New York: -- The Irish American supergroup SOLAS has signed on to be the musical foundation for the upcoming Irish dance show Dancing on Dangerous Ground. The show, choreographed by Irish dance stars Jean Butler and Colin Dunne, will boast Solas’ Seamus Egan as musical director, and all the members of Solas as musical guests. Egan is currently in London writing all the music for the show, which opens there at the Drury Lane Theatre on November 30th. The show will make its American debut on March 5th at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
Seamus Egan and the other members of SOLAS – Winifred Horan, John Doyle, Deirdre Scanlon and Mick McAuley – will be special musical guests for "Dancing on Dangerous Ground," and will be performing in the show from its London launch through its U.S. engagements.
Solas, whose self-titled debut was released in 1996, have since established themselves as chart-toppers and critics’ faves on both sides of the Atlantic. They recently completed a 12-week tour with Mary Chapin Carpenter in support of their third CD, "The Words That Remain."
SOLAS
No band in Irish music today has risen faster and farther in such a short time than Solas, whose most recent Shanachie album, The Words That Remain, has cemented their reputation as one of the premier Irish groups in the world.
Formed a little more than four years ago, this versatile, virtuousic group has already received three consecutive awards from the Association for Independent Music (AFIM) for "Best Celtic Recording" for 1996’s Solas, 1997’s Sunny Spells and Scattered Showers, and 1998’s The Words That Remain. The band has appeared on Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion, NPR’s Morning Edition, and NBC-TV’s Weekend Today Show.
With similar speed, Solas progressed from clubs to theaters and headlining status at festivals. The tremendous early buzz on the group has panned out as fact, not fiction, among critics and audiences alike.
Solas continues to fire on all cylinders, landing the opening slot for the recent summer-long Mary Chapin Carpenter tour. In short, Solas is a dazzling Irish supergroup refusing to rest on their laurels.
JOHN DOYLE (guitar): A former member of Chanting House, in which Seamus Egan played for a time, this Dublin-born guitarist and singer is one of today’s most in-demand Irish musicians. He has appeared on solo recordings by such artists as Eileen Ivers and James Keane, and also composed music for the Irish film In Uncle Robert’s Footsteps and the play Down the Flats. John recently released an instructional video Irish Rhythm Guitar on Homespun Records.
SEAMUS EGAN (flute, banjo, many others): Born in Hatboro, Pennsylvania, and raised for a time in Foxford, County Mayo, Ireland, he won All-Ireland championships on four different instruments: flute, tin whistle, mandolin and tenor banjo. The busy musician and producer has three acclaimed Shanachie solo albums to his credit, the latest being 1996’s When Juniper Sleeps. In addition he scored the soundtrack for the film The Brothers McMullen (his song "I Will Remember You" becoming a major hit for Sarah McLaughlin) and performed on the soundtrack to the movie Dead Man Walking, both in 1995.
WINIFRED HORAN (fiddle): A graduate of Boston’s New England Conservatory of Music, this native New Yorker has toured and recorded with Cherish the Ladies and the Sharon Shannon Band. A nine-time Irish stepdancing titleist and an all-Ireland champion fiddler, Winifred has guested on albums by Richard Shindell, among others.
MICK McAULEY (accordian, tin whistle): from Callan, Kilkenny, Ireland, he started on the button accordian at age nine. Mick also plays a low whistle and concertina, and sings. He first performed with Solas in the summer of 1997, when he replaced John Williams in the band. One of Ireland’s finest box players, Mick has performed with Ron Kavana and Niamh Parsons in the past.
DEIRDRE SCANLON (vocals): Originally introduced to Irish music through Irish dancing, the Tipperary-born singer’s earliest lessons were on flute and fiddle. She took up guitar at age 15 and followed with a course of voice training in Limerick, where her repertoire included folk music as well as traditional material. She has released a solo record in Ireland, where she is considered one of the best of a new generation of Irish singers.
"…the best Irish traditional band in the world." – Boston Herald
"…a five-member Irish American band of startling instrumental and vocal firepower." – Los Angeles Times
"…Solas has to be ranked among the most exciting bands anywhere in the world." – Irish Echo
"…an Irish traditional band bearing all the marks of greatness." – The Wall St. Journal
"…One of the greatest Celtic music bands on the planet." -- Orange County Register
"…the most listenable, most interesting and most musical Irish band in the Americas." – New Age Voice
"…simply one of the best Celtic bands around." -- People Magazine