Sligo Rags

"As Irish-trad bands go, you’d pretty much have to journey to Sligo to find anything better"
-Orange County Weekly

What do you get when you combine a classically trained violinist, a bluegrass banjo picker, a jazz bass player and an Afro/Latin percussionist? Jigs an reels. That’s right, reels and jigs. Two-time winners of the Orange County Music Award for Best Folk Band, this dynamic ensemble presents Celtic music with a decidedly bluegrass attitude. With fiddle, acoustic guitar, electric bass, and percussion, Sligo Rags is taking the Celtic music scene by storm. Their debut studio recording, The Night Before the Morning After was called "the best I've heard from a stateside band" by Celtic Beat Magazine. Don't be surprised if elements of country, gypsy jazz and swing manage to sneak their way into the act as well.

MICHAEL KELLY (FIDDLE, VOCALS)-- This extremely versatile fiddler's career has spanned decades, and has also included forays into the country, newgrass, swing, and bebop realms. His exciting fiddle style and soaring tenor voice are a delight.

DAVID BURNS (ACOUSTIC GUITAR, BANJO, MANDOLIN, VOCALS)-- This veteran of the Celtic and Bluegrass music scenes has played guitar and banjo for a number of local Irish and bluegrass bands. Currently the banjo player in bluegrassers Heart Of 'Grass (headliners at the 2004 Topanga Bluegrass Festival), the guitar player in acoustic jazz band Timbreline.

GORDON RUSTVOLD (BASS)-- an accomplished bassist in all genres, Gordon has been playing the L.A. and Orange County jazz, country, pop, and Irish circuits for many years, with a wide variety of musicians.
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ANDY REILLY (PERCUSSION)-- Surely one of the finest percussionists in all of California, Dublin-born Andy spent 8 years on the road with the original Dublin-based touring company of Riverdance. Nobody can play a bodhrain solo quite like Andy Reilly.

www.sligorags.com