Farmington Daily Times, Feature >>
FARMINGTON — Members of the traditional Irish folk band, Dervish, know a thing or two about putting on a show. After all, they have performed in practically every corner of the world during the last 17 years.
The group has shared the stage with music giants such as Sting, Oasis, REM and Beck. Its members performed for the Chinese government during diplomatic negotiations with Ireland. And its albums have made it to the number one spot on the Irish Folk Music Charts and other international music charts.
The band that has made a name for itself across the globe for its 10 critically acclaimed albums lands in Farmington today. Dervish will perform at 7 p.m. in the Henderson Fine Arts Center as part of the San Juan College Silhouette Series.
According to Rock Paper Scissors, a publicity and marketing group for world musical acts, Dervish's five founding members met in a bar in Ireland in 1989. Over drinks, the five musicians — Liam Kelly, Shane Mitchell, MartinMcGinley, Brian McDonagh and Michael Holmes — decided to record an album of local songs. The project inspired the musicians to keep performing together and refine their music.
Their barroom concerts was just the beginning.
In 1991, singer Cathy Jordan, from Roscommon, Ireland, joined. Shortly thereafter the group released its first album, "Harmony Hill."
The album was a commercial success and Dervish became a well known name in the traditional Irish music scene.
A worldwide tour began in 1994 at mainly large Irish folk concerts.
In a release from Rock Paper Scissors, the band's frontwoman, Jordan, explained the binding effect of traditional Irish music.
"I'm a farmer's daughter," she said in the release, "and someone else in the band is an architect's son. Outside of music, we may have never met, but this is how Irish people have forged unlikely friendships for years, playing music together."
The name Dervish, which refers to the religious practice of whirling around rapidly to induce a dizzy, mystical state, was adopted because it seemed to describe the type of music the group plays.
Brian McDonagh, the band's mandola player, has said Irish music connects people. As the audience becomes engaged with the music, people start dancing and singing together, entranced by the power of music — the harmony of harmony.
Dervish's music is a collage of contemporary sounds infused with the traditional tones, rhythms, and cadences that define Celtic music.
"It comes to us in different ways," Jordan said. "Sometimes at a session an old man sings a tune we've never heard. We have a great rapport with the Irish Traditional Music Archive in Dublin, where there are vast collections of the old manuscripts and the earliest recordings of Irish music. Sometimes we find things on TV, on the radio, or on records."
Dervish will play at 7 p.m. today at the Henderson Fine Arts Center. Tickets are $12 for adults, and $10 for students and senior citizens, or Silhouette Series season tickets can be used. For more information, call the box office at (505) 566-3430.
11/10/06 >> go there
