Solas will perform at the Jensen Grand Concert Hall in Pocatello as part of the Season of Note on February 15th at 7:30 pm. More at ISU dot EDU slash tickets. This is KISU-FM, Pocatello, Idaho Falls, Rexburg.
Tickets at ISU.edu/tickets
Story by Bill Schaefer, billschaefer@earthlink.net
What ever you want to call it, don’t call it a reunion. In simplest terms the band ‘Solas’ is coming back together after an eight-year recess, the missing years or “hiatus” as founding member Seamus Egan laughingly referred to the band’s respite.
Founded 30 years ago, band members recently decided to hit the road in 2025 and will be performing in concert at the Stephens Performing Arts Center on Saturday, February 15.
“It’s definitely not a reunion, it's definitely more of just kind of reforming again,” said Egan. “When we decided to take a break there wasn't really any wasn't a moment of oh, we'll come back to it. It was very much sort of left open and you know, my feeling about it was that if it were to sort of reconstitute itself at some point, that I sort of trusted that I would have a feeling that would sort of indicate that the moment was right to broach that subject again.”
According to Egan the fact that the band is coming together on its 30-year anniversary is more a case of coincidence than intelligent design. Solas means ‘light’ in the Irish language and fits with the band’s immersion in Celtic music.
“It just sort of happened,” Egan said of the upcoming tour, “which is sort of in keeping with the way the band has always been. Like we kind of came together very haphazardly and our 30 years together has been, you know, I think one guided by haphazardness and serendipity more than plan and thoughtfulness.”
Joining Egan in performance at the Stephens Performing Arts Center will be two founding members: Winifred Horan and John Williams, as well as Moira Smiley and Alan Murray.
“We’ve got a little bit of the old guard and some new guard, so it’s exciting,” Egan said of the line-up coming to Pocatello.
“To have something like Solas that’s been around for as long as it has, it’s played a tremendous part in all of our lives,” Egan said.
“So it’s kind of nice getting back with those people again, you know? It’s sort of like getting back with family that you’ve not seen in some time and getting to spend some time together,” he said of going back on tour.
Egan is a mult-instrumentalist, playing guitar, tenor banjo, flute, whistles, mandolin and accordion.
Breaking down the contributions from each member of the band, Egan gave a brief description of what each band member’s background.
“With Winifred on the fiddle, she was there from the beginning,” he said. “Her background was growing up in Rockaway Beach in New York and that was an incredibly strong Irish community. It’s sort of known as the Irish Riviera. Her path took her to conservatory, studying classical violin. She came back to Irish music….so her contribution to the sound that we ended up kind of making was this sort of hybrid style of, you know, traditional but also influenced by classical training.
John Williams grew up in Chicago in a very strong Irish community, a very traditional music community, Egan said of the button accordion player.
“He’s definitely exploring some harmonic worlds that are far from the tradition of Irish music but they work brilliantly,” he said.
Moira Smiley’s background is in community singing and she studied music at Indiana University, Bloomington, he said. “Besides being a phenomenal singer, she composes for choirs and choral,” said Egan.
Egan described guitarist Alan Murray as “the engine that sort of drives the bus. His rhythm is kind of the thing we’re all sitting on and it’s wonderful,” he said.
“As a band we never sort of put up boundaries around what it is that we were doing,” Egan said. “Basically, if we thought it sounded okay and we felt good about doing it that they were sort of the criteria. If you’re enjoying it, the rules of it don’t really matter.”
The band will be releasing a new 14-track CD from three live performances culled over a 12-year period that will be available only at their shows.
One performance was recorded in Dublin, the second set was at Ballyshannon, Ireland and the third set recorded in Glasgow, Scotland at the Celtic Connections Festival. Egan said that Bela Fleck sat in with the band for a couple songs at one of the shows.
As a prelude to their tour Solas will be releasing one single from the live album, ‘Tell God and the Devil.’ Originally on the album ‘Shamrock City’.
Egan described ‘Shamrock City’ as a concept album based on his great-uncle’s journey as an immigrant copper miner in the city of Butte, Montana. The single will be available on streaming services beginning on January 31.
Speaking on the role music plays in the Irish culture Egan said that “music comes from a place that has a deep well of a history of sorrow, but it also has an enormous history of resilience. And, you know, the music reflects that. If it’s joyful you’re not going to mistake that and when it’s sorrowful it’ll just rip your heat out, you know. I think there’s an emotional universality that it contains. I think it just lands with people in a way that is hard to deny.”
He and the band are looking forward to playing in public and meeting with their fans at the shows.
“This time around we thought, in some ways it’s just sort of a celebration of being back together again and you know, it’s really about kind of pulling out some of the music that we haven’t played in many years…and getting to play it with some new people in the line-up,” he said.
“The reaction to the news that we were going to come back around this year and that gives you a little bit of a kick in the butt. This is going to be fun, it’s going to be exciting,” Egan said of the band’s getting back on the road.
“It’s not easy to come, to get out of your house and…devote two hours to a concert and that’s something that, you know, we take very seriously,” Egan said of the relationship between audience and band.
“The world the way it is these days, you know those moments are even more and more precious, maybe than they’ve ever been,” he said.
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Information from https://www.isu.edu/stephens/events/ :
Solas is hailed by The Boston Globe as “the finest Celtic ensemble this country has ever produced” and The Wall Street Journal as “an Irish traditional band bearing all the marks of greatness.” Since forming in New York City in 1995 they have been a galvanizing element in the Irish music scene – a lightening rod of talent and inspiration that set new standards for musicianship, repertoire, and intensity. Over the course of twelve critically acclaimed albums and endless international touring, Solas brought their love and respect for the traditions of Irish music, and their sense of melodic and instrumental adventure to the world.
In 2017, after a remarkable two-decade career, Solas decided it was time for a break. Now, after eight years, the break is over and Solas is back and ready to celebrate their 30th Anniversary! The musical adventure continues in 2025
