Spirit Of Ireland Lives In Celtic Woman Show

The act’s most recent effort combines old and new songs.

Considering Celtic Woman made its stateside debut in Cleveland a few years ago, the Buckeye State has a special place in the hearts of the quintet. The Irish act returns to Ohio this week for a Friday show at Youngstown’s Covelli Centre, followed by a Saturday show at the Palace Theater in Cleveland.

“We love Ohio,” said Chloë Agnew, calling from Boise, Idaho. “We’re looking forward to bringing our new show there. The audiences have always been so welcoming to us. So we’re looking forward to coming back.”

The new show is billed as the “Isle of Hope Tour,” which features a 19-member ensemble performing brand-new renditions of “Fields of Gold” and “Have I Told You Lately That I Love You,” as well as cornerstone favorites “The Sky and the Dawn and the Sun,” “Danny Boy,” “Spanish Lady” and the act’s new single, “Oh America.”

Since its arrival, the quintet — Agnew, Lisa Kelly, Lynn Hilary, Alex Sharpe and Celtic violinist Máiréad Nesbitt — has sold more than 4 million CDs and DVDs, played seven U.S. tours and performed for more than 800,000 people. Meanwhile, the three Celtic Woman PBS specials have aired more than 13,000 times on 685 PBS stations across the country.

Armed with its latest CD/DVD effort “Greatest Journey: Essential Collection,” Celtic Woman has evolved over the years without ever leaving its true spirit behind.

“I think when you hear Celtic Woman now compared to the early stuff, there will always be what I think is a very unique sound,” said Agnew, who still fondly remembers playing and shopping in Youngstown years ago. “I think we’ve been true to ourselves since day one, and at the same time it’s very important as a musician and performer to push yourself and challenge yourself with doing new things. So I think with the new show in particular, there’s a lot of new material that is very vocally demanding for the singers and it’s really wonderful.

“It’s just a joy to know that you can always do something new. But I think there will always be that ethereal unique sound that Celtic Woman has.”

The act’s evolution can be heard on all of the Celtic Woman album efforts, with “Celtic Woman,” “A Christmas Celebration” and “A New Journey” each having held Billboard magazine’s No. 1 position on the world music chart. Added to that achievement was “The Greatest Journey Essential Collection,” which debuted at No. 1 last year.

Agnew stressed that the most recent effort is a compilation of Celtic Woman’s earlier popular material with new songs sprinkled in that act as a perfect jumping off point to music fans who perhaps only know of the vocal outfit from their numerously successful PBS concerts.

“The most amazing thing we’ve heard from people is even if they’ve only seen the show on PBS, the live show is a completely different experience,” Agnew said. “I think a lot of people will be surprised by it, whether it’s their first time coming to see it or if they’ve followed the show for a few years. It’s always something different in store and it has an amazing energy that comes out of nowhere and grasps you and takes you with us.

“And there’s a lot of new material on there that I hope people will just come along and enjoy themselves. It’s a good way to escape for two hours of the day from the madness that can be our daily lives. So come along and forget about your troubles.”

By John Benson
The Vindicator and Vindy.com
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Youngstown, OH