It’s no surprise that Irish musicians are arriving to share their heritage with their cousins on this side of the Atlantic. Danu comes direct from County Wexford with a spirited performance guaranteed to coax audiences onto the floor to dance and sing along to tunes harking back generations. The ensemble’s name refers to a mythical goddess from a Celtic tribe that invaded Ireland. It was given to the band in 1995 when they first assembled to take part in a Pan-Celtic Festival in France. They made such an impression that they were invited to return the following year and proceeded to walk away with an award for the best new band.
| ONSTAGE |
| Danu |
| » Where: George Mason University Center for the Arts |
| » When: 8 p.m. Friday |
| » Info: Tickets $22 to $44, youth through grade 12 half-price with adult; 888-045-2468; cfa.gmu.edu |
Since then, Danu has recorded six albums, won many awards from the BBC and Irish Music Magazine and charmed folks throughout the world. During this tour, they will introduce numbers from their latest album, “Seanchas,” and reach into antiquity for traditional ballads and lively reels distant ancestors loved.
The virtuoso musicians on this tour are Benny McCarthy on button accordion, Eamonn Doorley on bouzouki, guitarist Donal Clancy; fiddler Oisin McAuley and Martin O’Neill on bodhran. Special guest artists are vocalist Shauna Mullin and Ivan Goff on Irish traditional flute and uilleann pipes.
“There’s been a major revival of music education in Ireland over the past 20 years,” McCarthy said. “A massive number of young people are learning to play the traditional Irish instruments. Bobby Gardner, a teacher from County Clare, started music lessons outside of the school curriculum, and today parents take their children to the lessons taught by very good teachers. This is important because music has always been a big social activity in Ireland. People sit around at home or in pubs playing, and pretty soon everyone is joining in on an instrument or singing. That’s how our band began.”
When they travel to faraway places like India, they discover that audiences new to Irish music are responsive. To become acquainted, they start off in an intimate setting where they can talk and exchange ideas. Once they begin playing, the newcomers cannot resist clapping to the rhythm. Before long, they jump to their feet and begin dancing and singing along, even when they don’t understand the Irish lyrics.
“The GMU audience will immediately discover that Irish music is accessible, social and expressive,” McCarthy said. “You know an Irishman is a character just by the gleam in his eye. He’s always having fun and he likes people to become involved in the music by clapping and getting up to dance. It’s not complicated.”
