Scott's Spotlight #6-- Emerald Rose
Originally posted to Facebook on October 10, 2024
Link to post:
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/6bV8KYAXiZ6Y1Kzg/
Welcome to Scott’s Spotlight #6 (#scottsspotlight). For more information, please see this post: https://www.facebook.com/share/Gc2VkwHQWGLdeaDd/?mibextid=oFDknk Today, I am going to feature someone a bit different that only a few of my friends probably know about. In the spotlight today is Pagan/Celtic Folk-Rock band Emerald Rose.
My wife and I first discovered Emerald Rose in about the year 2000. We were strolling through the clans area at the Stone Mountain, Georgia, Highland Games and heard this band playing along the pathway, singing in 4-part harmony with a couple of guys playing guitars. They had CDs for sale, so we bought one– their second album, “Bending Tradition.” They later told us that they were not allowed on any of the stages at the festival, because they are not specifically Scottish. It's a shame, because we had many opportunities to see them perform live following that, and they always put on a great show.
Emerald Rose was initially formed in 1996 by Arthur Hinds (Guitar/Vocals/Bodhran), Brian “Logan” Sullivan (Guitar/Mandola/Vocals), Larry Morris (Pennywhistle/Percussion/Vocals) and Clyde Gilbert (Bass/Percussion/Vocals) They did a combination of original songs, their own arrangements of traditional Celtic folk songs, and occasional cover songs. While a large portion of their songs are related to their Pagan spiritual paths, they also became favorites at Atlanta’s answer to ComicCon, Dragon Con. Being self-professed geeks, bassist Clyde Gilbert talked to some contacts he had who were festival organizers in 2002 to get them a spot as performers. Their love of all things geeky shone through, they wrote songs about D&D (“Never Split the Party”), Star Trek (“Vulcan Rubdown”), cult favorite SciFi show Firefly (“Big Damn Heroes”) and Harry Potter (“Chocolate Frog”) among others. They drew the attention of people on the “Lord Of the Rings” message board, TheOneRing.net and before long were invited to play at the Cast Oscar Parties for both the “Two Towers” and “Return of the King” in Hollywood. I believe that they later also performed for a similar event for the “Hobbit” movies in 2013.
In 2003, Emerald Rose took an entourage of 50 fans on tour with them to perform on an Irish tour.
Emerald Rose’s music has additionally been featured in two documentary movies: “Ringers-Lord of the Fans,” (about Lord of the Rings fans), and “Done the Impossible,” (About the show “Firefly,” and its cult following).
My prog friends may find interest in the band, as they list Jethro Tull as an influence and covered ELPs “Lucky Man” in fine style on “Bending Tradition”. Additionally, they show their sense of humor on songs like “The Chicken Raid of Cymru, “ (featured on the Dr. Demento Radio Show) and “We Come From Monkeys.”
Despite their recognition in various communities around the world, the band chose to go their separate ways in 2016 (although they would reunite for a farewell concert in 2018). According to Arthur Hinds:
We haven’t had a giant fight. We still like each other, but our lives and creative paths are separating. It has been happening for a couple of years, and we thought that we owed it to our fans to not just sort of fade away. We wanted to let them know that we are leaving this wonderful path with good feelings and great memories.
From “The wild hunt” website…. Facebook would not allow me post the link…
As I alluded to earlier, while not close personal friends by any stretch, my wife and I were in attendance at several of their performances in the early 2000s and spoke with them on a few occasions. They were always great guys and on one occasion, asked us what songs we wanted to hear.
While the band is no more, their music is widely available on YouTube and major streaming services. Arthur Hinds has also released at least 5 albums as a solo artist (which I discovered while researching this article) beginning in 2008, with the most recent one (to my knowledge) having been released in 2022.
The band’s discography includes the following albums:
“Emerald Rose” - 1998
“Bending Tradition” - 2000
“Fire in the Head” (Live) - 2002
“Celtic Crescent” - 2003
“Songs for the Night Sky” - 2004
“Archives of Ages to Come” - 2005
“Con Suite” - 2007
“That Night in the Garden” (Live) - 2009
“Verdant” - 2011
“Sunwise” - 2014
“Four Fat Dads” (Live Compilation) - 2014
I will, as usual, put links to songs to listen to from YouTube in the comments. I really think that anyone who has an appreciation for acoustic or folk music will find something to enjoy in their catalog.
(Posts coming a bit later.)
From Comments:
Listening links pt. 1
“Summerland”
“Fire in the Head”
“Lucky Man” (ELP Cover)
“Freya, Shakti”
“Hills of America”
From “Fire In the Head” (Live)
“A Pict Song”
“Donald McGillivray”
From “Celtic Crescent”:
“Wild Mountain Thyme”
“Drowsy Maggie/Morning Invention/Green Groves of Erin”
From “Songs from the Night Sky”
“Take Me Down (To Her Water)”
“Come to the Dance”
Listening links pt. 2
From “Archives of Ages to Come”
“Dance of the Rats”
“We Come From Monkeys”
From “Con Suite” (I had to fight the urge to post every song! This album is so funny)
“Chocolate Frog”
“No Booze Today”
“Fairies Stole My Keys”
“Never Split the Party” (Music Video)
“Big Damn Heroes”
“Vampire Girl From Orn”
Listening links pt 3
Last one
From “That Night In the Garden”(Live)
“Red Haired Mary”
From “Verdant”
“Her Majesty’s Airship Corps” (Music Video)
“The Wind that Shakes the Barley”
From “Sunwise”
“Ancient Days”
“Dance Til the Moon Goes Down”
From”Four Fat Dads”
“Danny in the Jar”
“Santa Claus Is Pagan Too”
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