The Celtic Social Club

The Celtic Social Club is a musical band formed in 2013 and led by Manu Masko.

The band is formed by a group of Bretons and Scots musicians, members of The Silencers, Red Cardell and Ronan Le Bars Group with guests related to the world Celtic, inspired by their elders of the Buena Vista Social Club and the New Orleans Social Club which aims to popularize Celtic music by opening it to current music.

The music of The Celtic Social Club is a contemporary adaptation of traditional Celtic tunes performed by a group of seven musicians and guests chosen for their diverse backgrounds such as Rock, Folk, Blues, Reggae or Hip Hop.

Seduced by the idea, several actors (a festival, a concert hall, a booking agency and a record label) have joined together to produce an album and a show that is the new creation of the Vieilles Charrues Festival (Old Ploughs Festival), the largest music festival in France, for its 2014 edition .

Biography

Manu Masko

The idea of the Celtic Social Club was germinated in February 2012 when Manu Masko and Jean-Pierre Riou From the Breton band Red Cardell moved to New York to mix an album with producer-mixer Ariel Borujow and when they watched with him during a break, a live video of the Fest-Rock (show of Bagad Kemper and Red Cardell) . Ariel Borujow, interested, shares his discovery with Frequency, Eminem and Snoop Dogg producer.

The group then forms very quickly. Around the three musicians of Red Cardell (Jean-Pierre Riou, Manu Masko and Mathieu Péquériau) are added Jimme O'Neill singer and Irish-Scottish guitarist, leader of The Silencers and Ronan Le Bars virtuoso of Uilleann Pipes and fellow violinist Peter Stephan. Bassist Richard Puaud, longtime companion of Manu Masko, complete the team.

The desire to share this project with guests, friends artists with Celtic roots and from various musical horizons, pushes the meeting with the Jamaican Winston McAnuff (Scottish origin), the New Yorker rapper IC Will (Irish origin), the indie-folk singers Colline Hill (Breton resident first in Ireland and then in Belgium), Louise Ebrel, one of the great voices of kan ha diskan and gwerz (daughter of Eugenie one of Goadec Sisters, the famous traditional Breton singers) and Steven Bodénès the penn-soner (conductor) of Bagad Kemper, The Quimper pipe band..

Jimme O'Neill and Jean-Pierre Riou

During the showcase and the official press conference of the project on April 4, 2014 in Quimper, the Vieilles Charrues reveal the presence of the group as the creation of the year of the festival, July 18 between benefits of Tinariwen and Elton John. Keltia Musique announces its participation as coproducer with the release of an album on June 18. The musicians ask the stylist Pascal Jaouen to embroider the logo of the group designed by graphic artist Franz.

The Celtic Social Club gave its first concert on July 18 in front of 50,000 spectators.

The Collective began a tour early 2015 in Britanny and announced a French tour and dates in Switzerland (Geneva), Germany (Rudolstdat) and United States. In New York they record a live and acoustic album in Manhattan in the concert space of Beethoven pianos with New Yorkers guests : Roy Harter (accordion), IC Will (vocals) and Ariel Borujow as sound and mix engineer.

October 30, 2015 the band released the album Unplugged New York City on the label Keltia musique.

In December 2015, Jean-Pierre Riou announced his departure from the group to focus exclusively on Red Cardell. A few days later The Celtic presents its new member in the person of Gouven Hamel, a Breton musician that played with Les Nus and Miossec.

In January 2016 the new team is found in residence at La Sirène in La Rochelle to record new songs and prepare the 2016 tour including dates in Beijing and Shanghai. For these sessions the band appealed to producer John Reynolds (Sinéad O'Connor, he was her first husband, U2, Björk, Natacha Atlas)

Musical style

The music of the Celtic Social Club is a modern adaptation of Celtic music from different territories (Britanny, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Galicia, Asturias, Cornwall, Isle of Man). From traditional Celtic melodies from all sources, the group creates a musical synthesis of both contemporary and traditional.

Current members

Ronan Le Bars

• Manu Masko (2013 - present) : (Drums, Percussions, Keyboards, Samples, loops, Backing vocals / Art Direction)
• Jimme O'Neill (2013 - present) : (Lead vocals, Acoustic and Electric Guitar)
• Ronan Le Bars (2013 - present) : (Uilleann Pipes, Low whistle)
• Pierre Stéphan (2013 - present) : (Fiddle)
• Mathieu Péquériau (2013 - present) : (Harmonica, Washboard, Backing vocals)
• Richard Puaud (2013 - present) : (Bass, Backing vocals)
• Goulven Hamel (2016 - present) : guitars, Mandolin, Banjo

Former member

• Jean-Pierre Riou (2013 - 2015) : (Lead vocals, Twelve-string guitar, Mandolin, Banjo, Bombard)

Guests

Winston McAnuff

• Winston McAnuff (Lead vocals)
• I.C. Will (Lead vocals)
• Colline Hill (Lead vocals, Acoustic guitar)
• Louise Ebrel (Lead vocals)
• Steven Bodénès (bombard)
• Roy Harter (accordion)

Discography

References

External links

• Official The Celtic Social Club website (English and French languages)
• Official Celtic Social Club Facebook page (French language)
• The Celtic Social Club on Wikipedia in French
• Official Manu Masko website (French language)