Sonora's Black Irish Band will be making their 14th appearance in the Music in the Parks series when they head to the Valley Springs Ball Field on Wednesday, June 24, 2009. Starting at 6:30 pm, the Calaveras Arts Council will be presenting this popular group, the only band the council has brought back nearly every year. Connecting music with history in a verycrowd-pleasing way is the secret to their over 20 years of success.
The musical style of The Black Irish Band captures the spirit of the immigrants of this land, the men and women who tamed the Wild West. The band has a large repertoire of traditional maritime and railroad music, as well as ethnic tunes. They excel at Irish, Italian, and American folk music withan assortment of original songs and traditional western ballads.
All band members join in the vocals. Founding band member, artist, and
Celtic Faire coordinator is Patrick Karnahan. He's Irish, of course, has
been playing music for over 35 years, and performs on banjo, melodeon,
concertina, guitar, and trumpet. Sicilian Richard Restivo has been teaching
music to children for over 20 years. He performs on acoustic and electric
bass, and trumpet. Steve McArthur, who's Scottish and Canadian, has been
playing music for over 48 years on accordion, piano, guitar, and mandolin.
Englishman Jim Nelson is a longtime San Francisco balladeer and puts a
maritime stamp on the band's music. He performs on a custom longneck banjo.
David Rainwater,
English and Irish, is an acclaimed fiddle and mandolin wizard. He's very
original and has performed for over 40 years.
The Black Irish Band has produced at least 16 albums, many of which will be
for sale at the concert. Desserts will be available benefiting the local
girls softball team. Bring your picnics, low-back chairs, short sun
umbrellas to the ball field. Get there early for closest parking. Take
Highway 12 to Valley Springs. At the 4-way stop sign, go north onto Laurel
Street, turn left onto Daphne Street, and keep going up the hill to the
field. Look for the canopy donated by the Valley Springs Area Business
Association. For info, visit www.calaverasarts.org
. The next free Music in the Parks will be
July 1 in Mokelumne Hill featuring James Faifua & The Jukes. END
Mary Jane Genochio
Penny West
Executive Director(s)
Calaveras County Arts Council
PO Box 250 / 22 N. Main St.
San Andreas, CA 95249
209.754.1774
