KALOS Comes to Passim Next Month

Acclaimed Celtic music trio Kalos will come to Passim next month. Ryan McKasson (fiddle, viola, background vocals), Eric McDonald (guitar, mandolin, lead vocals), and Jeremiah McLane (accordion, keyboards, background vocals) will perform on Tuesday, September 3 at the legendary Passim, 47 Palmer St., Cambridge. Tickets for the 8 p.m. show are $18-$20, livestream $5. For information call 617-492-7679 or visit Kalos | Passim.

Inspired by maritime traditions of Scotland, Northern Ireland, Cape Breton, and Québec, Kalos explores the dark corners on the edge of tradition, creating an alluringly complex sound full of spontaneity. With National Scottish Fiddle Champion McKasson’s virtuosity and expressiveness, McDonald’s eloquent vocals and propulsive guitar, and McLane’s agile accordion and keys, Kalos delivers rhythmic electricity, swirling intensity, and poignant balladry in their heart-stopping performances. Their 2023 release Headland received wide acclaim and placed as a top album on folkradio.org’s folk charts.

McKasson, McDonald, and McLane crossed paths over the years at highland games, contra dances, and fiddle camps before making their first recording in 2016. All three come from Scottish immigrant families, cementing their deep connection to the music while embracing the concept that Celtic music is a living tradition holding the richness of the past while evolving and growing into the future. That expansive vision informs the skillful architecture and ingenious inventiveness of Kalos’ original compositions and singular arrangements.

Ryan McKasson has earned a strong reputation as a performer, composer, collaborator, and teacher. In 1994, he began attending Alasdair Fraser’s Valley of the Moon Scottish Fiddling School (VOM), which led him deep into the world of traditional music. In 1996 he became the youngest person ever to win the US National Scottish Fiddle Championship, and in 1997 he was awarded a Merit Scholarship for Viola Performance from the University of Southern California, where he studied with Donald McInnes. In 2004 he spearheaded the formation of The McKassons, a group that released two critically acclaimed albums: Tall Tales (2004) and Tripping Maggie (2006). Ryan has recorded with artists including Hanneke Cassel, Alasdair Fraser, and Natalie Haas. Projects in addition to Kalos include MAC, Ensemble Galilei, and The Syncopaths.

Guitarist/vocalist Eric McDonald was raised in a musical Boston family surrounded by the sounds of modern piano compositions, lively klezmer clarinet, and songs of the American folk revival. Early performances with The Revels and at Club Passim set Eric on his musical path, studying at Berklee College of Music under John McGann and Eugene Friesen and attending summer fiddle camps in New England, where he discovered a love for DADGAD guitar. Eric is one of the US’s premier accompanists in many styles, and is an active session player, recording and traveling with musicians including singer-songwriter Connor Garvey, Pan Celtic supergroup The Outside Track, flute phenom Chris Norman, Juno Award-winning Canadian folk legends The McDades, and fiddlers Andrea Beaton, Wendy MacIsaac,and Katie McNally. Eric is also a member of Celtic roots trio Kalos and folk trio Bellwether. Eric’s debut solo recording Rove features his unique style and approach to tunes on the mandolin, as well as carefully crafted deliveries of traditional ballads on voice and guitar.

Jeremiah McLane was raised in a family with deep ties to both its Scottish heritage and its New Hampshire roots. After early studies in classical piano, Jeremiah spent his teenage years playing blues and jazz, studying with the legendary Gary Peacock. He also studied Indonesian gamelan, West African drumming, and the music of minimalist composers Steve Reich and Philip Glass. In his mid-twenties he began to immerse himself in the world of traditional Celtic and French music, studying accordion with Jimmy Keene and Frederic Paris. He spent several decades traveling in Europe, doing field research that laid the groundwork for a Master’s degree from the New England Conservatory. In the early 1990s, Jeremiah formed The Clayfoot Strutters and Nightingale. Both bands had a deep and lasting impact on the traditional dance scene in New England. Jeremiah has recorded more than a dozen CDs with Nightingale, the Clayfoot Strutters, Le Bon Vent, Ruthie Dornfeld, and others. He has composed music for theater and film including Sam Shepard’s “A Lie of the Mind,” and earned the “Meet the Composer” Award from the Ontario Center for the Performing Arts as well as a grant from the Vermont Council on the Arts.

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