Sometimes the apple falls far from the tree. Without pub sessions, Comhaltas, or conservatories, 3 musicians in Central Ohio who had come to love Celtic music came together to form Fialla. Their abilities to pick up traditional instruments and play them with grace seemed to be steeped in their DNA. All multi-instrumentalists, and one a dancer, they present Celtic music so faithfully one thinks they hear the accents of the old country. Finding their footing in the local scene, including performing at Dublin Irish Fest, the band has grown to be a first-class representative of Celtic music.
Their selection of songs and tunes and the way they arrange the pieces has a freshness devoid of any stigma facing up-and-coming artists. Fialla finds songs that intrigue them, and play with them until they make them their own. Not a pub band that plays all the favorite drinking songs, they search for songs with the zeal of anthropologists and craft them into unique experiences.
About the members:
Stephen
We were influenced by Jake’s passion to create Irish music, Katie’s incredible singing, and Stephen’s desire to perform and make people feel happy. We were also influenced by many other musicians we have heard and enjoyed. We know many wonderful musicians in other bands such as Drowsy Lads and YCC. These groups have a big impact on us in our desire to play Irish music and our arrangements.
I would say we are also extremely influenced by each other in our practices and enjoy hearing what eachother do and accent their creations by adding to it ourselves. Some of the best moments in our band’s history is when we are in Jake’s basement and playing through a song and Stephen plays a weird note on the piano, Katie creates a new rhythm with her guitar, jake plays some flute and all of the sudden we have a jazz-type sound on a classic irish tune. All of our creativity makes practices fun and certainly has influences on us.
We are also influenced by our faith in Jesus Christ and families around us. Some of the music we play has spiritual undertones and we occasionally reference these in our shows. We are also very committed to each of our families and our families are committed to us. I don’t think there has been a show we have done yet (20+) where one of our family members isn’t present. Between Stephen’s wife, Jake’s mom, and Katie’s parents, there is always a constant familiar face in the audience and this makes our music more personal. We care about these things and also are more selective of the type of music we play and the way we play it. We want to create a family-friendly atmosphere so we rarely play crude or mature topic songs. We value creating a light-hearted environment where everyone can enjoy. I think our biggest goal in our performances is to be talented musicians where the quality of our compositions are clear, but we are all light-hearted and not too serious about ourselves. We like to keep a fun environment where the audience never really knows what to expect. Sometimes we are playing a fast tune set with Jake ripping on the whistle, Katie throwing down on the guitar, and Stephen doing whatever he does. Then other times Katie is signing an enchanting and captivating song about a tragic event. Still other times Jake cracks a silly joke that makes sense to half of the audience. Altogether, this helps us create a clear atmosphere that everyone can enjoy.
Side point, we rarely play songs everyone knows well. We want to be a band that captivates people by original compositions and instrumentation, not by singing pub tunes that everyone knows. I think one of my biggest pet peeves is when people come up during a break and ask for “more popular songs”. Anyone can remember and enjoy a cover band, but if we make people remember us because of our talent, energy, and engagement with the audience, that is special.
Katie
My interest in Irish music began with my interest in Irish dance. I began taking Irish dancing lessons in elementary school and continued to take lessons, compete, and perform throughout my school-age years. Through Irish dancing, I was exposed to the basics of Irish music, listening to jigs, reels, slip jigs, and hornpipes as I practiced footwork and choreographies in time to the music. From there I began to explore other trad Irish bands and musicians that I could dance to, developing a list of local favorites (including the Drowsy Lads) and touring groups (including Solas).
During my high school and college years I began taking an interest in choral and vocal music, taking vocal lessons at university, studying art song and classical compositions. And in my own time I continued to explore both bluegrass and Irish music, eventually picking up the bodhrán as a means to continue enjoying the rhythms I used to tap out while Irish dancing. (In college, I scaled back on Irish dance performance and competition.) During this time, the Drowsy Lads (another Columbus-based Irish trad group, and friends) would ask me to join them as a guest Irish dancer at some of their shows, which gave me continued opportunity to Irish dance and enjoy live Irish music.
I would occasionally attend local Irish sessions and once, while in attendance, ran into Jake (who is a family friend). He had interest in starting an Irish band/ group, and I had interest in continuing to enjoy and make Irish music with others. And it was then that we started to explore some tunes and songs together, myself on vocals and bodhrán and then picking up DADGAD guitar to add some accompaniment to the mix. Stephen, who played in a group previously with Jake, joined us as well, and we thought we could make a go of it!
It has been a joy being able to make music with good friends! And there are many laughs to be had while we are rehearsing and exploring new repertoire. And the creative process of adding our own Fialla flair to Irish traditional tunes and songs is a good bit of fun and evolved organically! For example, I mentioned North Sea Holes (a song by Ewan MacColl that I had heard from the signing of John Doyle) to Stephen and Jake as a song that might be interesting for us to explore covering as a band. They weren’t familiar with it and asked me to sing a bit of it for reference. So I sang a couple verses for them accompanied by myself on bodhrán (with one of my homemade brush tippers). They thought it sounded intriguing and started adding in some guitar and piano parts while I played and sang through some more of the verses. At which point it began to take on a somewhat jazzy groove…which was not initially what I had in mind stylistically. But after consideration, I decided to roll with it and see where the approach would lead as we continued to play around with the arrangement. And it has ended up being something quite unique stylistically and really showcases Stephen’s expertise on piano!
Jake
I grew up in the last decade of indoor smoking, and I spent many of those years toddling around Byrne’s Pub eating popcorn and listening to my uncle Doug Rudy and his band the Yankee Celtic Consort. They had a fantastic singer and pennywhistle player called Pat Mogan, who I loved to listen to - so much that when we were asked to choose our first instruments in elementary school, I chose the flute so that I could learn to play like Pat. That was a task that took me 20 years and counting (mostly because I didn’t like practicing, and also thanks to a few years of obsession with rock guitar playing), but my enjoyment of Irish music really came into full swing when my parents gifted me an Irish flute. Now I enjoy challenging myself with the music of geniuses both ancient and contemporary - particularly those I have the privilege of sharing the stage with in Fialla.
Three interesting facts:
My background is in filmmaking, and I’ve turned down several opportunities to pursue a career in Hollywood because I didn’t want that to come between me and my family.
I asked my wife’s parents for permission to marry her… in kindergarten! It took them almost 20 years to finally say yes.
I love dinosaurs more than anyone my age should love dinosaurs.
A taste of Fialla