season sponsor
Special thanks to the
following show sponsor.
Fresh cut flowers & silk
flowers
Located in the Glens plaza,
Charlevoix
Thursday September 17th at
7 PM
Ticket Information
Switchback
For over two
decades, the musical partnership of Brian FitzGerald and
Martin McCormack, known as Switchback, has been
entertaining audiences around the world with their unique
American Roots music blended with Celtic
Soul.
In
1986, FitzGerald was a mandolin student of Jethro Burns and
had already been touring with Clifton Chenier when he met
McCormack, an award-winning voice student of Whelma Oshiem
at the American Conservatory of Chicago and a member of
the
Star Search-selected band
Beyond Blue. They were both chosen by legendary
County Kerry composer and concertina master Terrence
“Cuz” Teahan to join his traditional Irish
group. Teahan taught FitzGerald and McCormack the old
country techniques of Irish musical entertainment, making
them one of the last generations to be directly influenced
by a master of this musical genre.
By
1988, shortly before Teahan’s death, the duo
continued his musical legacy with the Wailin’
Banshees, joining forces with banjo great Bert McMahon of
Woodford, County Galway and Chicago fiddle legend Mary
McDonagh. The Banshees flourished, but it was the
power of seeing such Texan greats as Stevie Ray Vaughan,
Joe Ely, and Rodney Crowell that fueled FitzGerald and
McCormack’s songwriting and ultimately led to the
formation of Switchback in
1993.
Their
first album,
Ain't Goin' Back (1994), was
literally a commercial success, with Chevrolet using one of
the songs to promote their Chevy Blazer. Their music
eventually reached the ear of Grammy-winning producer Lloyd
Maines, who then produced several albums for the band, with
The Fire That Burns being selected as one of
Performing Songwriter Magazine’s
top
choices for 2003. Throughout this time, the duo
managed a heavy touring schedule, opening for such acts as
The Moody Blues, Leon Russell, Lee Greenwood, John
Hartford, and Beausoleil.
Meanwhile,
the Celtic music world never forgot the duo’s Irish
roots, and so Switchback continued to cultivate a following
at concerts and festivals. The duo has shared the
stage with such notable Celtic musicians as Cherish the
Ladies, Gaelic Storm, Liz Carroll, and John Williams.
They annually tour Ireland and frequently perform at the
Westport, County Mayo pub owned by The Chieftain’s
Matt Malloy, who often appears there as
well.
Playing
over 200 engagements a year, Switchback can be heard at
festivals ranging from the Stan Rogers Folk Festival in
Nova Scotia to the Summer Celebration in Michigan where
they performed for an audience of 15,000. Their
concerts take place at venues ranging from the intimately
famous Bluebird Café of Nashville to the 3,400-seat Star
Plaza Theater in Merrillville,
Indiana.
Switchback’s
music is frequently played on radio stations such as RTE
Radio One with Pat Kenny in Dublin, Ireland and can also be
seen on Public Broadcasting Television stations throughout
the United States.
Switchback
have released ten albums to date are are currently putting
studio time in for the next two. Their most recent
release,
Falling Water River (2005), received
critical acclaim for its musical portrayal of a young
soldier and his family during the current war in Iraq.
More band
information at www.waygoodmusic.com