Sunday, December 21, 2008

The Black House Ceilidh


We had the opportunity to see (the second time for me) a great Christmas concert last night. The Black House Ceilidh performed at the Kerrytown Concert House last night and Friday to sell out crowds.

The Black House Ceilidh is a fantastic group. They play instruments you don't often hear in folk music: viola de gamba; highland bagpipes; viheula. The band members, as I understand, know each other through the Michigan Renaissance Festival where each regularly perform individually. Their sound (and stage dress) has a Renaissance feel, but there is a lot of celtic, English folk and Spanish in there sound. BHC do not mic their instruments; the show has a very clean, soothing feel because of that. Each person in the group is a very gifted musician with a wide range of influences.

Here's the band's myspace page:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=117241558

The show was primarily a holiday program, but a few songs that were more broadly "religious" or with winter themes were part of the set. Their CD, Upon A Winter's Eve, is a perfect disc if you love more traditional Yuletide songs. I highly recommend you order it before the holiday arrives. You can get the CD or download the songs from these sites:

http://cdbaby.com/cd/ceilidh
or
http://musicishere.com/artists/The_Black_House_Ceilidh/Upon_a_Wintera..s_Eve

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