Sporting Life Celtic

Celtic Thunder is a Celtic music group, composed of five Celtic male soloists who perform both solo and ensemble numbers, and in their latest album were joined by their guitarist Neil Byrne in a few songs. Celtic Thunder debuted in August 2007 at the Helix in Dublin, Ireland. Accompained the Celtic Concert Orchestra under the direction of Phil Coulter the musical director of the group.

Since the group's formation, Celtic Thunder has released four albums: Celtic Thunder , Act Two and Take Me Home , It's Entertainment as well as two live performances on DVD entitled Celtic Thunder: The Show and Take Me Home , the latter was released on July 14, 2009. In December 2009 Billboard magazine named Celtic Thunder Top World Album Artist. Their first three albums also placed in the Top 10 for World Albums.

Celtic Thunder is known for its eclectic style with songs ranging from a soloist to an ensemble focus. The group is backed by the Celtic Thunder Band on their concert tours, and their live shows are known for the use of dramatic effects via lighting and choreography as well as a stage set resembling an ancient stone pathway suggestive of those referenced in Celtic lore.

In March 2009, Celtic Thunder opened the Saint Patrick's Day Parade in New York City, and later that day performed for President Obama, Mrs. Obama and Taoiseach Brian Cowen at the White House.

Members

The members of Celtic Thunder are (in alphabetical order of family name):

Paul M. Byrom (born April 11, 1979) is from Dublin, Ireland. In addition to Celtic Thunder, he has also performed at major sporting events in Ireland and abroad, including singing at the All Ireland Finals in Dublin's Croke Park and at Heinz Field for a Pittsburgh Steelers game in the USA. He has also performed for Ireland's President, Mary McAleese, and for Emperor Akihito of Japan. Paul has released two albums: Velvet and I'll Be Home For Christmas .

George Donaldson (born February 1, 1968) is the oldest member of the group and is a well-known balladeer, guitarist and flautist from Glasgow, Scotland. At Scotland's Celtic Park, Donaldson played to 65,000 fans at the opening match of the 2000-2001 season.

Keith R. Harkin , (born June 10, 1986), is from Derry, Northern Ireland. He plays the guitar and has written one of the songs for Celtic Thunder: "Lauren and I". In 2008, a new solo album by Keith was rumoured to be in the working stages but has not yet been released as of mid 2009. Keith enjoys surfing and has written a song called Chasing Dreams that articulates his love for it. Keith has now recorded more original songs apart from Celtic Thunder, some titles include: Vanity, Don't Lose the Feeling, and What I Like.

Ryan J. Kelly (born November 6, 1978) is from The Moy, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. He holds two degrees from the Queen's University Belfast, having earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and also a Graduate Diploma in Advanced Accounting, qualifying Ryan to be a chartered accountant.

Damian J. McGinty, Jr. (born September 9, 1992) is the youngest member of the group and is from Derry, Northern Ireland. He recorded the first Celtic Thunder album when he was fourteen years old.

Television appearances

Beginning in March 2008, the group has been featured throughout the US on the PBS television network more than 1200 times, and during May and June 2008, members of the group were interviewed on dozens of local PBS stations during performances of their show.

Following is a list of songs performed on Celtic Thunder: The Show and the member(s) of the group performing them:

The tracks on their concert Take Me Home are as follows:

The tracks on their newest concert "Its Entertainment!" released on February 9 in 2010 are as follows:

1. "Take Me Home" - Ensemble
2. "Every Breath You Take" - Ryan
3. "Just Like Jesse James" - Charley Bird
4. "Hard To Say I'm Sorry" - Keith
5. "Home" - Damian
6. "Life With You" - George
7. "You Raise Me Up" - Paul
8. "Hallelujah" - Neil, Keith, Ryan
9. "Standing On The Corner" - Damian
10. "Bad Bad Leroy Brown" -Ryan
11. "Surfer Medley (Surf City/Fun Fun Fun/Surfin' USA)" - Keith
12. "Doo Wacka Doo" - Paul
13. "500 Miles" - George
14. "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" - Ensemble
15. "Lough Swilly Railway" - Instrumental
16. "Ireland's Call" - Ensemble

Concerts and tours

On December 17, 2008, Celtic Thunder completed their 2008 US tour of fifty cities. They also toured the United States extensively in the fall of 2009, and plan to perform across the US in the fall of 2010. For spring 2009 they focused on touring Canada, while also playing some concerts in the north-eastern US.

During their 2008 fall tour, Celtic Thunder sold over 125,000 tickets in forty-nine shows and placed twentieth in the poll Star Tour Poll .

A new DVD and CD, both titled Take Me Home , was released July 14, 2009. The DVD was filmed at Casino Rama, Orilla (north of Toronto). While the group was on tour, it is considered a live concert DVD rather than a studio production.

Their fourth CD and third DVD titled It's Entertainment were released on February 9, 2010. Their fourth DVD Storm is planned for release in the summer of 2010. Both DVDs were filmed during their live shows on Thursday October 1, 2009 and Friday October 2, 2009 at the Toronto International Centre Hall 5 (aka Arrow Hall).

Notes

  1. ^ 21, WLIW (2008-06-30). " Celtic Thunder in Dublin". WLIW21 . http://www.wliw.org/productions/celtic_thunder.html . Retrieved 2008-06-30 .  
  2. ^ Celtic Thunder (2008-06-30). " The Show in". Celtic Thunder . http://www.celticthunder.ie/show.php . Retrieved 2008-06-30 .  
  3. ^ "Celtic Thunder Storms America". reuters.com . http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS196582+18-Mar-2009+BW20090318 . Retrieved 2009-06-10 .  
  4. ^ Celtic Thunder. " Celtic Thunder - Artists ". Celtic Thunder . http://cms.celticthunder.ie/artists . Retrieved 2008-09-05 .  
  5. ^ a b c Celtic Thunder (2008-06-30). " Biographies ". Celtic Thunder . http://www.celticthunder.ie/biographies.php . Retrieved 2008-06-30 .  
  6. ^ Celtic Thunder (2008-09-05). " Celtic Thunder - Keith's Responses ". Celtic Thunder . http://www.celticthunder.ie/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=779 .  
  7. ^ Celtic Thunder. " Celtic Thunder - Biographies ". Celtic Thunder . http://www.celticthunder.ie/ryankelly.php . Retrieved 2008-09-05 .

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