Sheela Na Gig | traditional celtic music in chicago

Pictures from our latest gigs

2006-09-20T08:51:00.000-05:00

From this past Saturday, at Coonley Elementary School's inaugural Fall Fun Fair and the 18th House Walk and Garden Tour in Old Irving Park.

http://homepage.mac.com/chiwhistler/PhotoAlbum19.html

Thanks to Kristy for the fab lenswork!

Behind The Music: Leprechaun Puppets!

2006-09-19T15:51:00.000-05:00

The magically lifelike leprechauns you see dancing by our knees are the handiwork of our own Irish bagpiper and ringleader, Matthew Owens. He's an artist in many media -- but at the moment he is most notably an accomplished and popular pet portraitist using an up-close yet classical painting style to capture an animal's unique qualities. Visit Matthew's website for details!

Here are a few more leprechaun pictures... they each have names but I forget them at the moment... Pic1 | Pic2 | Pic3

Samples of our music...

2006-09-13T20:48:00.000-05:00

In March 2005, we played a series of shows at Davenport's, a piano bar (!) in Wicker Park, including a sold-out St. Patrick's Day spectacular. Here's a selection of MP3s from one of those shows...

Haystack Set
Dulcimer Solo
Butterfly Slips
Lisdoonvarna Set

Upcoming Gigs

2006-09-08T11:25:00.000-05:00

Saturday, September 16th

We're one of the bands performing at an outdoor "Fall Fun Fair" to benefit Coonley Elementary School in Chicago (4046 N. Leavitt). We'll be going on at about 10:00am and will have a 45-minute set.

We'll be at the 18th House Walk and Garden Tour in Old Irving Park, performing at 1:00pm at the Tour's starting point: Mt. Olive Church, (3850 N. Tripp). Check out the feature article in the 9/3/06 Chicago Tribune.

[TBD - Thursdays in October]

It's likely we'll return once again to the Wishbone Restaurant in Lakeview (3300 N. Lincoln), along with our famous leprechaun puppets! Music goes from 6:30-9pm... bring along as many small children as you can find!

So what's a 'Sheela-Na-Gig', anyway?

2006-09-08T05:43:00.000-05:00

(Courtesy of 'Nirvana', the company that created the pendant you see in our Profile photo):

"Sheela-Na-Gig is an ancient Celtic Goddess who celebrates the mysteries of life. Her opening is the source of profound pleasure, the source of life, and a metaphor for the Cosmos; the womb of infinity; the space out of which the universe is born. ...With her smile, Sheela-Na-Gig seems to laugh at the small concerns that rule mundane lives. Her domain is the eternities of time and space, in which all births and deaths are only dreams that last no longer than an eye blink."

Aren't you glad you asked?

You may also want to check out the Wikipedia entry.

Slainte! The Sheela-Na-Gig Blog is up...

2006-09-07T23:49:00.000-05:00

Hi folks -- we're definitely not the most media-savvy band just yet, but we've gotten a lot of interest from people who have heard us play, so we've set up this blog to share news about upcoming gigs, sample tunes, and the like.

Welcome! We're glad you're here.