Nevada City, CA February 13, 2023 – Fans of Celtic music need not wait for a fall festival to enjoy an evening of inspired musical entertainment from a group of talented musicians who, for over 25 years, have been performing complex arrangements and unique sounds to reshape the boundaries of traditional Irish music. Lunasa comes to Miners Foundry Saturday, February 25th.
The band formed in 1997 and is comprised of a dream team of Irish musicians. They started out as a band with members from several other successful bands including founding members Sean Smyth and Trevor Hutchinson. Lunasa’s publicist and manager, Maureen Brennan said bassist Hutchinson’s roots were in rock and roll, “He was in a band with Mike Scott called ‘The Waterboys’ and then he moved back to Ireland and got into more traditional music before he and Sean and a couple of others formed, Lunasa.”
Fiddler Sean Smyth is also a practicing physician so he comes and goes with the band Brennan said, “He always performs with them in Ireland and the British Isles but not so much in America for a number of years but after going through Covid and a lot of medical intensity, I guess you’d call it, he decided it was time to come back and play in America with the band.”
Lunasa came together when an opportunity to tour Australia came up. Brennan said, “A couple of them had been contacted so Sean and Trevor and a few other musicians that they knew thought that would be fun for a couple of months and it just took off.”
Some of those original players left and Smyth and Hutchinson brought in flutist Kevin Crawford, along with uilleann piper Cillian Vallely of the famous Vallely artistic clan (who has performed with Riverdance and recently recorded with Bruce Springsteen.) Guitarist Ed Boyd completes the quintet of performers.
The evening is filled with Irish tunes and engaging stories about the tunes Brennan said the distinction is that they do not have lyrics, so no one is singing, though people barely notice as Crawford engages the crowd. “He is very very entertaining. People just can’t resist it. He tells the backgrounds of the tunes. He tells stories about the band members or himself and he is just exceedingly entertaining.”
Audience members will be on their feet dancing to unique sounds, Brennan concluded, “People get up in the aisles and dance. People also sit and enjoy it but you can’t stay still even if you are in your seats, people will be bobbing.”
Get tickets today for the February 25th performance.
For Immediate Contact: David Lloyd, david@minersfoundry.org
KNOW AND GO:
WHO: Lunasa
WHERE: Miners Foundry, 325 Spring Street, Nevada City, CA 95959, Call (530) 265-5040
WHEN: Doors 7:00 p.m. Show: 8:00 p.m.
HOW: $35
Available online, by phone or in person at the Miners Foundry Box Office:
325 Spring Street, Nevada City, CA 95959 Tuesday – Friday | 9:00am – 4:00pm
The Miners Foundry Cultural Center is a living historic treasure serving Nevada County as a cultural art and community events center. More than a venue, the nonprofit’s mission is to preserve, enhance and utilize the historic Miners Foundry for cultural, educational, and social activities in Nevada County. It is a symbol of California’s rich historical heritage, providing an educational and social bridge from our past to the present and future.