First Round” at Club Passim. The lineup: Irish piper Joey Abarta, Scottish fiddler/Berklee alum-turned-assistant-professor Jenna Moynihan, and multi-instrumentalist Neil Pearlman & the Wallbreakers.
“Neil is one of those central people who is going to put something really interesting together,” Smith said of the talented pianist.
On Friday, it’s “Roots & Branches” night at Club Passim, “which tends to be a little more on the fringier side of the Celtic world . . . pushing the boundaries,” Smith says.
Berklee alum/ Scandinavianstyle fiddler Mariel Vandersteel kicks things off at 7 p.m., followed by Boston-based Celtic duo Casey Murray & Molly Tucker, and Triga. Smith described Triga, a Bostonformed trio, as “a blend of Québécois and Scandinavian music.”
Meanwhile that evening, at Somerville Theatre’s Crystal Ballroom, it’s a “Boston Urban Ceilidh,” billed as “participatory and social dances from the Cape Breton and Scottish traditions, all with live music. No experience is necessary — all dances will be taught and led by an in-time caller.” The night ends with Celtic EDM project Ramblxr. An electronic project of piper/producer/ songwriter Elias Alexander, Ramblxr “puts fiery dance tunes from the Scottish, Irish, and American traditions in conversation with . . . dance productions influenced by disco, house, and lo-fi hip-hop,” according to the website.
On Saturday, “Dayfest” from 11a.m. to 5 p.m. is packed with more than 20 acts in three Somerville venues: the Crystal Ballroom, the Burren, and the Rockwell. An interesting addition: Irish storyteller Joe Keane will spin a yarn at the Rockwell at 2:15 p.m.
Smith pointed out Boston-based Gen Z Scottish/Cape Breton quintet Scottish Fish, who’ll be playing at 1 p.m. at the Crystal Ballroom. “They’re always a favorite,” he said. “I think this is their 10th or 11th year, and they’re only in their young 20s now. They were literally children when they first started playing.”
Naming themselves after their favorite treat, Swedish Fish, the quintet met as kids at the Boston Harbor Scottish Fiddle School in 2011, according to their website. Today they’re a tight fiddle troupe and fun Instagram follow.
Smith also noted the Adam Hendey Band, playing the Burren at
2:45 p.m. (“Hendey is just a brilliant guitar player.”)
While musicians perform all day in the Burren’s backroom, there’s a free non-ticketed day of sessions in the venue’s front-room. Bring your own instrument and join in the fun.
As for the Saturday “Nightcap Finale,” hold on to your flap cap: Le Vent du Nord will folk-rock the Crystal Ballroom at 8 p.m. Described on their website as a “force in Québec’s . . . Francophone folk movement,” the two-time Juno Award winners are “super high-energy,” Smith said. “They’ve played [Passim] before and it’s always just explosive.”
It all ends with a free-admission brunch (pay for what you eat) from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday at Club Passim, accompanied by live music from the duo Mrs. Wilberforce
(Sean Smith and Kyra Davies).
Overall the fest “brings together a huge community,” said Smith.
“The Boston area Celtic music scene is almost as strong as any in the native countries where it’s happening.”
‘Celtic music is not one thing. It is not monolithic. . . . [BCMFest] is like a buffet — try everything.’ MATT SMITH managing director of Club Passim