Rathkeltair

"Somehow this band makes it seem like whatever is going on musically is the most natural thing on earth even though this is something many long-time bands in the genre never manage to achieve. Truly ground-breaking-- Rathkeltair is really something to hear." Celtic MP3s Music Magazine

"...talented and creative...able to jump between genres without sounding artificial...high-energy performers who bring a fresh touch to this often-explored territory." Dirty Linen

"If you see only one Celtic rock band this season, make it Rathkeltair." Aurora Borealis

"It may be dangerous for me to say, since I have so many great bands on my e-mail list, but I will unapologetically state that this is one of the very best acts ever to grace our stage." Pat Byrne, Byrne's Pub, Columbus, Ohio

"I passed by as they were playing on stage only heard a few seconds of a song and was hooked. Bought a cd before I left and am buyin more asap. Never been into this kinda music before but RATHKELTAIR is different- in a good way." Dan L., entry on our Facebook page after Celtic Fling, 2010

"Combining the fluid, quietly humorous song writing of Trevor Tanner and the mind blowing bagpipe playing of Neil Anderson, Rathkeltair is one of the best Celtic rock bands touring the festivals today." Christopher Hivner, Amazon Reviews

Check out more fan comments on our Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/rathkeltair

- assorted quotes

Results of the 2nd Annual Celtic MP3s Music Magazine Audience Poll were recently released, with Celtic Rock supergroup Rathkeltair taking honors as Best Celtic Rock Band of 2006. Audience members also voted Rathkeltair's guitarist and lead singer, Trevor Tanner, Best Celtic Rock Vocalist and 'piper Neil Anderson Best Traditional Instrumentalist. Rathkeltair's frequent guest fiddler Vic Gagnon was voted Best Rock Instrumentalist. The annual poll is hosted by Marc Gunn's Celtic MP3s Music Magazine, one of Celtic music's most popular and widely viewed music download and review websites. http://www.celticmp3s.com/awards/ - Celtic MP3s Music Magazine

“Among the performers I will most remember this year...Neil and his band had audiences going wild during both their Folk Fest sets.”
- Pennsylvania Musician Magazine

As the all-too-common collage approach to band categorization goes, the self-portrait offered by Celtic world-fusionists Rathkeltair is perhaps better than most: A description on their Web site promises listeners "acoustic trad mixed with spine-tingling Euro-Pop as performed by jaded ex-rock stars."
Rathkeltair's piper/vocalist Neil Anderson and drummer Nick Watson were founding members of Clan Na Gael, now Seven Nations and arguably the best-known Celtic-rock band around. Watson also toured for years with the Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band, four-time World Pipe Band Champions based in Belfast, Northern Ireland, near his hometown...guitarist/vocalist/native Londoner Trevor Tanner was the front man for influential '80s band The Bolshoi, contemporaries of such Goth-tinged rockers as the Cult and Echo & the Bunnymen (and presumably the "jaded ex-rock star" in question).
But for all his band's attempt at pastiche in their press bio, Anderson, in a recent interview, described himself as "essentially a jazz musician. Beyond all of the bagpipes and whistles, I play sax and clarinet."
"We're all very well-rounded musicians. Whether we're talented or not is all from your point of view."
But the piper has definite ideas when it comes to the catch-all drift net that is the Celtic-rock genre. "A lot of what I've heard classified as Celtic rock through the years is either pretty good Celtic musicians who can't play rock, or pretty good rock musicians who can't play Celtic," he says.
"The great weakness," Anderson goes on, "is that the two styles don't meld unless you understand them equally. I'm not saying that we do – but it just seems to work out better for us. I grew up playing both rock and Celtic, and so did the other three guys. That may be an advantage: I look at a bagpipe the same way I look at a Strat or a horn.
"I approach it as a lead instrument," he explains. "And I play it that way."
Tanner's stint with The Bolshoi isn't exactly the background one might expect in a Rathkeltair member, though.
"He came up at the tail end of the English folk revival," Anderson says. "He was real familiar with the music of Richard Thompson, Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span and Horselips, a really influential Irish rock band. [So] he was really conversant in the folk idiom, even though The Bolshoi were real Goth kind of rockers."
- Mountain Express

"...talented and creative...can powerfully play everything from relatively quiet pieces to on-the-edge originals...able to jump between genres and sounds without sounding artificial...high-energy performers who bring a fresh touch to this often explored territory.” - Dirty Linen

This popular band debuted in 2003 and has been engaging audiences ever since. From the Celtic lead in on the first track on "Everybody" to the mix of instruments, this band is one that truly fuses rock with Celtic sound for something that is altogether their own. Sometimes their style is referred to as "Celtic Rock Jam Fusion," but it is truly the rhythm that captures you and stands out strong in the songs included here on this CD.

A perfect example are the staccato sounds that pump and punctuate throughout track 2, "Night Visit/Brenda Stubbert's Reel. Full of Celtic sound, it transforms in the middle of the song and morphs into a true stew of musical styles. One fades and in another comes to take its place, but it is never forced.

Somehow this band makes it seem like whatever is going on musically is the most natural thing on earth, even though this is something many long-time bands in the genre never manage to achieve. The pipes are expertly played in the hands of Neil Anderson; former member of the band "Seven Nations" along with fellow Rathkeltair band member Nick Watson, who plays drums and the tin whistle.

If you are a Celtic rock lover--this is not the CD to pass on--it's just the right mixture of songs and sounds. Truly groundbreaking--this award-winning band is really something to hear. Have a listen. Make yourself happy.
- Celtic MP3s Music Magazine, 2007