1000 x 90

JSMHM’s Christmas Concert Features an Exciting Performance of World-Renowned Irish Musicians at Appalachian Theatre this Saturday Dec. 21

John Doyle, Mick McAuley and Duncan Wickel

The 2019 installment of Joe Shannon’s Mountain Home Music’s Celtic Christmas Concert features an exciting performance of world-renowned Irish musicians, John Doyle, Mick McAuley and Duncan Wickel. This special holiday concert will showcase this trio’s music in the newly renovated Appalachian Theatre of the High Country in Boone on the Winter Solstice – Saturday, December 21st at 7:30pm!

JSMHM’s director, Rodney Sutton, exclaimed, “This concert marks a milestone in the 26 year history of Mountain Home Music! It was a goal of the late Joe Shannon to produce concerts at The Appalachian Theatre, and we here at JSMHM are grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with ATHC to fulfill one of Joe’s dreams. Joe loved Celtic music more than any other style, so it is only fitting that the first JSMHM concert at this historic landmark theater features Irish music from his family’s homeland!” Sutton added, “It’s also pretty exiting for me to be able to share in the merriment as my daughter, Kelsey, and I will get to kick-up our heels with some clogging and flatfooting steps that are based in traditional Irish Sean Nòs dancing,”

Doyle and McAuley’s nearly telepathic musical connection began in the truly groundbreaking Irish-American band, Solas. Now, both have flourishing high profile solo careers and periodically come together to brush off some Solas standards and lots of their individual material, played together, for these magical musical offerings. Both natives of Ireland and each from musical families, John Doyle and Mick McAuley are true powerhouses in traditional Irish music. Joining them is the amazing Irish fiddler and Jazz violinist, Duncan Wickel. He and John have also toured together over the years and this threesome has all the ingredients for a spectacular night of Irish music.

Doyle started his professional career at the age of 16 and went on to form the highly acclaimed super group, Solas, with Seamus Egan, John Williams, Karan Casey and Winifred Horan. Solas took the folk and Celtic music worlds by storm, in no small part due to John’s powerhouse rhythmic guitar style and innovative arrangements. Since then, Doyle’s flourishing solo career, highly regarded solo albums, and in demand studio prowess as a producer have made him one of the busiest artists in all of traditional music. He is a Grammy nominated artist for his 2009 recording with fiddler Liz Carroll, “Double Play”. He has performed at the White House, was music director for folk music legend, Joan Baez, and guitarist for Mary Chapin Carpenter. Doyle has recorded and/or performed with a who’s who of folk, Celtic, bluegrass and old-time music, including Tim O’Brien, Kate Rusby, Eileen Ivers, Karan Casey, Rodney Crowell and Jerry Douglas. John’s original rhythmic and percussive guitar style has been emulated by guitarists all over the world.

Mick McAuley is an Irish musician, composer and songwriter who has recorded and toured internationally for many years. While his music is rooted firmly in the Irish tradition, he has been part of a movement which continues to push the musical boundaries of that tradition to bring Irish music to a wider and more diverse audience around the world. As a long-time member of the Irish-American ensemble Solas, he has recorded and toured nine albums with them and received widespread international acclaim. The Boston Herald hailed SOLAS as “the best Irish traditional band in the world”. A multi-instrumentalist, McAuley plays accordion, melodeon, concertina, whistles and guitar and been a guest on many recordings and performances including Patti Larkin, Paul Brennan (of Clannad), Susan McKeown and Mick Hanly among many others. Most recently, he spent many months as accordionist for Sting in his Broadway Production, The Last Ship. McAuley’s debut solo album, An Ocean’s Breadth was awarded Best Celtic Album of the Year by The Washington Post.

Bowed-String Instrumentalist, World Class Musician, Singer, Writer, and Inventor of The Wickelbuckle – Duncan Wickel is – in the words of The Boston Globe: “A considerable talent…as persuasive in a traditional ballad as he is country fiddling or ripping through cascading classical flourishes or atonal double stops”. In 2016, Duncan performed on two consecutive episodes of CBS’s The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.  He has toured and recorded with major Folk Artists including Rising Appalachia,  Molly Tuttle, The Duhks, John Doyle, Karan Casey, Ruth Moody, Rushad Eggleston,  and many others.  Edge Boston wrote – “[He] proves to be the standout performer, exploring his instrument more in-depth than one might have guessed one could with a fiddle. He is doing exactly what artists do best, stretching the boundaries of his sound through experimentation and play.”

Wickel’s music has echoed off the walls of Carnegie Hall, The Lincoln and Kennedy Center, the Grand Ole Opry and the famed Bibliotheca Alexandria in Egypt.  He has performed and taught in over 22 countries spanning every continent on Earth that is normally inhabited by humans. He currently tours with Rising Appalachia, Molly Tuttle, The Stash! Band, and as himself.

This concert is supported by the following private sponsor, Dr. E. Frank Hancock DDS. Business sponsors include; The High Country United Way – courtesy of Jack and Karen James, Piedmont Federal, Mast General Store, Mountain Time Publishing, and the High Country Press. Additional support is provided by; The Anne & Alex Bernhardt Foundation – A component fund of the North Carolina Community Foundation, Boone TDA, The Watauga County Arts Council and Grassroots Funds from the NC Arts Council. JSMHM is also proud to be included as a site on the Blue Ridge Music Trails of North Carolina (BlueRidgeMusicNC.com).

Tickets, directions and suggested parking can all be found at the ATHC website –

https://www.apptheatre.org/

More info on JSMHM can be found at mountainhomemusic.org