Celtic Music: From Heartwrenching to Rowdy!
In 1999, JoBeth Matchett and Joel Auble began playing music together in a Celtic band called Mickle-A-Do.  After leaving that group, they kept playing as a duo,  all the while trying out new combinations of other local musicians.  In early 2006, Bill Brewer came along and decided to stick around, successfully trio-izing the original pair with his bass and  vocal harmonies.  More recently, Margaret Johnson and Mitchell Johnson joined us, really filling out the group's sound.  Margaret adds some wonderful soprano vocals and harmonies (and occasional autoharp) and Mitchell gives us a much-needed percussion section, mostly in the form of his cajon drum and also adds some guitar and vocals on some songs.    
        
Lisdoonvarna's music is mostly Celtic (both traditional and contemporary), but lately we have decided to broaden our musical palette and add some non-Celtic music to our repertoire, including some soft rock, folk, oldies, and a novelty song or two thrown in for fun. We pretty much play whatever we all like and want to play, so it has become a little difficult to classify our band. 

We have played most often in the west Georgia area, with occasional  forays into Alabama for the Cleburne Day Festival.  We have played at the Irish Bred Pub of  Douglasville and at several venues in the Carrollton area.  Lately, we can be seen on a semi-regular basis at the Moonshadow Music Hall (inside the Sunnyside Café) in Carrollton.   Every fall, Carrollton hosts MeccaFest, a weekend arts, crafts and music festival held just off the town square.  We have happily become a fixture there, usually playing around noon on Saturdays or Sundays or both.

The band is named after Lisdoonvarna, a fine and colorful wee town (population about 800) in County Clare which Joel and JoBeth have both visited.  County Clare is world-renowned for its rich heritage of traditional Irish music.  From 1978 to 1983, the town of Lisdoonvarna hosted an annual music festival which was memorialized in a song by the Irish folk singer Christy Moore called, appropriately, "Lisdoonvarna."  The town is also well-known for the annual Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival, held each year in September, and attended by more than 40,000 romantic hopefuls.  Additionally, Lisdoonvarna boasts of a spring of magic healing waters of which Joel tried a bottle.  Sulphur does have some healing properties, right?  Our namesake is  a great place to stop when you are touring the west coast of Ireland. As the locals say, "The craic* is mighty in Lisdoonvarna."

* Craic: (pronounced "crack"):  A Gaelic word for which there really is no exact English translation, but loosely meaning "fun", usually in relation to good music, good friends, lively conversation, and often, a bit of drink as well.

Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013 
Empty Bowls Carroll County
Carroll County Ag Center
11 a.m.

Saturday, March 16, 2013
Private Party
Cumming, GA