For those unfamiliar with Celtic Thunder, who are you and how did the group get started?
Celtic Thunder’s roots stretch back to 2007 and was born out of the success of Celtic Women. There’s a lot of story-telling Irish music in what we do and it’s been hugely successful allowing us the opportunity to travel the world. We’ve just coming back from Canada in fact and that was a great.
Where did the name come from?
It was just something the producer Sharon Browne came up with, nothing more exciting than that. haha.
You joined the group in 2012. What was that like?
It was petrifying, exciting and nerve wracking, a real mixture of emotions really. I had the added pressure when I joined of knowing how big Celtic Thunder had become. We put in long days of rehearsals making sure we got it right but it soon fell into place and quickly became a lot of fun. The guys are like my brothers and we have the best time on stage and on tour. It’s been just amazing, an incredible experience, and I love every second of it.
What can audiences expect from the Mythology Tour?
We kinda go back to the roots of what Celtic Thunder was, it’s almost a chapter two of Celtic Thunder, and in order to do that we went back to the Helix Theatre in Dublin where the very first DVD was shot. David Munro is the composer, an incredible musician and his arrangements are stunning. I suppose you won’t find a more of a critical audience of Irish music than an Irish audience and they loved it. It is Irish songs that people here know from the cradle, things like ‘Carrickfergus’, ‘Danny Boy’ and ‘She Moved Through the Fair’, but they’d never heard it like that. It’s completely fresh and that is why Mythology has done so well so far, which is great. We’re just back from the US and Canada where the reception was incredible and where it went to number 1 in the Billboard charts. It is number one in the DVD charts in Australia as well. The reaction has been great and we’re looking forward to taking it Down Under.
It’ll be your first time in Australia. Are you looking forward to it?
I am. I know so many people in Australia. I have cousins in Perth and friends from college in Melbourne and Sydney. I can’t wait to get out there and catch up with everyone and meet all our Aussie fans.
What’s next?
Doors are opening in Europe and Asia, markets that haven’t really been explored before mostly because of the busy touring schedule in the past where we’d been on the road for about eight months of the year and then spend the rest of the year doing the next album or DVD. I meant there was never time to explore these markets. But this year we thought we’d go for it and our UK fans are excited. We had our first ever Celtic Thunder cruise as well last and that was an incredible experience. We’re doing that again. It is a completely new direction Celtic Thunder is going in and a fun one. At the end of the day we are a family show and at some shows, I’ve seen four generations of a family together. It’s pretty amazing to see kids there with grandparents and even great-grandparents.
Sadly, shortly after interviewing Colm, Celtic Thunder announced that principal singer George Donaldson had passed away. He was 46 and survived by his wife Carolyn and daughter Sarah.
Celtic Thunder’s Australia tour starts in Hobart on May 12, ending in Perth on June 13. Due to scheduling commitments their tour of New Zealand has been cancelled.
