Titanic achievement: Gaelic Storm still making Celtic cool decade after movie debut

By Diana Nollen

Being a band “just off the boat” put Gaelic Storm on the big screen's biggest boat.

A gathering of musicians launched Gaelic Storm at O'Brien's Pub in Santa Monica, Calif., on St. Patrick's Day, 1996.

But the sinking of James Cameron's “Titanic” in December 1997 launched the band's career in earnest.

“The musical director was scouting for a band to play for (the steerage) scene and recognized us as a band just off the boat, playing for the pure enjoyment of it,” says guitarist Steve Twigger, 49, a native of Coventry, England, who came to the United States in the early '80s and now lives in Austin, Texas.

After Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet kicked up their heels to the raucous sounds of Gaelic Storm aboard the cinema ship, albums and high-profile gigs followed.

The merry musicians' lives changed “proverbially overnight - a year and a half later,” Twigger says with a wink from a recent tour day off in Annapolis, Md. “The phone definitely started ringing as soon as the movie came out. People wanted to know who that band was. It allowed us to go out and about and play our music for a wider group of people.”

That group will include a full house at the Englert Theatre in downtown Iowa City on Friday night (3/19/10). Earlier this week, some standing-room tickets were available. If you want to get in on the fun, call the ticket office at (319) 688-2653 to see if any are left.

“Titanic” and Gaelic Storm helped fuel the Celtic craze on American shores.

“It started with Riverdance just a year or so earlier, then ‘Titanic' came along and added to that,” Twigger says. “It started to explode with those two events.”

It became cool to be Celt.

“Here we are now, 13 years later. There are over 30 million Irish-Americans in this country, so (Celtic music) has always been there. It's always been part of America. This just highlights what's already there.”

Gaelic Storm brings to that mix musicians from England, Ireland, Canada and California.

Eastern Iowans embrace all things Irish in a big way, from this week's St. Patrick's Day festivities to concerts by Danu and Dervish on area stages last week.

“They're great traditional bands and play the traditional tunes in extremely spirited and virtuosic ways,” Twigger says. “At the other end of the scale, Flogging Molly and Dropkick Murphys appeal to a harder core, younger crowd.We fall in the middle.

“We're a spirited, exciting band to see. We play a lot of traditional music throughout our set, infused with a contemporary approach. We have very contemporary influences from many different sources, from rock music, reggae, African music, world music in general, along with the sort of storytelling traditions that we grew up with. It kind of blends together for what is Gaelic Storm - contemporary folk music,” he says.

“Really where it started, we were sitting around having a few drinks, telling stories, making each other laugh. Then the stories ended up as songs. It's sort of a social group. Being far from home, we get nostalgic from time to time to keep our lives, keep that culture and memories of the past with us wherever we go.”

Englert audience members will hear music from the band's seven CDs, as well as new tunes off the album being released at the end of summer, Twigger says.

One of those new songs, “Raised on Black & Tans,” has recently been put up as free download on the Gaelic Storm Web site, http://gaelicstorm.musiccitynetworks.com

“It's a little taster for the new CD - a free gift from us with no strings attached. It's a nice St. Patrick's Day song for people. I think they'll get a kick out of it.”

   The band, whose members range in age from late 20 to late 40s, spends about 200 days on the road for more than 125 gigs. Twigger says their concerts are “a nice mix of story songs and clap-along songs, song with heart and jigs and reels from fiddle and pipes.

“It's a nice, well-rounded show. We have no soapbox to stand on, no political agendas. It really is about having a good time and enjoying our evening together.”

FAST TAKEInformation: www.englert.org or http://gaelicstorm.musiccitynetworks.com

What: Gaelic Storm

When: 8 p.m. Friday, March 19, 2010

Where: Englert Theatre, 221 E. Washington St., Iowa City

Tickets: Reserved seats sold out; call the Englert Box Office, (319) 688-2653, for possible $20 standing-room tickets