— By Rodger Hara
(photo: Acoustic Eidolon)

Acoustic Eidolon presents its 14th Annual Holiday Concert at the Rialto Theater, 228 E. 4th St., Loveland, CO on the 5th and 6th and on the 12th at 8 PM in Daniels Hall at the Swallow Hill Music Center in Denver 303-777-1003 . This year’s “Friends Across the Ocean Concert” features German Celtic Harpist Thomas Loefke.

Avourneen plays Friday nights at Katie Mullen’s at 9 PM and then plays for the New Year’s Eve show at the Mercury Café with the Gypsy/Hungarian folk band My Wooden Leg. Tix for that event are $10.

Brian Clancy does his traditional gig at Jack Quinn Irish Alehouse and Pub, Downtown Colorado Springs at 7:30 PM on the 4th, 11th and 18th and The Irish Snug, Capitol Hill in Denver, at 8:30 PM on the 6th, 13th and 20th.

Big Paddy is on stage at The Exchange Tavern in Westminster at 8:30 PM on the 5th and at the Taunaz Tavern in Arvada on the 20th at 8:30 PM.

The Commoners play at Scruffy Murphy’s in LoDo on the 13th at 9:30 PM and at Mulligan’s in Fort Collins on the 30th at 9:00 PM.

Margot Krimmel does her Holiday Harps Concert on the 6th at 11:30 AM in the Canyon Theater of the Boulder Public Library with her harp students and special guest artist Beth Gadbaw. On the 9th, she plays with the Denver Early Music Consort at 7:30 PM at Grace Lutheran Church in Boulder and on the 10th at 7:30 PM at the First Unitarian Society of Denver at 14th Ave. & Lafayette St. On the 14th and 20th, she is part of the Rocky Mountain Revels annual Christmas Revels show in the Boulder Theatre. This year’s theme is “An Irish Celebration of the Winter Solstice”. Shows are at 2 PM and 7 PM each day. Tix at http://www.rockymountainrevels.org/

On the 7th, The Granias (Jessie Burns, Beth Gadbaw, Margot Krimmel, Annie Sirotniak) perform for a service of worship and Holy Communion in the Celtic tradition at St John’s Episcopal Church, Boulder at 6 PM.

Flogging Molly brings their Mighty Stef show to the Ogden Theatre on the 9th at 8 PM. It’s an 18+ show. Tix at axs.com.

Gadbaw and Krimmel play songs from their CD “Icy December” on the 8th at 7 PM at the Council Tree Library in Fort Collins, 2733 Council Tree Avenue

Beth Gadbaw with Steve Mullins, Sandra Wong, and more present “A Winter’s World of Song: Christmas Carols From Around the World” on the 13th at 7:30 PM in the Chautauqua Community House. Tickets $20 [email protected]

The Indulgers perform at The Exchange Tavern in Westminster on the 13th at 10 PM and on the 18th at Conor O’Neill’s in Boulder at 10 PM.

The Celtic Friends perform at The Celtic Broker Holiday Party on the 13th at 12 PM and at the Celtic Tavern for the Ancient Order of Hibernians Fr. Joseph P. Carrigan Division’s annual Irish New Year’s Eve party on the 31st from 2-7 PM.

Adam Agee & Jon Sousa are the featured guest performers at the Rocky Mountains Revels show, “The Christmas Revels – An Irish Celebration of the Winter Solstice” on the 14th and 20th at 2 PM and 7 PM both dates. Tix at http://www.rockymountainrevels.org/. They will also have copies of their new CD, “Suantrai” available at that show.

Angus Mohr does their annual pot-luck holiday marathon show and party for friends and family at the DEFY! Crossfit in Broomfield, 6850 W. 116th Ave. on the 6th. Doors will open at 6 PM, music at 7:30 PM.

The Stubby Shillelaghs are on the Scruffy Murphy’s stage in LoDo on the 12th at 9:30 PM and at the Big Beaver Brewery in Loveland on the 27th at 7 PM.

The Juice O’the Barley plays for a private party on the 2nd at Maggie Smith’s Pub in Centennial but the place is small enough that you’ll be able to hear them if you’d like. On the 31st, they play at the Ancient Order of Hibernians Fr. Joseph P. Carrigan Division’s annual Irish New Year’s Eve party on the 31st from 2-7 PM.

Star Edwards plays her harp at the Southglenn Library in Centennial on the 5th at 6:30 PM and on the 6th at 8 PM for the kid’s Santa party. She’s also at the Brown Palace Hotel in the Atrium with its incredible Christmas decorations on the 3rd, 10th, 17th and 24th from 1:45 PM to 3:45 PM. On the 15th at 7 PM, she plays for the Scottish Rite Consistory Yuletide celebration, at the Schlessman Branch Library, 100 Poplar St. from 10 AM – 12 PM on the 13th and at the Cherry Creek Branch Library on Milwaukee at 1 PM on the 20th.

Ceol Ceili performs at the Jack Quinn Irish Ale House and Pub in Colorado Springs on the 27th at 8 PM and the 31st at 5 PM.

Colcannon presents a Celtic Christmas Show with Orchestra on the 13th at 7:30 PM in the First Presbyterian Church in Casper, WY then returns home for its annual Christmas Show at Nissi’s in Louisville on the 21st at 7:30 PM and again on the 26th at the Mercury Café in Downtown Denver at 7 PM.

Chancer’s Hooley is at Scruffy Murphy’s in LoDo on the 5th at 9 PM and at the Lefthand Brewery in Longmont at 5 PM on the 20th.

Kindred Spirits 5th annual winter concert at Swallow Hill on the 6th at 8 PM features “Winter Joy!” as its theme. Instrumentation will include Celtic harp, viola/violin, flute, piccolo, guitar, cello, accordion, bouzouki, and fiddle with guest artists Michael Stanwood and John Hubert adding didgeridoo, autoharp, percussion, and voice. Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 the day of the show. $2 discount for Swallow Hill members.

And while it’s not news of a local band, it is news of a local New York band that probably has some followers here: After 25 years, Black 47 is disbanding. There was an interesting story about the band in last week’s New York Times that you can read at the link below.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/09/nyregion/black-47-to-perform-final-show-in-midtown.html?_r=0

Finally, Marc Gunn, the self-titled “CeltFather” has put together a list of Celtic Podcasts where, I suspect, the music of many local bands can be heard. You can find his list at http://celticmp3s.com/podcasts/