Slugger O'Toole Returning to Harris Center, 3/12

It just wouldn't be St. Patrick's Day without honoring the great tradition and the mighty joy of all things Irish! With rip-roaring music, song, and dance, the Harris Center for the Arts once again presents An Irish Hooley! featuring Slugger O'Toole and the Kerry Dancers in an early celebration of St. Patrick's Day.

Virtually a Folsom institution - they recorded a live CD in 2013 at the Harris Center entitled Slugger O'Toole Live at Folsom - the six musicians of Slugger O'Toole have been (favorably) compared to "being punched in the face with a fistful of shamrocks" (Slainte!). Night after night, the band shares its passion for the music of Ireland and the Celtic Nations by concocting a heady brew of foot-stomping pub songs, heart-rending ballads and deft instrumentals. With traditional instrumentation including fiddle, button accordion, mandolin, banjo, bodhrán, pennywhistle, flute and guitars, the band thrills audiences with its brilliant close-harmony acapella renditions of the Irish classics that are true to the Celtic core. "Seeing these guys live makes me feel like I'm at a pub in the west of Ireland.....I'll take a Guinness please!" (Conejo News Press).

An Irish Hooley with Slugger O'Toole is coming to the Harris Center on Saturday, March 12, 2016 at 8 pm. Tickets are priced at $19-$34; Premium $39; Students with ID $12. Tickets are available online at www.harriscenter.net or from the Harris Center Ticket Office at 916-608-6888 from noon to 6 pm Monday through Saturday, and two hours before show time. The Harris Center is located on the west side of Folsom Lake College campus in Folsom, CA, facing East Bidwell Street.

Founded in 2006 by longtime friends Matt Foyer, Dan Harper and John McKenna, the Irish-American band Slugger O'Toole 'made their bones' playing the pubs of Southern California. Leaving their mark on legendary haunts like The Auld Dubliner, O'Brien's, Joxer Daly's, the Tam O'Shanter and the world-famous Molly Malone's, the band has also played plenty of Irish wakes, wild weddings and private hoolies along the way (including a couple of particularly raucous affairs for Mel Gibson). Following the release of their 2008 debut CD Hammer and Tongs and a knock-out performance at LA's Ford Amphitheater, Slugger O'Toole burst onto the Festival circuit while performing to increasingly large audiences at theaters throughout California.

Working with producer Margaret O'Carroll and Kerry Records, Slugger O'Toole is comprised of Matt Foyer (Mandolin, Pennywhistles, and Flute), Dan Harper (Guitar), John McKenna (Button Accordion, and Bodhran), Tim McNamara (Bass), with special guests, Hana Rivas (Percussion), and Emily Moore (violin).

The Kerry Dancers include two Open Championship Irish Dancers, Nicole McKeever and Moriah Payne. These 'ambassadors' of Irish dance work with Kerry Records on various aspects of Irish folk-dance traditions, incorporating old Irish dance styles into modern Irish dance styles. Through this process, the best of ethnic and modern Ireland is represented, exposing audiences to the beauty, value, passion, and uniqueness of the traditional Irish dance.

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