By Patricia Rocha
News Editor
The fresh fall weather rolled in just in time for the 7th annual Celtic Music Festival Hosted by the Kern County Scottish Society held at CSU Bakersfield on Oct. 2-3.
Listeners dressed in clan tartans and other traditional clothing spread over the grassy area of the CSUB amphitheater to enjoy music by bands Celtica, Wrenwood Sessions, Banshee in the Kitchen, Sligo Rags, Bog Iron, Whiskey Galore and Al Wadi and Poso Creek.
“We play lots of different festivals and I love the feel of this one,” said Kat Edmonson, guitar and bouzouki player for local Celtic band Banshee in the Kitchen. “It sounds kind of corny but it seems like a very nurturing atmosphere here where people are very caring about the musicians.”
Many families dancing together and sharing picnic blankets were a great example of this atmosphere. Even Whiskey Galore member Kevin Briley took a moment during the band’s set to yell, “Hi mom!”
Diane Briley waved back from her seat, smiling.
“I’m glad to see there’s so many people out here,” she said.
The festival was the first since the band’s yearlong hiatus and was a crowd favorite playing their originals as well as a clever rendition of Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues.”
Briley reflected on the experience of raising a musician.
“The great northern pipes that he plays are actually a war instrument, so when you’re learning to play those in a one-story home…” she said laughing.
Briley became interested in the instrument at age 14 after attending Highland High School.
“[When] he finally got so he was comfortable enough with it he played in the neighborhood. He would play his pipes and march around the block to learn how to play and march at the same time.”
Kat Edmonson also reflected on her fore into the genre, calling it a challenge because it wasn’t something she was used to playing before joining the band.
“It’s very challenging and intricate so I fell in love with that,” she said. “I love the history.”
Banshee in the Kitchen has played all seven of the festivals, with Edmonson as a member for the last four.
“A lot of the songs really strike chords, no pun intended, with people because even if they haven’t been to Ireland, they certainly have experienced loss and a broken heart or war,” she said.
Another interesting aspect of the band’s music is the arrangement process the women go through when creating their songs.
“We’re still very traditional but we arrange it so it makes it a little bit more interesting and [we’ve] coined the term ‘banshee-fying,’” she said. “We banshee-fy it. So we might change it in a non-traditional key or speed it up or change key in the middle of the tune that will make it just a little bit more interesting than it just straight traditional.”
Also switching things up with a little nontraditional flavor was headliner Celtica, most known for their pyrotechnic displays and twists on old classics.
“People enjoy what we do in terms of music, but when we bring out the fire effects, obviously people’s interests [increase] by a factor of 10, because it’s not every day you see that,” said Duncan Knight, member of Celtica. “There are other bands that use fire, [but] no one expects to see flames shooting out of a set of bagpipes.”
Knight and his band mates have played the festival previously and enjoy coming to Bakersfield.
“There seem to be more people here this year than there were last year,” he said. “It’s good for cultural events like these to keep on growing and that’s what seems to be happening.”
Aside from the musical entertainment and a host of vendors, event goers also got the change to experience whiskey tasting and themed cuisine such as bangers, a traditional UK-style sausage.
