Celtic series continues with Fortunate Strangers at Carson City's BAC
Submitted by editor on Tue, 04/10/2018 - 2:45pm
Event Date:
April 14, 2018 - 7:00pm
Fortunate Strangers, a West Coast band featuring Scottish and Irish songs, will perform at Carson City’s Brewery Arts Center this Saturday, April 14 from 7 to 9 p.m. The concert will be filled with anthems that celebrate humorous and serious songs of love, loss, adventure and yearning.
The band combines the experience of three performers from the San Francisco Bay Area and the High Sierra. Celia Ramsay,’s haunting voice and extensive experience in Scottish folk music, combined with Joe and Kathy Bly,'s long history in Irish music, blend to create a Celtic musical experience that is both expansive and focused. True to the Celtic tradition, their songs range from lush and full to haunting and angular.
See the video below or go here for their 2017 performance at the Brewery Arts Center. To learn more about the band see their website here.
Fortunate Strangers derived their name from an unlikely meeting. In 2010, Berkeley resident, Celia Ramsay, and her husband were touring the town of Dingle in the far southwestern corner of Ireland.
They decided to visit O’Flaherty’s pub, known for its traditional music sessions, and on entering the pub, Celia spied familiar faces in the smoky gloom. She wasn’t sure how she knew these people, but she headed over to figure it out.
Meanwhile, from his seat across the room, Joseph and Kathy Bly, of Gardnerville, were just settling in with a pint of Guinness, resting on a 110–mile hike around the Dingle peninsula. Joe whispered to Kathy that he was sure he knew the woman who had just walked in. After a bit of conversation, they all put it together: Joe, Kathy, and Celia were all denizens of Lark Music Camp, an annual musical gathering held in Mendocino, Calif.
Over a couple more of pints of beer, Kathy and Joe explained that they were taking a brief break from hiking the Dingle Way, and a chance for a rest and a pint is what brought them into O’Flaherty’s. It was a fortunate, small–world meeting of folks who didn’t know each other, but who soon after became fast friends.
Northern Nevadans may recognize Kathy and Joe from the Carson Valley–based Celtic group, Cíana. Celia was a founding member of the group, Glamourie, in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Banding together as Fortunate Strangers, they pride themselves on presenting a varied program; mood, tempo, key and origin are all considered carefully. They always include a song or two that the audience can sing along with and will have audiences laughing, crying, and yearning for the show to continue long after it is over.
For tickets or more information, go to www.breweryarts.org, visit Expresso Yourself Café at the BAC or call 775-883-1976.
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