Life

Steel City Rovers Friday in Crystal Falls

CRYSTAL FALLS -- Crystal Theatre welcomes The Steel City Rovers to the stage at 7 p.m. Friday.

The Rovers, of Hailing, Ontario, Canada, play expressive music that connects traditional Celtic music with North American styles including bluegrass, folk and roots. They perform on meticulously crafted replicas of historical instruments that rarely appear on today's musical landscape.

Their original works touch on issues of love, loss, celebration and heritage and they breathe life into newly discovered instrumental melodies from as far back as centuries ago.

The band headlines large festival stages, gives intimate concert performances, educates in a variety of workshop and master-class settings and performs internationally with symphonies. They have been nominated for several music awards and have had their original works top the traditional radio charts. A tour to Ireland is planned for the fall of 2022.

The Rovers are Mark Fletcher, who performs on a number of instruments (Scottish smallpipes, mandola, accordion, and Irish whistle), lead vocalist Ryan McKenna, Joel McKenna on guitar and vocals, Dave Neigh on fiddle and Dave Gould on drums and percussion. They create, collaborate and work hard to further the love and awareness of music.

Fletcher has been active in the music industry for almost 40 years, playing his first professional gigs at age 16. Over time he has performed the music of many genres, been the architect of many well-known Celtic ensembles and contributed his musical skills to nearly 40 CDs.

Ryan McKenna is a singer, writer and arranger. His distinctive baritone sets the band apart and helps define SCR's unmistakable sonic character. He is absolutely at home on the stage where he invites you in to join the band in some wonderful time together.

Joel McKenna has performed with his brother Ryan since 1996, appearing as the Celtic duo McKenna across southern Ontario. Joel McKenna has had a passion, a calling even, for the acoustic guitar: its rhythms, intricacies and tonal possibilities.

Neigh first picked up the fiddle at the age of 8 at a Celtic music camp in Nova Scotia, Canada. Though he grew up in southern Ontario, he attributes his passion for traditional folk music to his summers spent at the Gaelic College learning from the masters of that rich fiddle tradition as well as the influence of his father, renowned bagpiper P/M Edward Neigh.

Gould is a "found sound artist" who creates instruments from unique and household items. These instruments include the toilet, the washboard, and moose and caribou antlers, among others.

The concert is the second in the 2022 Gem Season for subscribers.

Advanced tickets for this single concert may be purchased for $20 at Ben Franklin and The Twisted Twig in Crystal Falls, The Iron County Chamber Office in Iron River, and The Music Tree in Iron Mountain. Tickets at the door are $25 for adults and $5 for children.