An Irish folk band based in Colorado? Yes, and what's more, the band is authentic.
"That was one of the hard things about getting our music to the people," said singer/cornet player Mick Bolger during a telephone interview from his home in Denver. "We would get strange reactions when we said we were from Colorado."Colcannon -- Bolger, acoustic bassist Mike Fitzmaurice, flute/fife player Rod Garnett, fiddler Jean Harrison and mandolinist Brian Mullins -- will play the University of Utah's Social Work Auditorium on Saturday, Nov. 20. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available at Acoustic Music, Intermountain Guitar & Banjo, Salt City CDs, Local Music and all Dan's Food Stores in Salt Lake City and Park City. Tickets are also available at all Graywhale CDs.
Bolger was born and raised in Ireland. And set out to England after high school.
"I did a lot of odd jobs," he said of his time in London. "But then I got a scholarship at (Colorado University) and took off for America."
He was suppose to study sculpting, but music took his spare time. "Music was a big part of my life. When I was young, my house had a record player. I had three records, one being an Ella Fitzgerald album and the other one was an Irish folk composer that used symphony orchestras. I can't remember what the third album was."
Bolger followed his musical muse, and by 1984, Colcannon was playing pubs around Denver. "The Irish pub music was what got us together. And In 1990, we decided that it was time to actually see how far the band could go."
Colcannon, named after an Irish potato and cabbage dish, decided it would record some CDs by using money collected throughout the years in a tip hat. But the band's big break came when it contacted Tim O'Brien to produce the first album.
"He heard what we were doing and he said, 'Yes,' " Bolger said.
Colcannon has four CDs to its name, with another on the way. "We're going to record it in a few months."
The Salt Lake concert isn't part of a tour, Bolger explained. "It's a one-time shot. We were in Logan and Ogden a few weeks back and we got a call from Tony Polychronis to ask if we'd like to play in Salt Lake City."
Bolger met Polychronis, the president of the Intermountain Acoustic Music Association, through former Nitty Gritty Dirt Band leader John McEuen. "We met John at a conference, and he had asked us to do some music for his 'Wild West' and 'Music of the Wild West' projects. One day, we were talking to John when Tony came up to us. John said, 'You should get these guys.'
"Several months later, we got an e-mail. And here we are."