The Celtic Social Club

The Celtic Social Club is a musical band formed in 2013. It was led by Manu Masko.

The Celtic Social Club
The Celtic Social Club, 2015
The Celtic Social Club, 2015
Background information
OriginBrittany, Scotland
GenresRock, Celtic music, world music
Years active2013–present
LabelsSony Music, Keltia Musique
MembersManu Masko
Dan Donnelly
Ronan La Bars
Pierre Stéphan
Mathieu Péquériau
Richard Puaud
Goulven Hamel
Websitecelticsocialclub.com

The band was formed by a group of Bretons and Scots musicians, members of The Silencers, Red Cardell and Ronan Le Bars Group with guests related to the world Celtic, inspired by their elders of the Buena Vista Social Club and the New Orleans Social Club which aims to popularise Celtic music by opening it to current music.

The music of The Celtic Social Club is a contemporary adaptation of traditional Celtic tunes performed by a group of seven musicians and guests chosen for their diverse backgrounds such as rock, folk, blues, reggae or hip hop.

History

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The Celtic Social Club was formed in February 2012 when Manu Masko and Jean-Pierre Riou from the Breton band Red Cardell moved to New York City to mix an album with producer-mixer Ariel Borujow.[clarification needed] The group formed around the three musicians of Red Cardell (Jean-Pierre Riou, Manu Masko and Mathieu Péquériau), adding Jimme O'Neill singer and Irish-Scottish guitarist, leader of The Silencers and Ronan Le Bars virtuoso of Uilleann Pipes and violinist Peter Stephan, and bassist Richard Puaud.[citation needed]

Other collaborators include the Jamaican Winston McAnuff (Scottish origin), the New Yorker rapper IC Will (Irish origin), the indie-folk singers Colline Hill (Breton resident first in Ireland and then in Belgium), Louise Ebrel, and Steven Bodénès the penn-soner (conductor) of Bagad Kemper, The Quimper pipe band.[citation needed]

 
Manu Masko

During the showcase and the official press conference of the project on 4 April 2014 in Quimper, the Vieilles Charrues revealed the presence of the group as the creation of the year of the festival, 18 July between benefits of Tinariwen and Elton John.[clarification needed] Keltia Musique announced its participation as coproducer with the release of an album on 18 June.

The Celtic Social Club gave its first concert on 18 July 2014, in front of 50,000 spectators.[1]

The collective began a tour early 2015 in Brittany and announced a French tour and dates in Geneva, Switzerland and Rudolstdat, Germany.[citation needed]

 
Jimme O'Neill and Jean-Pierre Riou

In December 2015, Jean-Pierre Riou announced his departure from the group to focus on Red Cardell. A few days later, The Celtic presented its new member, Gouven Hamel, a Breton musician that played with Les Nus and Miossec.

In January 2016, the new team was in residence at La Sirène in La Rochelle to record new songs and prepare a 2016 tour including dates in Beijing and Shanghai. For these sessions, the band appealed to producer John Reynolds (Sinéad O'Connor, he was her first husband, U2, Björk, Natacha Atlas).[citation needed][clarification needed]

Musical style

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The music of the Celtic Social Club is a modern adaptation of Celtic music from different territories (Brittany, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Galicia, Asturias, Cornwall, Isle of Man).

Band members

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Current members

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Ronan Le Bars

Former member

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Guests

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Winston McAnuff

Discography

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Year Title Notes
2014 The Celtic Social Club Studio
2014 The Celtic Social Club Deluxe Edition Studio + DVD live performance
2015 Unplugged New York City Live
2017 A New Kind of Freedom Live
2020 From Babylon To Avalon Studio

References

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  1. ^ "Project | the Celtic Social Club".
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