MARK O'CONNOR'S APPALACHIA WALTZ TRIO A World-Class Violinist in Concert Grammy Award Winner Saturday, August 2, 2008 Doors open: 7:00 pm - Performance begins: 7:30 pm Mark O'Connor (born August 5, 1961 in Seattle, Washington) is widely considered to be the most prominent fiddler of his generation, and a prolific composer of instrumental music. As a teenager he won national championships on the guitar, mandolin as well as the fiddle. His mentors were Texas fiddler Benny Thomasson and Jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli. He has recorded solo albums for Rounder, Warner Bros. Records, Sony, and his own CD line OMAC Records. He has won two Grammy awards, one for his New Nashville Cats album and another for his Appalachian Journey album he did with Yo-Yo Ma and Edgar Meyer. He was named Musician of the Year by the Country Music Association six years in a row (from 1991-1996). O'Connor has crossed musical genres, composing, arranging, and recording folk, classical and jazz music. His Fiddle Concerto has received over 200 performances making it one of the most performed concertos written in the last 50 years. He has composed six violin concertos, string quartets, string trios, choral works, solo unaccompanied works and a new Symphony. He has worked and recorded with a wide variety of artists, such as James Taylor, Bela Fleck, Renee Fleming, Stephane Grappelli, and Wynton Marsalis. Some of his more recent albums are or contain tributes to his musical mentors and inspirations, including Niccolo Paganini, Benny Thomasson, and Grappelli. The Appalachia Waltz Trio uses D'Addario strings. Mark O'Connor is represented by Vantage Artists Management. For more information visit: www.markoconnor.com Advance Tickets: $48 Gold Circle, $38 Reserved Day of Show Ticket Price: $51 Gold Circle, $41 Reserved Order Tickets Info

GAELIC STORM

Saturday, October 18, 2008
Doors open - 7:00 pm Performance begins: 7:30 pm

From left to right – Steve Twigger (Coventry, England) – Vocals, Guitar, Bouzouki
Jessie Burns (Suffolk, England) – Fiddle
Ryan Lacey (Pasadena, CA) – Drums, World percussion
Patrick Murphy (Cork City, Ireland) – Vocals, Accordion, Harmonica
Pete Purvis (Merrickville, Ontario) – Highland, Uilleann, and Deger Bagpipes, Tin Whistle

Since its inception nearly ten years ago, Gaelic Storm continue to broaden the musical horizons of the Celtic music genre by creating compelling originals and fresh arrangements steeped in Irish traditional melody and acoustic instrumentation combined with their unique blend of world rhythms. The 14 new tracks on Bring Yer Wellies, capture the contagious energy of Gaelic Storm's renowned live performances. Channeling the rowdy communal feel of an Irish pub on raucous sing-alongs, driving pipe sets and spirited fiddle tunes, the band's sixth studio album was recorded in a one-month fury in April 2006 at The Zone recording studio in Austin Texas.

The new album comes on the heels of the band's first concert DVD, Live In Chicago, released in January this year. The Hi-Def DVD was taped on September 14, 2005 before a packed audience at the House of Blues Chicago. The 2-hour video showcases the trademark energetic performance and enthusiastic audience interaction that make the band a front-runner in the Celtic music genre today.

Touring aggressively and playing over 125 dates a year, Gaelic Storm routinely breaks attendance and merchandise sales records, pushing their popularity beyond the World music genre and into the mainstream music consciousness. Gaelic Storm performed on The Rock Boat 2004 along with mainstream rock bands such as Cowboy Mouth, Tonic, Sister Hazel and Gavin Degraw and set the Rock Boat CD sales record. The band was invited back to The Rock Boat in 2006 alongside acts such as Better Than Ezra and Marc Broussard. Gaelic Storm broke the attendance record previously held by Alan Jackson at the Albuquerque, NM Bio-Park and they continue to headline some of the largest Celtic and Folk festivals in the world including Festival Interceltique in Lorient, Brittany, the Pittsburgh Irish Festival, and Dublin Irish Festival. Remarkably, the band has headlined the largest U.S. Irish Festival, Milwaukee Irish Fest, for 4 straight years, and has become an exception to the festival's usual policy of not inviting artists to perform in consecutive years.

Gaelic Storm released their fifth album "How Are We Getting Home?" in August 2004 (Lost Again Records) which debuted at #3 on the Billboard World Music Charts and #10 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart and re-entered the September 2005 World Albums Chart at #3.  Their previous four albums (Higher Octave Records/Virgin-EMI) have all charted high on the Billboard World Music Chart, including reaching the #2 position on three different occasions. Since their self-titled first album (#5 on Billboard's World Music Chart) and their appearance in the film Titanic, Gaelic Storm continues to thunder onto stages around the world.

On St. Patrick's Day, 1996, co-founders Patrick Murphy of Cork City, Ireland (vocals, piano, accordion, spoons, harmonica) and New Yorker Steve Wehmeyer (bodhran, vocals, didgeridoo) officially joined forces with Steve Twigger of Coventry, England (vocals, guitar, mandolin, bouzouki), at O'Brien's pub in Santa Monica, California. Their first performance was such a hit that the crowd refused to let them off the stage for the next act. In 1997, Gaelic Storm was catapulted out of their formative pub haunts by an appearance in the blockbuster film Titanic. Cast as the "party band" in the steerage scene, they landed the part while still drinking pints and playing weekly at O'Brien's.  After the film's release, the band was met by huge crowds on their first tour. However, they still pride themselves on remaining as accessible as ever and sharing "a pint" with fans whenever possible.

A mini-documentary about Gaelic Storm airs regularly on Cinemax, and the band has appeared numerous times on national and international TV. Perhaps the best indication of Gaelic Storm's newfound international success came when Michael Flatley (of Lord of the Dance fame) met Gaelic Storm vocalist and songwriter Patrick Murphy in Murphy's hometown, Cork City, Ireland.  "I told him he did a superb job of advancing Irish culture throughout the world, like the   Chieftains have for years," Murphy says, "and he said, 'In fairness to you, you've probably introduced Irish music to five minutes of fame with that little film clip.'"

Advance Tickets: $35 Gold Circle, $27 Reserved
Day of Show Ticket Price: $38 Gold Circle, $30 Reserved

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