I've been an aficionado of Golden Bough since 1986. I first ran into them (I think) at Bayfilk 3 and did a set after the Army Reserve bagpipers surprised us (and we surprised them! E-mail me for details).
Through the years, the core of the group has remained Paul Espinosa and Margie Butler. Members have included Lief Sørbye (the Norwegian member of the group who went on to form the band Tempest), Florie Brown (a wonderful violin player and, in my opinion, a great, yet underrated, singer), Allison Bailey (a red-headed violinist who replaced Florie), Sue Draheim (a violinist/violist) and now Kathy Sierra (don't ask me - I have no idea). Paul and Margie (as I have heard it), started back in 1980 in (I think) San Diego. Theirs have been some of the hottest albums in the community.
Their performances for the filk and the general community are simple, but they're danged good. Besides seeing them at Bayfilk, I've seen then twice at Mount St. Mary's college, just outside of downtown Los Angeles, where they do special concerts. It's always a pleasure to say "HELLO" to Paul and Margie. Besides being great instrumentalists, they're also good people.
Over the years, the musical repertoire of the group has expanded, not just because of change in membership, but because the musicality grows. For instance, Margie is really good on the Celtic harps. I wouldn't be surprised if she was what I'd call a "world-reknown" harpist/harper/harp player (what's the proper term?). To that end, she's come out with three albums of her playing the harp, either solo or singing with it. Below you'll see the album covers. They're called "Celtic Lullaby," "Magic of the Celtic Harp, Volume 1" and "Magic of the Celtic Harp, Volume 2 - Lure of the Sea Maiden." Pictures of the album covers are below, and all these albums are now in stock.
In addition, Paul and Margie as a duo have come out with 2 CD's of American folk music, and an album geared to the young in spirit, the young in age and the young at heart called "Kids at Heart."
The Celtic albums are:
In addition, they've done two Christmas albums:
The single CDs cost $17.00. The double CDs cost $25.00.
I'll be selling their group Celtic music and Margie's harp albums as well. Speaking of which, here's a quote from Derek Bell of the Chieftains regarding "Magic of the Celtic Harp, Volume 2...":
"Unbelievably refreshing...real pure Celtic from six of the Celtic countries. The harp is deligtfully bell-like and rings out beautifully in all registers; the arrangements are clear, uncomplicated...and always in perfect good taste. Like a breath of fresh air, very, very welcome."
Now, if a member of the Chieftains says its good, need I say more?
To find out more about Golden Bough, click here to go to their web site.
Store entrance | Celtic music | filk and folk music | filk and folk books | non-musical stuff
Copyright of the pictures on this page stays with Golden Bough, who has given me permission to use them on my page.
© 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006 sffilk@bellsouth.net
Get your own Free Home Page