Staff Report

 

The Appalachian Music Consort will celebrate St. Patrick’s Day by performing Irish, Scottish and traditional Appalachian music at 7:30 p.m. today in the Collins Center Bowman Auditorium at Ohio University Southern in Ironton.

“A wee bit o’ the Celtic Isles in the hills of West Virginia” is how the Appalachian Consort describes themselves on their website.

This quintet of musicians combines traditional Irish, Scottish and Appalachian “old-time” music with original compositions. Their music has a little different sound than some Celtic groups. This is reflected by the word “Appalachian” in their name, and by the fact that the hills and mountains in this area were settled by Scotch-Irish immigrants. The music they bring with them has picked up a bit of local flavor.

The members of the group are Dave Gladkosky on mandolin, guitar and vocals; Dewey Sanderson on hammered dulcimer; Sheila McEntee on bodhran and percussion; Mark Watson on whistles, bouzouki and fiddle; and Mark Nelson on flute, pennywhistle and bagpipes.

Gladkosky is a music teacher in the southern part of West Virginia. He is also well known in old-time music circles and is a member of the Presby Pickers. In his spare time he works on restoring a vintage German car, the Goliath.

Sanderson has been playing hammered dulcimer for more than 10 years and is active in local hammered dulcimer societies. He also uses a different type of hammer to chip rocks as a professor of geology.

McEntee has been active in drum circles in the Charleston, W.Va., area for many years and is well known for her djembe playing. When she is not playing the drums, she enjoys the outdoors and is editor of Wonderful West Virginia magazine.

Watson teaches science at the University of Charleston but has long been interested in music. He has actually made many of the instruments he plays, and is constantly experimenting with different whistle designs.

Nelson, a chemical engineer, has played a plethora of instruments over the past 25 years including oboe, saxophone, recorder, guitar and bagpipes. He has been a member of the Kanawha Valley Pipes and Drums competition unit and performed with the Presby Pickers.

Admission is free and open to the public. Information about the band may be found on their web site at www.acelticconsort.com. Video clips of their performances may be found at tinyurl.com/kbacosj.