Eileen Ivers and Immigrant Soul

Eileen Ivers and Immigrant Soul will be headlining the 2008 Saline Celtic Festival. Eileen toured extensively with Riverdance, won 7 All Ireland fiddle titles, an eighth on tenor banjo, and is part of the Back To Titanic sound track recording. Check out www.eileenivers.com and/or her bio for more information Ms. Ivers.

"Eileen Ivers will change the way you think about the violin.

Eileen Ivers & Immigrant Soul, Nine Time All-Ireland Fiddle Champion, London Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony at The Kennedy Center, Boston Pops, musical star of Riverdance, The Chieftains, Hall and Oates, Afrocelts, Patti Smith, Paula Cole, Al Di Meola, Steve Gadd, founding member of Cherish the Ladies, performed for Presidents and Royalty worldwide ... this is a short list of accomplishments, headliners, tours and affiliations. Fiddler Eileen Ivers has established herself as the pre-eminent exponent of the Irish fiddle in the world today."

Bryan Kelso Crow

www.celticconnectionsradio.org/host.shtml

Bryan is a familiar face to our festival attendees. He has been hosting the Brecon Stage for many years, bringing his knowledge and enthusiasm for Celtic music with him. Mr. Crow is an Associate Professor of Speech Communication and guest lecturer in the Irish Studies program at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. He plays flute, whistle and keyboard with his own band, The Dorians, but is probably most well known for his syndicated NPR radio show, Celtic Connections (airs locally at 9 p.m. Sunday evenings on WKAR {90.5 fm}). Involved in all areas of the biz,' Bryan is also a member of the Coordinating Committee for the Southern Illinois Festival of Irish Music and Dance.

The Commonwealth Dance Collective

The Commonwealth Dance Collective (CDC) is an ensemble of stepdancers based in lower Michigan. Founded in 2004, the CDC presents a review highlighting many styles of stepdances including Irish, Appalachian, English, Canadian, American tap, historic routines and original choreography. The members of the group delight in capturing the spirits of the past and the present with equal enthusiasm and sharing the collective joy of many cultures through dance. Dancers include Sheila Graziano, Nellie Schrantz, Becky Hill, Kristen Ocampo and Fraser Christie accompanied by musicians Paul Winder and Myron Grant.

Chelsea House Orchestra

www.chelseahouseorchestra.org

Jed Fritzemeier started the Chelsea House Orchestra (CHO) in 1996 with 10 students willing to learn to play some Celtic tunes. The group is now composed of approximately 30 Chelsea High School (Michigan) students who play a variety of instruments, including fiddles, violas, cellos, guitars, flutes, bodhrans, and harps. The group performs on Celtic festival stages and fairs throughout the region. CHO provides a varied and colorful performance with the majority of the music derived from traditional Celtic sources. The melody based arrangements feature individuals through the use of solos, duos and special features.

Daichiel Thistle

www.chelseahighlanddancing.com

Daichiel Thistle started as Chelsea Highland Dancing through the local Community Education Department a few years back. There was only mild curiosity at the time. In the fall of 2006 several young ladies dove enthusiastically into the tartan tradition. Led by Heather Allen, these core children along with their parents are the backbone and energy that has allowed the dance group to grow to triple its original size! It is that spark and energy that young people bring to a sport that keeps it alive. The local Highland dance community is lucky to have such young and vibrant resources!

Fiddlers ReStrung

www.fiddlersrestrung.com

For almost 15 years, Saline Area Schools has proudly produced one of the most renowned fiddling ensembles ever created. Led by artistic director Cori Smith, the group plays bluegrass, folk and Celtic music, with touches of Texas swing and a bit of Latin flair. Founded by string educator and composer Bob Phillips in the mid 1990s, the group is a jewel in Saline’s crown, and has inspired the creation of numerous groups of this type across the country. Members of Fiddlers ReStrung are dedicated to preserving fiddle music, serving the community, acting as role models for music education, and demonstrating the positive qualities of young adults.

Fior

www.fiorcelticmusic.com

Fíor is a trio composed of David Rhine and Andrew Beck who are both recent alumni of Saline Fiddlers. They are joined by Kiana Weber from the Chelsea House Orchestra. All three are currently students at the University of Michigan. Since they started playing together in September of 2007, the group has managed to combine the diverse musical tastes and experiences of its members into their own developing Celtic-centered sound.   The group performs a mixture of traditional and original music inspired by their musical heroes, yet uniquely Fíor. Can they convince Fiddler alumni Kristen Ocampo to join them with a few steps??!?!?

Glen Morningstar

A highly sought after dance caller, the Saline Celtic Festival is delighted to have Glen participate on our dance stage this year Glen called dances at Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum from 1981 - 2005 as well as countless other venues across the country and abroad.Well versed in many different dance styles, Glen will lead a contra dance session (with music by Eileen Ivers & Immigrant Soul) and a set of Canadian quadrilles (with music by Ken Perlman and Jim DeWan).

The Heaton Trio

Matt and Shannon’s music is an amalgam of Irish traditional, neo-traditional, and original song writing. They combine instrumentals and vocals seamlessly, creating a lush and sunny sonic realm.Shannon will delight you with her flute and whistle playing, with Matt as the perfect match on guitars, bouzouki and bodhran.

Kieran Jordan, Boston's innovative Irish dance pioneer has teamed up with the Heatons to develop new percussive sounds to weave into ballads. Vocals and feet...a little-explored frontier.

Jessie Nieves and Bill Weigandt

Jessie played fiddle and was a featured stepdancer during her tenure with Fiddlers ReStrung. After graduating (2005) she quickly made friends with other young musicians in Michigan and became part of the band Freshwater. Never one to sit still, she continues to be a part of that band, plays with an indie rock band in Mt. Pleasant (where she is an art major at Central Michigan University), is a member of The Commonwealth Dance Collective, has a Celtic duo called Faileas (with piper Zak Read) and performs as a duo with guitarist Bill Weigandt. Bill’s musical skills were nurtured by musicians in Michigan’s old-time and Celtic music circles and learned folk songs from his father.

Ken Perlman Jim DeWan

www.kenperlman.com

The Saline Celtic Festival is most pleased to have Ken Perlman grace our stages this year. A superb instrumentalist, acclaimed teacher of instrumental skills, gifted performer, and award-winning folklorist, Ken Perlman has been referred to as “the Heifetz of the Banjo”. Ken is both a pioneer of the 5-string banjo style known as "melodic clawhammer," and a master of fingerstyle guitar. He is considered one of the top clawhammer players in the world, known in particular for his skillful adaptations of Celtic tunes to the style. On guitar, Ken's sparkling finger-picked renditions of traditional Celtic and Southern fiddle tunes are simply not to be missed.

Ken is an acclaimed teacher of folk-music instrumental skills and has written some of the most widely respected banjo and guitar instruction books of modern times.He spent over a decade collecting tunes and oral histories from traditional fiddle players on Prince Edward Island in eastern Canada and published a collection of over 400 tunes called "The Fiddle Music of Prince Edward Island." He returned to PEI in 2006 to conduct a follow-up recording and interviewing project sponsored by the Canadian Museum of Civilization of Gatineau, Quebec. His most recent recordings are "Northern Banjo,""Island Boy," and a duet-project with fiddler Alan Jabbour called "Southern Summits”. 

Ken will be accompanied by Chicago guitarist Jim DeWan.

Jim DeWan is one of the preeminent accompanists in Irish traditional music. Though an American, the list of musicians with whom he has worked across the U.S. and in Europe reads like a ‘Who's Who of Irish Music” including: Kevin Burke, Liz Carroll, Frankie Gavin, Jimmy Keane, Paddy Keenan, John Whelan, Cape Breton fiddler and composer Jerry Holland, all have enjoyed Jim’s tasteful and powerful backing on guitar and bouzouki.

Jim earned a Master of Divinity degree in 1985 during which time he studied composition under Music of the Baroque founder and Music Director Thomas Wikman

For twenty years Jim served on the faculty of the Old Town School of Folk Music, where he helped establish the curriculum in Irish music studies. Known equally as a composer, Jim has written hundreds of songs and instrumental pieces. In 1992 he joined the songwriting staff of the Acuff-Rose Publishing Company. In 1995, he was awarded the Illinois Arts Council Fellowship in Ethnic and Folk Arts for his contributions to the discipline of guitar accompaniment in Irish traditional music.

Along with music, Jim likes food. Since 2003, he’s been on the culinary faculty of the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago. Also an award winning food writer, his work has appeared in newspapers and magazines across the nation. His column, Prep School, appears regularly in Chicago Tribune’s Good Eating Section.

The Kreellers

www.thekreellers.com/

The Kreellers (formerly Bruno’s Boys) lean back into the past and offer a musical feast of the songs of their forefathers.   The Kreellers lead the audience in a “come-all-ye singers” style performance, featuring vocals that could charm the hinges off the gates of hell, accompanied by a myriad of instruments.With a good deal of humor infused into their stories and songs, the group will fill our evenings with a rollicking good time!

Li'l Creek

Featuring brothers Jesse and Kelly Mason, Li'l Creek is a collaborative bluegrass effort of a local family with Kentucky roots. The band has been playing together for over ten years now. Featuring Jesse on guitar and Kelly on mandolin, they are joined by their cousin Ashley Haushalter. Jesse was a member of Saline Fiddlers Philharmonic in 1997 and 1998 and Kelly from 1996 to 2000. Jesse is also a member of the band Millish.

Lonesome County

www.lonesomecountyband.com

An award winning, Michigan-based Bluegrass band that will win over every listener with their energetic, hard driving acousic performances.

Guitarist Chad Jeremy, Paul Shapiro on bass, Kevin Frank on mandolin, Marty Somberg on fiddle, and Lee Kaufmann on banjo.

Fiddlers ReStrung alumni Kevin Frank wasted no time in hooking up with this hot-on-the-scene bluegrass band when he graduated from Saline High in 2006. He’s the youngest member of this group by a “few” years, but his hot mandolin picking is a strong feature in this group. Based in Ann Arbor, this group has a busy performance schedule in Michigan and beyond.

O’Hare School of Irish Dance

ohareirishdancers.clubspaces.com

The O'Hare School of Irish dance was founded in 1979 in Plymouth Michigan by Tim O'Hare. In 1984, he opened two new schools in Cleveland and Akron .  In the fall of 1996 he further expanded the school to Chicago .  Currently he has over 600 students enrolled in the Plymouth , Chicago and Akron schools. Tim's students have won Midwest, National, All-Ireland and World Championships.  Their achievements earned them a visit to the White House on St. Patrick's Day 1999.  Some of Tim's students have appeared for the stage shows Riverdance and Lord of the Dance.

He is joined in Plymouth by two additonal outstanding teachers, Megan Sanders and Breda McGowan.  This team teaches students of all ages and abilities and creates a love of Irish dance in the students. At the Saline Celtic Festival,  you will be treated to both hardshoe and softshoe dances by students in the Preliminary Championship and championship class. These students have all worked very hard and have all danced at the Midwest Regional Oireachtas.  Some of them have qualified for the National level competition.

For more information on the O'Hare school and its classes, visit us at ohareirishdancers.clubspaces.com

Paul Pazkowski

Paul Pazkowski (alias Paul Pazz) is a local guitarist, singer/songwriterwho began his career in the 1980s. Emerging from his teen years with a Detroit-area rock and roll band, he later went solo as a folk/pop guitarist and singer/songwriter. Today, he and his wife Becky perform as "Topazz" at local establishments and private parties as a duo, Paul providing the instrumental half of the duo.

In addition to his own musicianship, in the late 80s and early 90s Paul Pazz was the host of the WEMU radio show "The Essential Troubadour Show" that featured acoustic and jazz music. He has served as emcee for the Riverfolk Festival in Manchester, the Brecon Music Fest in Saline, and for various other musical concerts in the Detroit metropolitan area. Today, he is an elementary school teacher and gives private guitar lessons to musicians of all ages.

He and his wife have two teenage sons in the Saline schools, where they live, work, and volunteer.

Rant Maggie Rant

This five member ensemble brings you a presentation of Celtic music with a bit of attitude. Traditional tunes played straight up or yielding to the influences of world rhythms. Reels with a touch of Appalachian Swing, jigs driven by Latin hand percussion, slow ballads as they've been played for centuries."Rant Maggie Rant" will take you on a journey charted through the past, to new compositions of the present, passing by the shores of the seven Celtic nations on their way.

"Sprout Wings and Fly"

The audience will be treated to short performances by six string bands, each of which has at least one member who is an alumni of one of Washtenaw County’s three high school fiddling groups. We are very proud of these extra curricular programs in our community, and are delighted to see the graduates of these groups taking their skills and making them an ongoing part of their lives. It’s wonderful to follow the alumni as their musical interests grow and develop. Their high school experience exposed them to American and Celtic roots music, and as the years go by they’ve spread their wings and soared into a variety of musical directions.  

String Cheese

www.myspace.com/stringcheesemusic  

Diana Ladio (fiddle, guitar) and Kiana Weber (vocals, fiddle, guitar) are both alumni of the Chelsea House Orchestra. Diana was an in the group from 2002 to 2005 and Kiana from 2003 to 2007. Kiana is now the asistant director of the group. Both are currently pursuing music degrees at the University of Michigan. They are joined by Ali Haraburda on cello and piano in this lively trio. They compose and perform Celtic rock music but include many traditional pieces from the Cetlic genre in their shows. Realizing the value of their own experiences, they are eager to continue introducing alternative styles of string music into public school programs.“The Chelsea House Orchestra really showed us how many alternative options music held for all of us, and I think it's safe to say that our professional careers are going to be much more diverse and exciting because of that!”, said Diana, reflecting on the value of her high school experience.

Traveler’s Dream

www.travelersdream.net

Traveler's Dream performs spirited music from the British Isles and French Canada.  Band members Michael Lewis, Denise Wilson, and Deb Shebish are masters of an eclectic repertoire who delight audiences with lively Irish jigs and reels, French-Canadian voyageur songs, spirited sea shanties, and ballads that capture the heart and history of diverse cultures.   The hallmarks of this spirited trio are their powerful vocals, carefully woven arrangements, and their versatility as multi-instrumentalists which keeps audiences wondering what combination of instruments they will pick up next!
Instruments:  Fiddle, bouzouki, Irish flute and whistle, guitar, concertina, fife, mandolin, feet percussion

The Wild Wood   Band

www.myspace.com/thewildwoodband

Cori Smith is the local link in this eclectic string trio. Cori fiddled and danced in the Saline Fiddlers Philharmonic when she was in high school (1997 - 2001), traveled with the professional Canadian music and dance troupe Barrage for nearly two years, and then returned to Michigan to study music at Michigan State University. She has been the artistic director of Fiddlers ReStrung for three years. The music of The Wild Wood is a fresh blend of folk, Celtic, jazz and improv. Kelly Pond and Eli Bender are the other two members of this trio, and are also pursuing music education at Michigan State University.