Infectious

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By Joey Berlin

Friday, February 22, 2008

Appearing in the United States’ highest-grossing movie of all time is a nice way for a band to get a career going. And in the decade-plus since “Titanic” became one of the most popular and overexposed movies ever, Gaelic Storm has built a following in its own right.

The Celtic music band provided the backing for the below-deck party scene that featured the dancing skills of Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in the 1997 film that won a record-tying 11 Academy Awards. These days, the band enjoys consistent success on the Billboard World Music charts and plays more than 125 touring dates per year, including a stop in Emporia next Friday at Albert Taylor Hall. Guitarist and vocalist Steve Twigger said the band has come a long way.

“After 10 years of touring as hard as we have — the first few years were maybe ‘Titanic’-driven, but after that, it’s pretty much Gaelic Storm-driven then,” Twigger said by phone from Austin, Texas. “It’s still a nice calling card when people really don’t know who you are. Everybody’s heard of the movie, so it still works fine for us, even after 10 years. We’re not too sick of it.”

In Austin, the band is recording its seventh album, which Twigger said will probably be titled What’s The Rumpus? and be released in July. Their last offering was 2006’s Bring Yer Wellies.

Much of Gaelic Storm’s music can immediately conjure images of drunken pub-goers spilling beer as they dance and thrust their half-full mugs in the air. Acoustic strumming, accordion and rapid-fire fiddling contribute to the group’s traditional sound.

“It’s amazing, really, when you start talking to people, how many people have a connection to some of those Celtic roots,” Twigger said. “Our music tends to be infectious when people hear it. ... It really has passed around by word of mouth around the country. It’s building.”

A diverse group of nationalities make up the lineup of the band, which formed in Santa Monica, Calif. Primary vocalist Patrick Murphy, who also plays accordion and harmonica, is from Cork City, Ireland; Twigger hails from Suffolk, England; drummer Ryan Lacey is from Pasadena, Calif.; new fiddle player Jessie Burns is from Coventry, England; and bagpiper and tin whistler Pete Purvis is from Merrickville, Canada.

Twigger said playing smaller towns like Emporia allows Gaelic Storm to be itself on stage more so than in the bigger cities, where concert-goers have seen it all.

“But out in the smaller cities, people really seem to come out to enjoy themselves,” he said. “There’s no proving to be done — you don’t have to prove anything, you just be yourselves up there on stage, and everybody seems to take to it. Kansas City, the shows have been very energetic there for us.”

Energy is something Gaelic Storm places a great deal of value on in its performances. Twigger said the group likes to get the audience clapping along and will try to get the Albert Taylor Hall crowd on its feet toward the end of the show.

“We’ll switch from instrumental fiddle tunes to pipe tunes to story songs to energetic, jump-up-and-down songs,” he said. “It’s really a varied show, but certainly upbeat.”