THE GROUP Lisa Kelly (from left), Lynn Hilary, Chloë Agnew, Máiréad Nesbitt and Alex Sharpe.
Celtic Women
Let's get the obvious question out of the way.
Yes, there are five women in Celtic Woman.
And yes, their name is singular, despite being a plural outfit.
We'll let Chloë Agnew, the baby of the group who turned 20 two days ago, explain this grammatical conundrum:
"It's probably the most common question we get asked, but basically, because we're all so different, we like to think each of us represents the quintessential Celtic woman," she said.
OK, then.
For the uninitiated, Celtic Woman is one of the biggest musical phenomena since Josh Groban -- and, like Groban, the quintet owes much of its success to PBS.
In 2004, the public broadcast network filmed a Celtic Woman concert in the girls' homeland of Dublin, Ireland. The performance, which included the now-standard recipe of richly orchestrated traditional Irish songs and some originals, aired in the U.S. in March 2005, the same month the group's self-titled debut arrived.
Immediately, the album hit No. 1 on Billboard's World Music chart, where it stayed for a record-breaking 81 weeks.
Since then, three more Celtic Woman CD-DVD combos have been released, selling a combined 4 million copies.
The group of 20-to 30-somethings -- Agnew, Lynn Hilary, Lisa Kelly, Alex Sharpe and fiddler Máiréad Nesbitt -- has been on its Isle of Hope tour since February, selling out theaters and arenas in nearly every market (some tickets remain for Sunday's Landmark show).
The title of the tour, said the charming, chatty Agnew in a recent phone conversation, is a direct correlation to the United States' deep embrace of Celtic Woman's music.
"To us, America is like our isle of hope. It's the place where people could start a new life, and for the last four years, we've essentially lived here," Agnew said. "America was the first country to embrace Celtic Woman. Irish people are proud of their own, of course, but over here, you've opened your doors to us. It's been fantastic."
Being in the spotlight is second nature to Agnew, who joined Celtic Woman at 15. Given the careers of her parents, Adéle "Twink" King, a popular Irish entertainer, and Irish oboist David Agnew, she learned about the demands of showbiz life from the time she was a toddler.
"I knew that lifestyle. I knew the hard work that has to be there, and I was prepared for it," she said. "I grew up listening to every kind of music, and because of that, I have a great love for many different types. But at the end of the day, I'm still a typical teenager and listen to anything on the radio, too."
Agnew's career began at 11. After she saw an ad on TV in Ireland to donate money to children who had been affected by 9/11, she "cheekily" called family friend and music arranger-producer David Downes and asked if he would help her record a song for charity.
The outcome, the Christmas tune "Angel of Mercy," raised $40,000.
In 2002, at age 12, Agnew cut a solo album under Downes' direction, and two years later, the man who served as musical director on "Riverdance" and helped create Celtic Woman recruited his prodigy for the group.
Now, Downes is the musical arranger and composer for the quintet, crafting new arrangements of classics, such as "Danny Boy" and "Ave Maria," contemporary fare, including Enya's "Orinoco Flow" and Groban's "You Raise Me Up," and some original songs.
When asked if the girls ever met any of the artists whose songs they cover, Agnew, a massive Groban fan, said with a bit of a squeal, "I am Josh's No. 1 fan. If I ever meet him, I may pass out."
Though the Celtic women share a tour bus and are with one another nearly every minute of every day, Agnew said even during their downtime, they tend to seek out one another.
"We're typical girly girls. We spend too much money shopping. We go to the cinema and out for food. On a full day off, we might split up for the day, but by 6 p.m., everyone is ringing each other, saying, 'Do you want to grab a bite to eat?'"
With a dozen dates left on the tour after the Richmond show, Celtic Woman is already planning its next round of work.
The group will record a new CD in Ireland next month, take some time off in August, release the new disc and a DVD in September and embark on a short tour at the end of 2009.
In perhaps one of the biggest understatements of the year, Agnew said with an excited laugh, "It's going to be nonstop."
BY MELISSA RUGGIERI TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Richmond, VA
Published: June 11, 2009
