Wake the Dead was born in 2000 when three veteran Celtic performers who shared a love for the Grateful Dead experienced a joint flash of inspiration and began weaving the two seemingly alien musical genres into something new and immediately appealing. Singer-fiddler-mandolinist Danny Carnahan, singer-mandolinist Paul Kotapish, and Celtic harper Maureen Brennan assembled a septet of seasoned Celtic, jazz, and new acoustic players and recorded their eponymous CD Wake the Dead as a lark. But Grateful Dead Records took one listen, immediately signed the band, sold 25,000 copies of the CD, and booked Wake the Dead at the Fillmore. Nice start for what has turned into a 16-year romp that has seen the band’s fan base spread as far as Canada and Colorado and their repertoire blossom beyond the Dead canon to emcompass a whole, delightfully Celtic Summer of Love.
Danny, Paul, and Maureen are joined by original bandmates Sylvia Herold (vocal and guitar), Kevin Carr (fiddle & uilleann pipes), and Cindy Browne (bass) and percussionist Brian Rice, who took over from Joe Craven in 2002. The new arrangements are richer and more adventurous than those on the debut album. The band takes advantage of the strengths of each member, establishing more thunderous grooves, more interesting textural shifts, more unexpected medleys, and more and more stepping out into dangerous improvisational territory.
The first studio CD was followed by Buckdancer’s Choice (2002) and Blue Light Cheap Hotel (2007). Live and studio-produced videos have been popping up more and more on YouTube and elsewhere. A brand-new CD Deal, to be released this summer, captures more of the band’s crackling live sound than ever before.
Listen to a track from Wake the Dead:
CALENDAR SPONSORED IN PART BY THE CONSULATE GENERAL OF IRELAND, SAN FRANCISCO