Irish Music & Musicians in Santa Barbara -

Dannsair consists of Leah Lucas & Kristen Madler – Fiddles, Russ Doherty – Guitar & Vocals, Shivhan Dohse - Flute, Jon Pollay - Percussion and James MacNamara on double bass. Lately a number of other notable Santa Barbara musicians have been sitting in. Emily Noble (from last year's lineup), Suzanne Duffy & Linda Holland on flute, Karl Burrelsman (again, from last year), Modesto Marcano & Richard Biaggini on violin. The various members have been performing on and off for seven years. Their styles are incredibly well suited to each other with the emotional Irish melodies melding into jazzy undertones, classical phrasing and danceable rhythms. Russ has performed or recorded with a wide variety of musicians including: The Chieftains, Dennis Cahill (Martin Hayes), Matt Molloy, Natalie MacMaster, Allison Moorer (Songcatcher), Mick Conneely, The Beach Boys, Kenny Loggins. Steppenwolf, Pat Broderick and Gilles Apap.

Currently performing Thursdays at Dargan’s Irish Pub and Sundays at The James Joyce in Santa Barbara Dannsair draws an eclectic following interested in traditional, world and Irish music. The dancers always seem to follow the band as well as listeners interested in current trends in Irish music. The current CD “Galicia” is available for purchase. Go to the Albums & Books page for info. The tune book, for learning the songs on the CD, will be available for purchase soon.

A YouTube video of Dannsair with Uilleann piper Micheal Eskin sitting in is available for viewing at: http://www.tradlessons.com/?page_id=71.

Thanks for listening.