Black Irish Band Headlines Valhalla Renaissance Faire
Marti Miernik
Renaissance Productions
408 506 6499 – c
1-415-354-1773 x 140 - o
marti@valhallafaire.com
Black Irish Band Headlines Valhalla Renaissance Faire
Band Returns “Back to the Future”, this time Elizabethan Renaissance To Delight With Their Original Chantey Style
San Francisco, CA. June 12, 2006 - Renaissance Productions is thrilled to announce that the Black Irish Band, a renowned Celtic music band from Sonora, California, will perform at the upcoming Valhalla Renaissance Faire, June 3rd-4th and 10th and 11th.
The Black Irish Band have limitless energy, and are equally at home on the Concert stage or playing in a traditional Irish pub. Veritable fixtures at many Celtic festivals, their performances are like a unique music lesson, mixing the folk music of some of the ethnic minorities who came to California with their experiences in the land of opportunity, stories of the sea, the Gold Rush, and the building of the railroads.
The band's long list of albums says it all: from the Irish pub tunes of Day the Earth Shook to their recent American Landscapes, the band's expansive range covers rollicking sea chanteys, railroad music, and plaintive western ballads, plus traditional music from Canada, Scotland, Ireland, and Italy. The original songs of Patrick Michael Karnahan, such as "Whaler's Cove", "When I Held You", and "The Sierra (the train I ride)", have received considerable airplay on various folk-rock and public radio stations.
The Black Irish Band gained national attention after being featured on CBS "This Morning" with Paula Zahn and Harry Smith. At the "Festival of the Sea" in San Francisco, with attendance around 40,000, the band delighted huge audiences with their eclectic musical style. In addition, the band performed at the North Texas Irish Faire and the International Celtic Festival in Vail, Colorado. They continue to draw crowds at Fitzgerald's Casino in Reno, Nevada and the California Railroad Museum in Sacramento, including a week of concerts at "Railfair '99". In April of 2000 the band headlined at the 1st International Music and Beer Festival in Singapore.
The Black Irish Band, also known as the Hooligans, are:
- Ken Darby - Guitar, Octave Mandolin, Mandolin
- Patrick Karnahan -Banjo, melodeon, concertina, guitar, trumpet, French horn, vocals
- Mike Lee- Guitar, Mandolin
- Steve McArthur - Banjo, guitar, accordion, mandola, piano, vocals
- Rick Restivo - Bass
Black Irish will give two performances a day during the run of the faire.
The Valhalla Renaissance Faire will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., June 3rd - 4th and 10th - 11th at Camp Richardson in South Lake Tahoe. Admission is $ 15 for adults, $ 15 for seniors over age 62, students 13-17 and military with ID, and $ 5 for children 3 to 12. And fairgoers celebrating their birthdays will enter free on their birthday with a valid photo id. For more information on the Valhalla Renaissance Faire, please visit www.valhallafaire.com
About Renaissance Productions
Renaissance Productions is an organization dedicated to theatrical development of quality of Renaissance-themed events and serves as a network for entertainers, vendors, and producers of these events. For more information please visit www.renaissance-web.net or call 1-415-354-1773
