COLCANNON

Authentic, Joyous Irish Music.... traditional with a touch of chamber music and music hall,Colcannon plays Irish music with panache, warmth and wit. Timeless songs and great musicianship transport the audience to another time and place. Colcannon is equally at home on the stage at a folk music festival or performing with a symphony orchestra. Colcannon has developed a distinctive, inventive, and contemporary musical style while still keeping in firm touch with the heart and essence of traditional Irish music. Colcannon’s concerts are renowned for their energy, for singer/frontman Mick Bolger’s irrepressible sense of humor and sly wit, and, of course, for the music; music that expresses flights of joy, deep sorrows, and an unquenchable zest for life. The band formed in 1984 in Boulder Colorado, USA, and their reputation has grown steadily over the years with the release of eight CDs on the Oxford Road Records label. The band’s recent CD ‘The Pooka and the Fiddler’ received a Parent’s Choice Award for its artful interweaving or music and storytelling. The Emmy®-award winning PBS special, “Colcannon in Concert,” filmed at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts has aired nationwide. Colcannon was named ensemble-in-residence at The Colorado College, the first non-classical musical group to be awarded this position. (more information on residencies and outreach programs) Colcannon has also been part of many collaborative projects -- they were featured on John McEuen's soundtrack for the television mini-series "The Wild West", as well as on the Western Heritage Award winning album of the same name and The Nashville Network Television special "The Music of the Wild West". The group has provided music for an audio project "Secrets of the World -- The Good People" featuring Irish master storyteller and folklorist Eddie Lenihan. Other projects include the development of 'Lusanna' a work for Colcannon and chamber orchestra, written by Colcannon bassist Mike Fitzmaurice, with text and lyrics in Irish and English by vocalist Mick Bolger. Earlier collaborations with orchestra featured Fitzmaurice's 'The Red Kite', a three movement concerto for Colcannon and orchestra, as well as symphonic arrangements of some of Colcannon's original compositions. (more info on orchestra programs) Colcannon’s appeal crosses lines of age, gender and ethnic background. For while the musical focus is on the beautiful wealth of traditional Irish music -- all acoustic instrumentation, traditional as well as original tunes and songs, with some of the songs in Mick’s native Irish language -- Colcannon’s true message is the story of the resilient and joyous human spirit.