What do you get when you combine a classically trained violinist, a bluegrass banjo picker, a jazz bass player and an Afro/Latin percussionist? Give up? Why, Irish reels and jigs, of course. That’s right, reels and jigs.

 

From neighborhood pubs to outdoor festivals, house parties to concert halls, Michael Kelly, David Burns, Gordon Rustvold and Eric Hartwell, aka the Sligo Rags, have been performing regularly throughout the Southland for the past two years. While the Rags stay true to the original intent of the traditional tunes they play, they are not afraid to be innovative. The addition of bluegrass-style flat-picking and world music rhythms to these time-honored songs creates a unique brand of Irish music that these band mates are eager to share with... well, anyone who will listen.