Magically
contemporary yet timeless, the Irish-American super group Solas takes the stage at the Diana Wortham Theatre on Friday,
February 27, 2015 at 8:00 p.m. Touring in support of its multimedia project, Shamrock
City, Solas is a lightening rod of talent and
inspiration, electrifying crowds of all musical tastes. Since busting onto the
world stage in 1996, the band has been trumpeted as “the first truly great Irish
band to rise from America” (Boston Globe), and ranked among “the most exciting bands anywhere in the
world” (Irish Echo).
Solas’ latest landmark project, Shamrock City, is a multimedia event combining songs, stories, music, and
historical imagery in a captivating live stage performance. Shamrock
City tells the story of copper mining town Butte, Montana, at the turn of the 20th
century, as seen through the eyes of Irish immigrant, Michael Conway, the great
uncle of Seamus Egan’s father. In 1910, Conway sailed from Cobh, County Cork,
Ireland to Philadelphia before making his way to Butte and the mines. Conway’s
journey and plight inspired the band to explore the role of immigrants in the
development of industrialized America.
For 15 years, Solas has been recognized as the most
popular, influential Irish-American super group, stepping out onto the world
stage in 1996 when Irish music was at the brink of a new era of innovation and
popularity. The five young musicians who made up the band at the time had no
idea that they were to be a galvanizing element in the Irish music scene – a
lightning rod of talent and inspiration that set new standards for
musicianship, repertoire, and intensity. “We thought we were doing a one-off
project,” says multi-instrumentalist Seamus Egan with a smile, ten years after
the fact. Egan and fiddler Winifred Horan have remained with the band through
more than a decade of critical acclaim, ten albums, and endless international
touring.
Philadelphia-born,
multi-instrumentalist and founding member Seamus Egan leads the traditional
Irish group whose music was featured in the film The Brothers
McMullen. Eagan’s bandmates include: fiddler and
fellow founding member, Winifred Horan, formerly of Cherish the Ladies; Mick
McAuley from Kilkenny, Ireland, on accordion, concertina, and low whistle;
North Ireland's Eamon McElholm on guitar and keyboards; and Nimah Varian-Barry
of County Cork as lead vocals. She joined Solas following the release of its
2010 album The Turning Tide.
Solas has performed
at all the major Celtic and folk festivals, including Philadelphia, Edmonton,
the legendary National Folk Festival, and Milwaukee’s Irish fest; but also at
Telluride Bluegrass Festival, and the chamber music summer series at Steamboat
Springs, Colorado. The band has performed at Symphony Hall, Wolf Trap, the Ford
Amphitheater, and Queens Hall in Edinburgh, Scotland. In New York City, where they
were based in their early years, Solas played the legendary Bottom Line folk club,
and classical venues such as Town Hall and Symphony Space.
Solas’s Asheville performance is presented in
partnership with The Swannanoa
Gathering at Warren Wilson College; and made possible by Mainstage Celtic
Series Sponsors Dr. Alan & Suzanne Escovitz and Arby’s, with additional support from Media
Sponsor WNCW 88.7 FM.
The entrance for the Diana Wortham Theatre is marked by the location of
the theatre’s marquee between 12 and 14 Biltmore Avenue. Patrons enter the
theatre through the breezeway between Marble Slab Creamery and White Duck Taco,
and into a large interior courtyard with multiple glass doors to the theatre’s main
lobby and box office. The intimate theatre seats
just over 500 and boasts exceptional acoustics and sightlines, making it the
premier performance space in Western North Carolina. The Mainstage Series is
supported by a grant from the North Carolina Arts Council, a state agency. The
Mainstage Series 2014/2015 Season Sponsors are the Asheville
Scene, Blue Moon Water, Creative Energy, Laurey’s Catering and
Gourmet-to-go, the North Carolina Arts Council, and the Renaissance Asheville
Hotel. To obtain more information on the Mainstage
Series or to purchase tickets, call the theatre’s box office at (828) 257-4530
or visit www.dwtheatre.com.
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