Most people probably won't know the names of the instruments Gael and Tom Shults play.
But they'll likely recognize the hauntingly familiar melodies that exude from their hammered dulcimer, cittern, bodhran, bowed psaltery, tin whistle, autoharp, Anglo concertina or bouzouki."It's like an ancient, familiar sound. I think that's the appeal of it. It puts them in touch with the far, distant past," says Gael Shults.
Whether heart-wrenchingly sad or abounding with joy, Celtic tunes stir the emotions. Snappy jigs prompt people to get up and dance. "It kind of hearkens back to a simpler time when there wasn't TV and Nintendo," Tom Shults says.
There was a time several years ago when Tom Shults wondered if he'd be able to make much music at all. He lost the tips of two fingers on one hand in a wood-cutting accident, severely impairing his ability to play the guitar. The uncertainly prompted him to take up the hammered dulcimer, a trapezoidal, 62-string "ancient piano" played with two thin mallets slightly curved at one end.
The sound so intrigued Gael Shults, also a guitar player, that she learned to play as well. "The tunes really called to me," she said. From there the Shultses taught themselves to play a variety of Celtic instruments too numerous list. Tom Shults also regained the dexterity to pluck the guitar.
"It's just something we loved. We've done it for a long time just because we like it," said Tom Shults, a clinical social worker by day.
They're also good at it.
In addition to playing at countless concerts, parties, weddings and even a bar mitzvah, the duo has cut four albums. Their work can be heard on Kurt Bestor and Sam Cardin compact discs. They wrote the score for the acclaimed documentary "The Potter's Meal," about Spring City potter Joe Bennion.
Most of what they play can't be found on sheet music. The tunes have been handed down from generation to generation. The Shultses arrange and embellish them to suit their style. They also write their own songs.
The Shultses have developed a small following of fans who seem to show up at many of their performances. They like to make sure those people sit on the front because their enthusiasm becomes infectious.
The duo, fiddler Niki Payne and Irish dancers will perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 11, at Veterans Hall, 53 N. Center, American Fork. An artist, Gael Shults will show some of her oil paintings based on scenes of Ireland she captured on a recent trip.
On St. Patrick's Day, Friday, March 17, the couple will be at the Springville Art Museum to open a Celtic celebration at 7 p.m. Gael Shults' paintings will be on display as will those of 30 other artists.