Tonight at The Barns: Solas

Returning to The Barns for two nights is Solas, a group hailed by The Washington Post as “one of the world’s finest Celtic-folk ensembles.”

Solas, whose name derives from a Gaelic word for “light,” has been brightening America’s Irish folk scene since 1994, when the group’s original members began performing together in Irish bars in New York City.

After Solas was featured on the beloved radio shows A Prairie Home Companion and Mountain Stage in 1996, they received national attention that led to their first major tour.

The current group consists of Seamus Egan (flute, tenor banjo, mandolin, tin whistle, low whistle, guitars, bodhran), Winifred Horan (violins, vocals), Mick McAuley (accordions, contertina, low whistle, vocals), Eamon McElholm (guitars, keyboards, vocals), and Niamh Varian-Barry (vocals).

Solas’s current project is the much-anticipated Shamrock City, an album about Irish immigration to America that is due out in early 2013. The band will perform the new music on tour with video footage and fan stories incorporated into the live show.

“We want to continue on as long as we still enjoy this, hopefully making good records and trying new things and following a similar path to what we’ve been on for the last 10 years.”—Seamus Egan, bandleader

Don't miss Solas tonight and tomorrow, Thursday, February 7, 2013 8 pm and Friday, February 8, 2013 8 pm.