Dancing With The Celts
The inspiring story of the Irish Journey to America told through Song & Dance! The Celts are proud to announce the new, captivating, highly anticipated show DANCING WITH THE CELTS. The rich story of the Irish journey to America is told with electrifying dance, under the backdrop of rousing lively Irish music, featuring heart wrenching ballads, captivating storytelling, whimsical Irish humor and an enchanting multimedia presentation. The show is not only terrifically entertaining throughout but it also has a fascinating educational element as well. Perfect for Performing Arts Centers and Theaters. You will laugh, you will cry, but you won’t be able to sit still when you experience DANCING WITH THE CELTS.
ALTAN
With a career in Irish music for thirty-five years, Altan has achieved legendary status in a genre that has been equally shaped by the band’s influence and genius. Audiences from Ireland to Japan to Australia to Europe have embraced their heartwarming, dynamic live performances and their exquisitely produced, award-winning recordings. They have over a dozen releases to date, ranging from the most touching old Irish songs to hard-hitting reels and jigs. Altan’s newest release, Donegal (2024 Compass Records), follows their acclaimed 2018 album, The Gap of Dreams, on the same label. Adding to their long list of awards and honors, fiddler, singer and founding member Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh was the recipient of the Gradam Ceoil/Traditional Musician of the Year in 2017. Though the band received the same award for Band of the Year in 2001, Mairéad was glad to be recognized on her own in a genre that has been slow to recognize female musicians. She is only the third woman in twenty years to receive the main award. Throughout their career, you’ll find Altan’s unwavering commitment to bringing the beauty of traditional music to contemporary audiences, particularly that of the fiddlers and singers from their hometown in Donegal. Their book, The Tunes (©2017 Altan), marks the first-ever printed collection of this instrumental music. Spanning thirty years, twelve studio albums and comprising 222 tunes across its 206 pages, the book delves into the history, folklore and the composers and musical heroes from whom the music was collected. The seeds of Altan lie in the music and spontaneity of sessions in kitchens and pubs around Donegal, where their music was heard in an atmosphere of respect and intimacy. It is here that the band’s heart still lies, whether they are performing on TV in Australia or jamming with Ricky Skaggs on the West Coast of the United States. In spite of a hectic touring and recording schedule, Altan continues fresh with a vision of bringing the beauty and joy of traditional music to audiences everywhere. They always promised themselves to continue as long as it’s fun — fortunately, it still is!
Carbon Leaf
Carbon Leaf’s fifteenth studio album, Time is the Playground is both a call to action and an embrace of the moment. Marrying nostalgic storytelling to nuanced, folk-infused indie rock, the Richmond, Virginia band embroiders heartfelt melody and harmony with acoustic and electric instrumentation to create a 12-song rumination on time, love and personal growth that’s equal parts urgent epiphany and contented exhalation. “Everybody says people don’t listen to albums anymore,” mulled Carbon Leaf frontman Barry Privett, holed up in a coastal cottage. “So, the challenge for us was to make something that felt good to get through from beginning to end … to listen to like a story.” Originally formed as a college cover band in 1992 and with over 3,500 famously enthused live shows together, Carbon Leaf helped to define the aughts indie rock that they ultimately outgrew and outlasted. They first earned national recognition with “The Boxer,” a song that won the American Music Awards 2002 New Music Award and made Carbon Leaf the first unsigned band to perform before millions on the AMAs. Due in September, Time is the Playground is Carbon Leaf’s first full-length album in a decade, during which they released two EPS and a 27-song live performance album and Blu-ray. Time is the Playground gathers the best of songs written, in fits and starts, over 15 years, alongside brand new ideas. Privett dusted off old demos and shut himself away for months to finish their stories, while also honing recent compositions. With Clark engineering, Carbon Leaf – completed by longtime bassist Jon Markel and drummer Jesse Humphrey – spent a year and a half recording and mixing the resulting songs. “Thinking about these disparate pieces of music, I began ruminating on time itself,” Privett recalled. “The band’s been together a long time. You mature a bit and see yourself in place on the timeline … rolling around the scenes of love and growth.” Masterfully melding saturated AC/DC guitar and squelchy Cars synth, “Backmask 1983” is a fun flipbook of evocative era emblems – Farah Fawcett, “Satanic Panic,” Time Life Books, Bigfoot and more – that traverses the simultaneous nexus of Privett’s childhood/adolescence and the world’s analog/digital ages. It’s about morphing into a new person and a new planet with wide- eyed wonder and a longing to believe. “Without a whole lot of information, the mystery of things felt so heightened,” recalled Privett of growing up pre-Internet. “I wanted to capture some of that but also have fun with it.” “I want what we create to resonate with ourselves, to the level that we want to play it for a long time to come, and where we want others to hear it and experience it,” Privett concluded. “Hopefully, listeners can glean the pieces from it that they identify with.” Time is the Playground will be accompanied by the tireless touring almost synonymous with Carbon Leaf, who’ve become a model for self-managing bands in the digital landscape.
Hard Days Night – 60 Year Celebration of HELP – Rubber Soul – Shea Stadium concert”
Join us as Hard Day’s Night celebrates the 60th anniversary of the HELP album, the movie Rubber Soul, and the historic Shea Stadium concert! Hard Day’s Night is a top rated touring Beatles tribute band. Hailing from the rock & roll city of Cleveland, Ohio, they have been entertaining the masses in America and abroad since 1996. The band has been wowing audiences for years, with their full catalogue performances, wearing stitch-for-stitch costume replications; playing authentic Vox, Hofner, Gretsch, Rickenbacker, and Ludwig instruments, all while playing the songs we know and love with staggering precision. One of the very few tribute to recreate the three phases of The Beatles!
Victor Wooten & The Wooten Brothers
Victor, Joseph, Roy, and Regi. For over four decades the Wooten Brothers have been recognized as some of the most innovative musicians in existence and are collectively known as one of the most talented and dynamic band of brothers the world has ever known. Since they were young, the five brothers have been a musical tour-de-force redefining the limits of jazz, funk, soul, R&B, rock, and bluegrass. Sons of military parents, their early years were spent living in different states including Hawaii, California, and Virginia where they shared stages with the likes of Curtis Mayfield, The Temptations, Ramsey Lewis, Stephanie Mills, War, and other artists. In the mid 80’s, the brothers released an album as The Wootens for Clive Davis’ Arista Records. This will be the brother’s first tour together as a band since the untimely death of their saxophone-playing brother Rudy a few years ago. Victor Wooten, a five-time Grammy Award-winning artist, has graced the cover of Bass Player Magazine five times. He is a founding member of the eclectic group Bela Fleck and the Flecktones and is recognized as one of the greatest living bassist today often drawing comparisons to Jaco Pastorius, and was named one of the “Top ten bassist of all time” by Rolling Stone Magazine. He is also an award-nominated author, naturalist, and music educator and has been running his unique music/nature camps since the year 2000. Joseph Wooten has a dizzying list of talents that is impressive even by the Wooten clan’s standards. Currently the keyboardist for the Steve Miller Band, he is also a composer, orchestrator, motivational speaker, and has been showcased as an amazing vocalist since he was a child. In 81, Joseph became known as the “overnight accordion player” when he literally auditioned, bought an accordion, and began performing within a matter of a few days for the Busch Gardens amusement park in Williamsburg, VA. He has collaborated with the likes of Whitney Houston and Kenny G, and when not touring with Miller, leads his own band, performs with Freedom Sings, and even helps out his little brother as keyboardist, vocalist, and composer for The Victor Wooten Band. Roy “Futureman” Wooten, also a five-time Grammy Award winner, is best known for his masterful drumming and percussion skills and is a founding member Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. Roy, a seasoned drum set player, is mostly known for his frenzied, inimitable on-stage performances heightened by his surreal choice of instruments: his trademark inventions “The Drumitar” and “RoyEl” keyboard. He is also a philosopher, researcher, filmmaker, and educator. His impressive solo career and “Black Mozart” projects scan the genres of classical, jazz, soul, gospel, and spoken word. Regi Wooten’s signature guitar style of chording, slapping, tapping and frenzied strumming has earned him world-wide notoriety and comparisons to Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa and Chuck Berry. In recent years, Regi has performed with many artists including the legendary Ginger Baker. Regi, known worldwide as “The Teacher”, currently teaches music in Nashville, TN and has taught many notable musicians. Together The Wooten Brothers bring an uncanny level of experience, originality, and musical expertise to the stage. Their shows will be a high-energy, super-funky, artistic blend of styles including original songs and classics. In short: these brothers are the real deal and their shows are not to be missed.
TROPIDELIC- A Winter Fire Tour
A musical lighthouse, shining a resilient light for everyone that has had to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, Tropidelic has arrived on the national stage. Coming out of Cleveland, Ohio, a city rich in character and music history, this six-piece musical powerhouse has built off that history to carve their own path with a DIY independent mentality. Font man Roads, for the first time, explores feelings more than sounds, seeing where the emotional travel can take him, while valuing being comfortable and honest over fitting Tropidelic into a neat sonic box. There is a sense of seeing where the music can go on the new album. As an everyman band making music to overcomelife’s obstacles, the “goals” that Tropidelic made when starting the band have all been surpassed. Roads says of the band’s future with characteristic blue collar work ethic, “I’m nose to the grindstone. It’s going great and I am going to keep going.” The past year has included a first pitch at a Cleveland Guardians game followed by a live performance for the entire stadium; an adopted highway in their hometown; producing two of their own festivals (Sunny Days and Everwild Music Festival); tens of millions of streams of Tropidelic’s music; appearances at major US festivals such as Beach Life and Tortuga; tours with The Dirty Heads, Lupe Fiasco, OAR, 311, and Michael Franti; and their first performance at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Since Tropidelic’s last album (All the Colors) debuted on Ineffable Records in 2022, the band has continued to seeexponential growth, amassing over 50 million streams on Spotify alone while selling out venues of increasing size in small and major cities alike. They continue to release a series of impressive singles featuring guest appearances from Nick Hexum of 311, Krayzie Bone of Bone Thugs N’ Harmony, Prof, Dirty Heads, Matisyahu, Devin the Dude, and Shwayze.
Carlos Jones and The PLUS Band with special guests Shake Ground
Carlos has been entertaining audiences for over 35 years throughout the eastern half of the United States, first as a member of the roots reggae group “I-Tal”, and then with the legendary “First Light”, before finally pursuing a solo career with his current group – the Peace, Love, Unity Syndicate (aka “The P.L.U.S. Band”). Choosing to focus on bringing a positive message with his music, Carlos has continued to win a diverse group of new fans everywhere he plays. With headline performances at Cleveland ROCKSNYEVE, Jamaica’s ‘JamRock 2010’, Idaho’s ‘Marley in the Mountain Fest’, Wade Oval, Painesville Party in the Park, Warren Amphitheatre, Springfield Amphitheatre, and the Midwest Reggae Festival to name but a few, Carlos Jones and the P.L.U.S. Band will be rockin’ the house with their unique brand of high energy “put yer dancin’ shoes on” reggae.
An Evening With Harvest – Neil Young Tribute
Harvest Celebrating the iconic “After The Gold Rush” album and Neil’s Classic Catalog! Harvest celebrates the timeless songwriting, electric jams and acoustic artistry of classic-era Neil Young. The band performs 2 long sets of classic Neil Young, from the dynamic vocal harmony and harmonica-driven acoustic stunners to the sizzling extended electric jams & stompers – covering Neil’s career from Buffalo Springfield, CSNY, solo and with Crazy Horse, thru to Harvest Moon. Since 1987, founders Jim Tigue & Eroc Sosinski have been performing Neil Young music for fans all across the Midwest, in the bands Harvest and Tie-Dye Harvest, and as the Jim & Eroc Duo, and formed the acclaimed Pink Floyd tribute Wish You Were Here. Members Peter Telari (also of WYWH), Keith Chelm & Tim Hamman are also veteran NEOhio musicians. For 3 years in a row since 2022, Jim & Eroc have been chosen to perform as part of the official May 4th Commemoration Ceremony at Kent State University. In 2022 Harvest also performed as part of the Kent State Music Festival, an on-campus Commemoration Week event leading up to May 4th ceremony. Harvest The Neil Young Electric & Acoustic Tribute is not a ‘costume & wig’ act, but a professional musician’s homage and respectful salute that celebrates the timeless songwriting & genre-crossing artistry of Neil Young.
Blind Boys of Alabama with Shemekia Copeland
The Blind Boys of Alabama are recognized worldwide as living legends of gospel music. Celebrated by The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and The Recording Academy/GRAMMYs with Lifetime Achievement Awards, inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, and winners of six GRAMMY® Awards, they have attained the highest levels of achievement in a career that spans over 70 years. The Blind Boys are known for crossing multiple musical boundaries with their remarkable interpretations of everything from traditional gospel favorites to contemporary spiritual material by songwriters such as Eric Clapton, Prince, and Tom Waits. They have appeared on recordings with many artists, including Lou Reed, Peter Gabriel, Bonnie Raitt, Willie Nelson, Aaron Neville, Susan Tedeschi, Ben Harper, Patty Griffin, and Taj Mahal. Blind Boys of Alabama released ‘Echoes Of The South’ on Aug 25, 2023, which finds the Gospel Music Hall of Fame inductees coming home to honor those they’ve lost on a bold declaration of how far they still plan to go. The eleven-song collection is a portrait of perseverance from a group well-versed in overcoming incredible odds – from singing for pocket change in the Jim Crow South to performing for three different American presidents, soundtracking the Civil Rights movement, and helping define modern gospel music as we know it. Recently, the group’s decades-long mission of spreading light and love has taken on even deeper context as they’ve reckoned with the loss of two of their own, Paul Beasley and Benjamin Moore, both longtime members of the Blind Boys’ tight-knit family. ‘Echoes Of The South’ is released in their honor – as well as for the group’s recently-retired leader, Jimmy Carter – and keeps the Blind Boys’ long-held mission statement at its core: “As long as everybody gives all that they have to give and we sing songs that touch the heart, we’ll live on forever.” In 2022, the group had a collaborative recording with Béla Fleck, nominated for a Grammy. The nominated collaboration, “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free,” powerfully reimagines the anthem of the Civil Rights Movement, originally made famous by Nina Simone. They also have had collaborative recordings and coinciding tours with both Marc Cohn and afro-pop duo Amadou & Mariam. In 2023, Blind Boys garnered another Grammy nomination for Best Americana Single for ‘The Message’ featuring Black Violin.2024 started off the year with a return to the GRAMMY® Awards with three nominations and one win for Best Roots Gospel Album – ‘Echoes Of The South.’ This was followed by a sold-out tour in Australia and a sizzling performance with Sir Tom Jones during the Bluesfest Byron Bay (Australia), where video of their rehearsal reached 750K + views in 48 hours on social platforms. The definitive book, titled Spirit of the Century, was released in March 2024. It’s an insider history of the Blind Boys of Alabama, the longest-running group in American music, and the untold story of their world written with band members and key musical colleagues. Shemekia Copeland possesses one of the most instantly recognizable and deeply soulful roots music voices of our time. The multi-GRAMMY nominee is beloved and honored worldwide for the fearlessness, honesty and humor of her revelatory songs, as well as for her winning, engaging personality. The Chicago Tribune says, “Copeland is the greatest female blues vocalist working today. There’s no mistaking the majesty of her instrument, nor the ferocity of her delivery.”
Here Come The Mummies
Here Come the Mummies is an eight-piece funk-rock band of 5000 year-old Egyptian Mummies with a one-track mind. Their “Terrifying Funk from Beyond the Grave” is sure to get you into them (and possibly vice versa) Since their discovery, HCTM has been direct support for P-Funk, Al Green, Mavis Staples, KC and the Sunshine Band, and Cheap Trick; rocked Super Bowl Village; become a regular on The Bob and Tom Show; appeared on That’s My Jam with Jimmy Fallon; played massive festivals like Summer Fest, Summer Camp, Common Ground, Musikfest, and Suwannee Hulaween; and sold tickets by the thousands across large swaths of North America. Maybe that’s why the ladies (and some dudes) can’t stop losing their minds over these mayhem-inducing mavens of mirth. Some say they were cursed after deflowering a great Pharaoh’s daughter. Others claim they are reincarnated Grammy-Winning studio musicians. Regardless, HCTM’s mysterious personas, cunning song-craft, and unrelenting live show will bend your brain, and melt your face. Get ready! Here Come The Mummies. HCTM is: Mummy Cass – guitar, vocals Eddie Mummy- drums, vocals K.W. TuT- bass, vocals Spaz- keys, vocals The Pole!- bass Midnight Mummy- bari & tenor sax, keys, percussion, talk box, vocals Dr. Yo- saxes, vocal, tambo Highlander- tenor sax “H-POD” (High Priest of Death)- trumpet