Biography: Culann’s Hounds
Name a musical act after one of the great warriors of Irish legend, and you’d better be prepared to crank out some energetic, larger-than-life performances.
That’s precisely why Culann’s Hounds has been a favorite on the San Francisco scene for six years—and is now bringing their self-described punk-Irish-hoedown sensibility to a larger audience. The melodies of Steve Gardner (fiddle) and Renee de la Prade (button accordion); harmonies of Mike Kelleher (guitar); and rhythm of Scott Marshall’s bodhran meld with rich vocals that are a staple of the Irish tradition.
The Hounds connect with their audience because they are as adept with traditional arrangements as they are with bringing their eclectic artistic backgrounds to an original brand of Irish-inspired music.
The band boasts an impressive musical pedigree: Gardner played Red Rocks with Grammy winning favorites Blues Traveler; and wows crowds with his work on fiddle, guitar, mandolin and vocals. Kelleher’s ability to connect with and uplift a crowd with raucous humor and hard driving songs is a key; Marshall’s years drumming for punk band The Nuns gives him the straight ahead power that he harnesses on the bodhrán (and instrument he learned at the beginning of his stint with the Hounds); and de la Prade the Berklee graduate (barely, she says) started her love affair with the Cairdin Irish button box backstage at a Pogues show.
Four very different musical paths have converged to create performances rambles.net described as having ”the innate strength of Cuchullain.”
Considering that Cuchullain fought with the ferocity of a berserker, that’s quite a claim for any band. But when you spend a little time speaking with members of the group, or attend a live show, you see the proof: there’s creative zeal simmering beneath the surface that bursts out when these artists start talking about Irish music.
In their early years, Culann’s Hounds opened for musical greats Paddy Keenan, Martin Hayes, Liam Clancy, Lunasa, Tommy Peoples, The Boys of the Lough, Solas, Susan McKeown, Josephine Marsh, Gary Shannon, Andrew McNamara, Tempest and Seven Nations. They made their debut as a headlining act at the Dean Lesher Regional Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek in 2000. Recurring gigs for a variety of West Coast events followed soon after.
In 2006, Culann’s Hounds debuted their second CD, Year of the Dog, at a March 17 headliner at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. The band’s latest is enriched by collaborations with Blues Traveler harmonica virtuoso John Popper; East Clare button accordion master Andrew McNamara; Irish singer Susan McKeown; bassist Ben Bernstein; and Hounds alum Conall O’Raghallaigh, one of the West Coast’s best uilleann pipers.
Popper’s collaboration on Year of the Dog, and the musicians’ openness to stretching their genre it rpresents, speaks to where Culann’s Hounds is likely to find itself next: grounded in the mythic energy and spirit of traditional Irish music, and performing in front of entirely new audiences yearning for something different.
Appeared on "Lizard Music Presents Cold Blood 2005" Compilation - "Haghole, Culann's Hounds"
Where Culann's Hounds have Performed
Major Venues:
The Sweetwater Saloon, Mill Valley CA
The Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA
Slim’s, San Francisco CA
Fort Mason, San Francisco CA
Palace of the Legion of Honour, San Francisco CA
SBC Park with the San Francisco Giants (National Anthem) San Francisco CA
Dean Lesher Regional Center for the Arts, Walnut Creek, CA
Aircraft Carrier USS Hornet, Alameda CA
Clubs:
Kells, Portland OR
Kells, Seattle WA
Whitehorse Coffee House, Sutherlin OR
11th Street Bar, New York NY
An Beal Bocht The Bronx NY
Rocky Sullivan's New York NY
The Rambling House Woodlawn NY
Fitzgerald's Tavern, Yonkers NY
Mr Dooley's Tavern, Boston MA
Abbey Lounge, Boston MA
The Tara Pub, Dorchester MA
The St James Pub, Fall River MA
Kitty O'Shea's, Boston MA
Mother Egan’s, Austin Tx
Union Square, San Francisco CA
United Irish Cultural Center, San Francisco CA
Ghirardelli Square, San Francisco CA
Plough and Stars, San Francisco CA
Hotel Utah, San Francisco CA
Blackthorn Tavern, San Francisco CA
Johnny Folly's Irish House, San Francisco CA
Saint Gabriel’s Church, San Francisco CA
Ireland’s 32, San Francisco CA
Swig, San Francisco CA
Red Devil Lounge, San Francisco CA
Spec's, San Francisco CA
The Flood Mansion, San Francisco CA
The Gift Center, San Francisco CA
The Rockit Room, San Francisco CA
Delta of Venus, Davis CA
Peri's Silver Dollar Saloon, Fairfax CA
O’Neil’s, San Mateo CA
O'Neill's, San Francisco CA
Wallace Arms, Antioch CA
The Rose Pub, Santa Rosa CA
The Poet and the Patriot, Santa Cruz CA
The Attic, Santa Cruz CA
London Bridge Pub, Monterey CA
The Fourth Street Tavern, San Rafael CA
Festivals:
Berkeley Guinness and Oyster Festival, Berkeley CA
Oasis Stage at Burningman, Blackrock City Nevada 2003
Irish Arts Foundation Celtic Music and Arts Festival, San Francisco CA
Oyster and Mussel Festival, San Mateo CA
Clans and Tribes Festival, San Francisco CA
Irish Connections, San Francisco CA
Dublin Saint Patrick's Day Festival, Dublin CA
153rd and 154th Saint Patrick's Day Parade and Celebration, San Francisco CA
Celtic Nations Festival, Vacaville CA (2003 & 2004)
The Emerald Ball, San Francisco CA
The Excelsior Festival, San Francisco CA
San Francisco Green Festival, San Francisco CA
Radio and Television:
Mornings On 2, live television interview and performance (SF Bay Area)
West Coast Live NPR Radio Broadcast (west coast)
KALW (x2) with Kevin Vance live radio interview and performance (local)
KZSC 88.1 FM Santa Cruz Silverfish in the Kitchen with Carla Brauer (local)
KDTV 2 hour live television performance, Davis CA (local)
KDVS Cool as Folk Live radio interview and performance, Davis CA (local)
KFOG 104.5 "The Morning Show" Live radio performance and interview (Central Coast, CA)
Played Shows With: Paddy Keenan, Martin Hayes, Liam Clancy, Lunasas, Tommy Peoples, The Boys of the Lough, Solas, Susan McKeown, Josephine Marsh, Gary Shannon and Andrew McNamara, Cake, Seven Nations, Tempest, Seanchai and the Freedom Squad, Stolen Bibles, The Earl Brothers
collaborated artistically with Chanting House vocalist Susan McKeown, New Monsoon Bassist Ben Bernstein, East Clare accordion master Andrew MacNamara, world renown author and poet Alan Kaufman and Blue's Traveler's singer/harmonica player John Popper.