Skerryvore at the Orpheum Theatre -- April 9.
Wednesday, April 9, 7:30 p.m.
Orpheum Theatre, 57 South Kellogg Street, Galesburg IL
Chart-topping Scottish musicians whom Broadway Baby praised for producing “music that upholds heritage while still sounding unmistakably current,” the Celtic rockers of Skerryvore headline an April 9 concert event at Galesburg's Orpheum Theatre, their performance delivering an eclectic fusion of rock, pop, and folk music with an emphatic thundering of drums and bagpipes.
Formed on the Scottish isles of Tiree, Argyll, and Bute in 2004, the band started off with Tiree brothers Daniel and Martin Gillespie performing alongside regular island visitor Fraser West and his friend Alec Dalglish. The group took its name from the Skerryvore lighthouse that lies 12 miles off the coast of Tiree, and their first album West Coast Life was released in the summer of 2005. The recording was featured as “Album of the Month” on Mary Ann Kennedy’s BBC Radio Scotland program Celtic Connections, and consisted predominantly of arrangements of traditional tunes including vocal arrangements of "Home to Donegal" and John Lennon's and Paul McCartney's "Blackbird." When Skerryvore's second album On the Road was released in 2007, a brass section was included, and while its tracks were also predominantly rearrangements of traditional tunes, the musicians added to them more significant elements of rock and funk.
In 2011, Skerryvore's third, self-titled album brought the band citations including the Scottish New Music Awards' Album of the Year, and Dalglish was named "Frankie Miller Songwriter of the Year." Since then, the band has released six additional albums – most recently 2023's Tempus – and has toured extensively throughout Scotland, Europe, the Middle East, China, Canada, Australia, and the United States. Amidst the COVID-19 shutdown of 2020, Skerryvore also released the single “Everyday Heroes” which featured, alongside the bandmates, a range of musicians from Scotland's traditional-music scene as well as former U.K. government press secretary Alastair Campbell, and reached number one on the Scottish Singles chart. Additionally, Skerryvore won the "Best Live Act" for 2022 at the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards.
Skerrymore performs their Orpheum Theatre engagement on April 9 with an additional set by the Black Hawk Piper & Drum ensemble, and the concert will be preceded by a VIP whiskey-tasting event with band members, who will take participants on a journey through the world of Scotch whisky accompanied by stories and song. The $25 ticket includes four or five tastings and light snacks. Admission to the concert itself is $31, and more information and tickets are available by calling (309)342-2299 and visiting GalesburgOrpheum.org.
