Celtic Thunder
Biography
From the CD Booklet " Celtic Thunder "
Celtic Thunder is uniique among modern Irish folk groups. The widely differing backgrounds of its members represent only part of the reason for their spcial kind of music and the equally special atposphere they create wherever they go. Each one is a fine and sensitive musician, yet their music together has more earthiness than technical virtuosity and more spirit and honesty than delicacy and finesse.
Their song repertoire is highly eclectic, ranging from old traditional Irish and Scottish songs and new compositions in these idioms to songs in the music-hall and popular Irish-American musical heritage, including songs popularized by the McNulty Family, who were the top Irish entertainers in New York in the 1940s and 1950s, and whose legacy remains almost entirely ignored by present day Irish American musicians. In addition to The Best Years of our Liives, Terry has also begun to compose songs drawing on his own experiences growing up and living in an Irish-American community. So, altogether, this particular dimension of Celtic Thunder's song repertoire gives them a very special distinction among Irish bands in America today.
Their instrumental music is equally diverse.They play relatively straightforward medleys for ceili dances, and much more highly arranged sets of tunes, including a few solos and duets here and there for their bar and concert gigs where,as Jesse points out, they are more geared for " performance " . Accordingly, they have a repertoire that is multi-dimensional enough for them to be able to satisfy an extraordinarily wide range of musical tastes wherever they play.