Emerald Rose: Your Neighborhood Celtic Macarena Band

Ever heard Van Morrison’s “Brown-Eyed Girl” on bodhran and pennywhistle? Then chances are, you’re not an Emerald Rose fan. I just caught their show at Hancock Park in Dahlonega, GA, and once again was enchanted by the joyous good humor that permeates their music. These guys love what they do and they’ll make you love it too if you listen closely.

Way back in 1999 there was a little site called MP3.com that let you build playlists from songs artists uploaded to the site. The playlists were called radio stations and there was a Pagan one that was quite popular. Over and over I would go back to listen to the same songs, in the same order, because it was the only free Pagan music I could find.I was a fresh Pagan convert, a broke teenager and an internet junkie all-in-one. MP3.com was practically an addiction.

I discovered the music of Gaia Consort, Alexian, Libana, Green Crown, Loke E. Coyote, Kari Tauring and Wendy Rule through that great website. However, one band stirred my imagination and made my toes tap more than any other. My first Pagan cd purchase was not Loreena McKennitt, Enya, Clannad, Inkubus Sukkubus, Moonstruck or even Stevie Nicks. It was “Bending Tradition” by Emerald Rose.

I owned the cd for a year, memorizing every song, before I realized Emerald Rose was actually a local band. This blew my mind and I suddenly saw my hometown in a new light. Emerald Rose doesn’t just sing about the Celtic countries, they also sing of the green hills of North Georgia. Suddenly Hwy 52 was the “Green Hills of Garland” and every chicken house was full of Celtic warrior chickens (not your average Shake’N’Bake kind).

They’ve put out several more cds since then. They play folk, filk, traditional Celtic tunes, not-so-traditional Celtic tunes, original folk rock about belonging to a place and people, and most of it isn’t specifically Pagan. It’s just music that feels like home. They were chosen to play at the Lord of the Rings Oscar cast parties twice, living up to the “happy hobbit music” label my sister gave them years ago. In fact, it’s become standard practice to do the macarena to their song “Merry Mayfolk”, particularly if you’re in LOTR costume!

If you’re not familiar with their music I suggest you grab a couple of their cds and give them a try. See them live if you can, because they have an audience participation element that might actually rival Rocky Horror’s audience sass. Be prepared to stomp, clap, sing and enjoy yourself thoroughly. If you feel moved, do the macarena. They won’t mind.