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IRISH ENTERTAINMENT: Music for the masses When the hankering for a cold pint and some traditional Irish pub music strikes, local residents need look no further than Darby O'Gill and the Little People, a local band that plays four nights each week at bars all over town. The band members are: Andy Morris, also known as Darby O'Gill, lead singer and guitarist; Tristan Moyer, or Nancy Whiskey, fiddle and vocals; Paul Sinnott, or Paddy O'Furniture, drums; Joseph Brailsford, or Ringo Malarky, accordion and vocals; and Ted Sablay, also known as Phil McCracken, on bass. The band members have played together for the past 2 1/2 years and are all original members of the group, with the exception of Sablay, the newest addition. "I wanted to start an Irish band, and I told Joe, and he said `Well, I have the accordion,' and that was it," Morris said. Morris and Brailsford then met Moyer through friends, and the group's original bassist met Sinnott at a gasoline station. "He's Irish and he played drums, but we really just needed a dialect coach," Morris said. While Morris' accent on stage might convince audience members otherwise, Sinnott is the only member of the band who actually hails from Ireland. The band's first regular gig was as the Friday and Saturday night house band at Fado Irish pub inside Green Valley Ranch Station. When the Darby O'Gill and the Little People started playing at Fado, the pub had been open for two months, but the band had only been formed for one. "We barely had enough songs for three sets when we started playing there," Morris said. Though Morris came up with the band's original set list, now everyone contributes song selections, including the band's audiences. "We've ended up adding some frequently requested songs to the list, and we learn some of them spontaneously on stage if the fans really want to hear them," Morris said. The group's repertoire ranges from traditional Irish tunes to modern rock and even some rap. "We really cover every genre of music. We'll do an old Irish drinking song, and then we'll do Outkast," Morris said. The group recently released its first CD, "Traditional Irish Dance Music, Volume I," which features nine of the group's regular cover songs and three original tunes. The musicians want to make more albums, and they hope to increase the number of original songs they play. "We have three originals now, and we wrote them because they were funny drinking songs. They've gone over very well," Morris said. The band currently boasts a repertoire of about 80 songs, and adds one or two more each week. "When we're learning new songs, Andy comes up with the words and then everyone else adds their part and it works. We come up with them pretty fast," Moyer said. The raucous group has a great rapport both with each other and their audience, which tends to get large and rowdy. "We like to drink and have fun, and so does our audience," Moyer said. "We're here to entertain. Beyond that, we don't take ourselves too seriously." |