Logical Fleadh.
Released March 2023
Logical Fleadh is an album over a quarter century in the making. The initial flash of inspiration came in 1996, when Logical Fleadh bandleader Ethan Taylor Sellers and his father attended an early concert by Irish-American super-group Solas in Philadelphia. Amazed by Solas music's precision, speed, and beauty, Sellers was instantly a fan.
As a listener, Sellers subsequently followed the "family tree" of related projects to broaden his knowledge of traditional Irish, Scottish, and other Celtic music. Sellers also began penning a series of original compositions that reflected this influence, occasionally performing them with his rock band Tautologic.
After more than a decade of listening and co-curricular dabbling in Irish/Scottish music, Sellers decided to make a serious go of it with Character Fleadh in 2009. Starting as an exclusively-instrumental fiddle/guitar duo, Character Fleadh gradually expanded its line-up and learned hours and hours of traditional Irish/Scottish songs and instrumental repertoire, playing regional festivals, concert series, and private events.
After a few years, Sellers began to get the impression that some of his bandmates in Tautologic - Emily Albright (fiddle, vocals), Pat Buzby (drums, bodhran), and Nathan Britsch (bass) - wanted in on the action. Dana Joras (flutes, whistles, vocals) and Joe Kilroy (tenor banjo, mandolin, bouzouki) from Character Fleadh were both amenable to a "cross-over" collaboration. Logical Fleadh - a mash-up of Tautologic and Character Fleadh - was born.
Logical Fleadh gigged and rehearsed for nearly two years before recording most of the album in a 2-day session at Rax Trax Recording. Over the course of the next two years, Sellers worked around busy schedules and a pandemic to complete overdubs by each band member and an array of special guests, including Tautologic electric guitarist Jay Montana, violist Chuck Bontrager, Grammy-winning cellist Nick Photinos, Seán O'Riada Gold medal winner Seán Gavin, and Solas co-founder and accordionist John Williams.
https://logicalfleadh.com/
https://www.facebook.com/logicalfleadh
You can find their CD on Bandcamp.
https://logicalfleadh.bandcamp.com/