Arts & Entertainment
Meet the Artist: Canada's Searson Plays Dunedin Saturday
Searson delivers high-energy Celtic tunes and step dance.
Searson, a high-energy Celtic girl-group from Canada, is set to take over the tonight (May 14).
The band is made up of sisters Heather, Colleen and Erin Searson, and Mary Gellner on drums. Their sound stems from Celtic roots, using a fiddle, keyboard, drums, vocals and dance. (Colleen said they do have other musical influences, though: “In the van, when we’re driving, a lot of Neil Young gets played” — depending on who's driving. Sometimes it's more of a Michael Jackson or Dwight Yokam kind of ride.) The group prides itself on high-energy shows with Celtic dance.
Colleen Searson, speaking on behalf of all members, said the group is stopping in Dunedin as part of a tour around Florida. They've already made stops performing for the New World Celts in Orlando and on WMNF 88.5 in Tampa on the show "It’s the Music."
Find out what's happening in Dunedinwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
They’ve also made stops at Studio 10 TV in St. Petersburg and Stringbreak music fest in Brooksville, Fla.
The group already has five albums under its belt, and doesn't plan to stop any time soon. The sisters are working on a follow up to 2009's "Ignite" for realease in the coming months.
Find out what's happening in Dunedinwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
In anticpation of tonights show, Colleen explained how the band came together quite organically outside of Ottowa (“Where we grew up, everyone played fiddle.”) and described some of their first gigs (“We started playing small kitchen parties, and by high school started playing the bar scene for extra cash.”). She said they visited Dunedin once before, with a show at the about six years ago.
Searson has an large cult following in Europe, where the sisters have enjoyed some of their most engaging shows.
“Every show over there is our best show, because it’s always a new audience,” Colleen said.
On of their worst shows, she said, took place on a farm in the middle of nowhere.
“We played on one of those tractor trailer stages. It wasn’t on level ground, and the entire band ended up falling off, one by one,” she said.
The band is heads to Ireland starting May 23.
Want to go?
- When: Saturday only (May 14) at 8 p.m.
- Where: , Edinburgh Hall
- Price: $15 in advance, $20 at the door
More info, .
