Forming a band dedicated to a centuries-old musical medium that hails from a geographical region you've only seen in pictures comes with a lot of pressure. But after hearing a particularly stirring Celtic ditty on the radio three years ago, Las Vegas native Rick Lucchesi couldn't help himself.
"It was so haunting and arranged in a way that I had never heard before, it really stayed with me to the point that I went out and bought the album," Lucchesi said. "The entire thing was amazing, and our journey just stemmed from that."
Lucchesi, his wife, Patti, and friend Lisa Fiorenza make up Celtic Cove, a Las Vegas-based folk band dedicated to playing traditional Celtic music.
"We are all classically trained musicians who were involved in another band together, a different type of music, and this was a logical evolution given the way each of us was affected by this medium," Rick Lucchesi said. "And the public response to what we're doing has been so much more than we expected it to be."
The group's weekly gig at MonteLago Village's Irish pub, the Auld Dubliner, has given the band an oppurtunity to mingle with local enthusiasts, as well as the occasional Irish tourists, who, according to Rick Lucchesi, have raved about the group's attention to detail and authentic sound.
"It's so good to hear someone with that heritage give us the thumbs up," Rick Lucchesi said. "We have done our research, but you always hope you're doing something like this justice. There's so much history involved."
The group features acoustic instrumentals ranging from boisterous pub jigs and reels to haunting, melodic ballads, each in the tradition of Celtic masters.
"The message in the music is pure," Patti Lucchesi said. "There's a dance form, emotional pieces. So many of the songs tell a real story, either of rebellion or joy or struggle. That's why it hasn't changed over the years. It hasn't needed to."
According to Patti Lucchesi, Celtic Cove is the only band of its kind in Las Vegas.
"You won't find another show like ours in town," she said. "There are plenty of bands who bill themselves as Celtic bands, but they play Celtic rock. We only play authentic folk music. The kind you would have heard being played in the hills of Ireland in the 1400s."
Catch Celtic Cove at the Auld Dubliner, 40 Via Bel Canto, at 1:30 p.m. every Sunday. Admission is free. For more information, call 567-8002.
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