An Evening with Gaelic Storm

Gaelic Storm is highly innovative, featuring fast-paced instrumentals and lyrical genius that has solidified them as one of the foremost Celtic rock groups in the world. Perhaps best known for their appearance in the 1997 hit film Titanic, now more than 20 years later, the band that brings together traditional Celtic music, country, rock and folk is still enthralling audiences with their story-telling, instrumentals, devotion to tradition and the passion they bring to their art.


The band began at O’Brien’s Irish Pub in Santa Monica by friends Patrick Murphy, Steve Twigger, Steve Wehmeyer and Brian Walsh. The combination of Scottish, Irish and pop music was a hit and the band has performed more than 3,000 shows and recorded 10 albums. They’ve always considered themselves a “touring band” and take a blue-collar, hard-nosed approach to touring in the U.S. and internationally. “You have to see us live,” said Ryan Lacey, who joined the lineup in 2003, “We still and most likely always will, tour most of the year and that’s how we hone our craft.”


The band’s latest album, Go Climb a Tree, brings Twigger, Murphy and Wehmeyer together as songwriters. The album has a little bit of everything, from party drinking songs like “The Beer Song” to patriotic anthems like “Green White and Orange” to beautiful folk songs like “Monday Morning Girl.” There are funs songs like “Shine On” and a raucous pirate tune, “Shanghai Kelly.” For Murphy, the album had a very specific purpose. “With all the craziness and division in the world, we wanted to make an album about contemplative escapism,” he said. “Go Climb a Tree certainly isn’t about dropping out of the conversation; it’s just about taking a short hiatus to recharge the batteries before you take on the world again.”


The group has added Pete Purvis on uilleann pipes, tin whistle, deger pipes and highland pipes and Katie Grennan on fiddle. Purvis joined the group in 2005 and he said that Katie Grennan is the “purple squirrel” of the band, or perfect new addition. “With the addition of Katie, the band has never sounded better,” he said. “We’re gelling on a whole new level and the idea of sharing these new songs with our fans is exciting.”


For Gaelic Storm, it’s always been about the fans. “The fans are the ones that have given us this life,” Patrick Murphy said. “We’re here for them.”