previous gigs
Celtic Creek had our beginning by participating in Erie, PA's St. Patrick's Day Parade as our first public appearance. We decorated our white Miata with lots of green and lots of clovers. Right after the parade we played our very first job - six hours long! By time 2004 was over we had performed 34 times.
Since that day we have performed hundreds of times, and with a handful of musical styles from Celtic to Maritime, from Civil War to Pop/Folk.
It is hard to pick our most favorite event, but one of the leading contenders would have to be playing for the great documentary film-maker, Ken Burns, and 300 or so guests. Mr. Burns spoke at the grand old Warner Theater, in Erie, PA, and a party was held afterwards at which we played a mix of Civil War, Maritime and Celtic tunes. A week later, we received a personal letter from Mr. Burns saying that he loved our music.
Another leading contender for first place would be our participation in the "Artist in Residence" program at New York's Allegany State Park, for Irish Week. We played 5 concerts, one a day, for a week. Two were held in an outdoor ampitheatre and the three remaining concerts were held indoors, in the great vaulted-ceiling hall of the "Red House" building. On Monday, Tuesday and Friday we gave a typical performance of Celtic tunes. On Wednesday, we specialized in Scottish tunes and Jim wore his kilt. We began with a 10 minute lecture on the kilt and its history. On Thursday, we played to an audience of young folks and we performed as pirates. We provided treasure maps, kazoos and sing-along sheets of pirate lyrics set to familiar tunes. The kids really enjoyed the show, and so did we. As part of this program we were provided with a wonderful cabin for seven days right in the heart of the forest. It was a beautiful and enjoyable week.
Perhaps the performance we'll remember most was an appearance at the famous Murphy's Pub in Dungiven, Northern Ireland, during our vacation there in February of 2005. We were backed by authentic, traditional players and played to a full house and enthusiastic applause.
We also sat in several times at our favorite Irish bar in Pittsburgh, "Paddy's Pour House", and met a wonderful musician, Mike Gallagher - a 30-some year veteran of playing in Irish bars. He is excellent and very generous to let us share the stage. Later, we sat in with another musician at Paddy's.
We've played at Erie's top Irish bars, Molly Brannigan's, Scully's Tavern and Clancy's Pub. We've also played at Irish bars in Olean, NY (Sean Patrick's), Pittsburgh, PA (Paddy's Pour House and The Little Brown Jug), and Butler, PA (Gillian's Pub) - as well as many other pubs and restaurants.
We've performed at both the Edinboro Highland Games, and the Jamestown Celtic Festival.
We have played many events for the Erie Historical Society. We performed for an opening of a Maritime exhibit, there. This challenged us to learn several Great Lakes songs to add to our Celtic maritime songs. Later, we played at the Erie Yacht Club, repeating many of these maritime tunes. On Sept. 10, 2005 we played at a Heritage Days "War of 1812" celebration at Gannon University.
We were honored to play several times at the Watson-Curtze Mansion, which is part of the Erie Historical Society & Museums organization. We performed at two events for an Irish Immigration exhibit. We played for a Civil War event (another challenge to learn new songs), whose speakers included an author of 16 books on Abe Lincoln and a representative of Gettysburg. We also played for a party for the volunteers and staff.
We have performed at community events such Celebrate Erie, the North East Wine Fest, Warren's Music in the Park series, Salamanca Music in the Park, and Civil War Days in Corry. We played at picnics, weddings and several coffee houses. We also played at the spiritual community of Lily Dale, NY, four times -- once for Medium's League Night at their 125th year anniversary; a couple times for Fellowships of the Spirit, a seminary school at Lily Dale; once for a Celtic New Year's Eve party at the beautiful, new Fellowships center, located right on the waterfront; and another summer concert in this hall.
We performed for Pleasures and Treasures, Wildwind and Tall Oaks, three of the largest craft shows in the area, plus a couple of marinas (The Docksider and Mariner's Pier), at nursing homes, and an endless variety of venues. This year we'll be at campgrounds all over Pennsylvania and Ohio.
It's fun.