The Star News (Summer 2005)

Ring of Kerry to perform on the ArtSoup Energy Stage

by Britt Aamodt

Audiences will be reeling—and jigging—when St. Cloud’s Ring of Kerry hits the ArtSoup Energy Stage, Saturday, June 18. The Irish music group, slated to begin at 3:30 pm, will perform a jazzed-up set of traditional reels, jigs, hornpipes and ballads.

In past ArtSoups, Ring of Kerry’s five band members worked the crowd as strolling musicians. Their musicianship, dosed with some playful antics, made the group a popular festival attraction, said Pat Feit, ArtSoup performance coordinator.

“People just loved them because they were raucous and brassy,” said Feit, who expects their 40-minute set at this year’s festival to win new fans.

“What’s wonderful about Ring of Kerry,” she said, “is that they have this strong interaction with the crowd. They look like they’re having fun and you feel it.”

But Ring of Kerry’s real success, said founder and band member Paul Cotton, comes from the music—barroom dance tunes, sea shanties, tales of war, wayfaring and lost love.

Originating in the musical traditions of Ireland and Scotland, many of Ring of Kerry’s songs give new meaning to the term Golden Oldie.

“An instrumental piece we do was written by an Irish harpist named O’Carolan 300 years ago,” said Cotton. “Sometimes it’s amazing to me that music of that age is still out there being played and people hear it all the time.”

The band’s acoustic instrumentation adds to the Old World feel. Hammered dulcimer, fiddle, pennywhistle, flute and bodhran (Irish hand drum) weave a typically Irish sound, personalized by what Cotton calls Ring of Kerry’s “rock ‘n’ roll pulse.”

“You know there may be a purist who wouldn’t like the pulse we give the music. However, every time an Irish person comes up and talks to us after a concert, they just gush. They say we should perform (in Ireland),” said Cotton.

Ring of Kerry has produced two CDs, “St. Paddy’s Eve” the most recent, and are planning a third.

Journalist

http://www.erstarnews.com 

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