Urchin Street Performers

The Urchin Street performers are as follows:

King & Harrison

Linda King of Amberhawke has been a part of the Dallas Celtic scene for more years than most can remember. Last year she and Michael Harrison joined forces and produced the incredibly successful CD, "For Kids of all Ages". Linda and Michael join forces again to be with you on the NTIF Urchin Street Stage.

At NTIF on the Urchin Street stages
come Micheal and Linda with songs for all ages.
There are songs about things we can see and can touch,
like ponies and bats and fishmongers and such.
We’ll sing other songs that you can sing too,
about dragons and bears, and a couple of saints.
There’s a song of a garden and a crow in a tree,
wise words from mom and a ship on the sea.
So come all ye children it’s Urchin Street time –
et’s sing and be merry, let’s dance and let’s rhyme.

October Country

October Country (Casey Sledge, vocals & rhythm guitar; Shaddow Walter, lead) has been playing an eclectic mix of Celtic ballads, seventies folk and original songs throughout the Metroplex for seven years. They have performed at the Celtic Heritage Festival, Hawkwood Faire, Trinity Hall, MacHenry's, and numerous area coffeehouses and benefits. We are very glad to be appearing for our second year at NTIF's Urchin Street & look forward to playing for you!

Karla Morton

A Texas native, poet Karla K. Morton is a founding member and officer of the Denton Poet’s Assembly, part of the Poetry Society of Texas, and is on the Board of Directors for the Greater Denton Arts Council. Morton’s poetry is featured in the 2008 Texas Poetry Calendar, Write Around the Corner and an upcoming issue of Concho River Review. She has performed pieces of her book/CD Wee Cowrin’ Timorous Beastie – a unique blend of poetry, story and original Celtic music created by award-winning Canadian composer Howard Baer – for live audiences at events and bookstores across Texas. Always searching for new ways to promote the craft of poetry, Morton’s work has also had several showings in the visual spectrum. For more information about Karla K. Morton and Wee Cowrin’ Timorous Beastie, visit www.kkmorton.com.

Killavil

Recently arrived on the Irish music scene, Killavil is a group of young musicians with an unwavering dedication to the Traditional Irish Music. They have performed at festivals, clubs, and pubs, across the United States, England, and Ireland. Killavil focuses on traditional music originating from the Galway and East Clare regions of Ireland. The band consists of Michael Stribling on the uilleann pipes, tin whistle, and flute, Rachel Stribling on the fiddle, and Daniel Stribling on bouzouki, banjo, bodhran, and piano. They are joined this year by guest fiddler Katie McCaffrey, an accomplished Irish fiddler in the Galway/Clare style.

Calamity Road

Calamity Road are Vince Cole; guitar, banjo and occasional vocal. Becky Ritchey; female vocal, Helen Mateki; female vocals, whistles & flutes and Rogan Muldoon; male vocals and 12 string guitar. The music: "old time" songs and ballads ranging from the plains of Texas to the Curragh of Kildare. The hills of Appalachia and the Ozarks to the Highlands of Scotland. Here is a collection of songs for children young and old, with roots reaching back to the old sod.

Arabesque

Arabesque is a musical duo that has been mesmerizing audiences since 2003 with their unique blend of Celtic, Arabic, Judeo-Spanish, Turkish, and other world folk traditions. Any given song can be a vehicle to take the musicians and the listeners to new places, creating spontaneous and heartfelt expressions through the blending of musical forms, ornaments, and styles. Their performances are an intelligent mix of instrumental music, storytelling, history, humor and hands-on fun. Both hail from Norman, Oklahoma, where Miranda teaches World Music at the University of Oklahoma and Steve does archaeological survey work. They have performed at fairs, festivals, contra dances, workshops, schools, universities, and private functions throughout Oklahoma and neighboring states. Come take a magic carpet ride around the globe with Arabesque as this unique pair unveils the mysteries and enchantments of the world's diverse musical cultures, marrying lilting Irish reels and jigs to the sensuous and evocative melodies of the East.

BEHAN - Col Ceathar

Celebrating their Irish heritage and the joys of family life, BEHAN Col Ceathar, which means first cousins in Gaelic, is a song and dance group comprised of 25 or so of the 55 grandchildren of Jim and Dorothy Behan. They have performed in the last four years at various venues across the Metroplex, including the Celtic Heritage Festival, the Ulster Project, and many other private parties. They are happy to be making their third appearance at the North Texas Irish Festival. For more information, please contact us at colceathar@behanmusic.com.

In addition, on the Storyteller Stage we will feature:

John Burleson

John Burleson has been performing in Texas since the mid'80's.and is a veteran of all but the first NTIF. Storytelling appearances include Texas Folklife Festival, Ohio Renaissance Festival, Mississippi Celtic Fest, and many school, library, concert and club dates in Ireland and Ontario. His love of the spoken word comes from a lifelong attraction to folklore and mythology.

Jonquele Jones

Jonquele Jones is a founding member of Cór Gaeilge Texais (Gaelic Choir of Texas). In 1999, she took women’s first place overall at An Comunn Gaidhlig Amereiga’s Mòd. She has led language and song workshops since 1998, and a weekly Scottish Gaelic study group in Fort Worth since 2002. Her Urchin Street performance offers a playful look at the language and culture that should appeal to children and their parents.

Jane Mc Daniel

Born November 1945 in Limerick city, Ireland. Spent childhood years with a brother and sister in a workman’s cottage alongside the main road between Limerick and Tipperary town. Father was a cobbler, mother a dressmaker. Started to write and retell stories at an early age (8 years old,) thanks in part to excellent Irish teachers at the Presentation and Salesian convent schools in Limerick, and a rich family storytelling tradition. I lived to a certain extent between two cultures, as my father was English and a Protestant, and my mother from Belfast, and Catholic.

My storytelling is very personal, with an intimate relationship to the great Celtic myths and romances as well as rollicking Irish folktales. I strongly believe that a culture draws simultaneously from both the past and the future to survive. The inherently rich Celtic culture of the Irish has crafted an island character which is curious about the new; protective and critical of the past and present; funny, subversive and devious. The English language, as spoken by the Irish today, is full of trap-falls, “hidey” holes and short cuts, witness to the centuries in which the Irish have lived with and against English occupation. It is also a mirror of the richness of the Irish culture, the shortcomings of its people, their depth and their capability to see themselves as part of a worldwide whole.

Curt Marcus, Jr.

Having survived the Battle of Culloden (April 1746) by quick thinking and even quicker feet, Curt Marcus Jr. (to use his current name), of the Eason sept of Clan Mackintosh, became enchanted with Celtic music while hiding among the clans in the Scottish Highlands with Bonnie Prince Charlie. When the British Army began recruiting Scottish regiments in the 1760s, Curt joined the army but changed his name and deserted to the American side when his unit was sent to fight in New York in 1776. His interest in history (or "current events", as it was at the time) was broadened to include Irish events and music when he became acquainted with General Thomas Meagher, and was made a colour sergeant in Meagher's Irish Brigade during the American Civil War. Carrying his love for Scotland, Ireland and their music down to the present time, Curt has been sharing his knowledge of Celtic history, especially as embodied in Celtic folk songs, with the current generation at Celtic festivals across the southern US.

If you don't care for that one, try this:

Curt Marcus Jr. has been a 'fixture' of the North Texas Irish Festival for nearly a quarter of a century. He has in recent years begun sharing his knowledge of Irish and Scottish history, especially as embodied in their folk song traditions, with audiences at CelticFest Mississippi as well as NTIF.

Elizabeth Covington

Elizabeth “Liz” Covington is an active member of the Fort Worth Irish Cultural Association and the Austin Gaelic League. She regularly appears at the North Texas Irish Festival, the Bedford Celtic Heritage Festival, and the Austin Celtic Festival. As an active member of the Tarrant Area Guild of Storytellers and the Tejas Storytelling Association she appears in Stories under the Stars, Tales by the Rails, at schools, libraries, retirement centers, civic and women’s associations, Log Cabin Village, museums, and genealogy societies. She was the Rising Star at the Tejas Storytelling Festival in 2003.

A Native Texan, brought up throughout the South, loves telling stories to all ages from 2-92. She tells Historical Tales along with Myths & Legends from all over the World. She has been married to husband Jim for 48 years and has two children and four grandchildren.