The Elders are a six-piece Irish American

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers s ...

band, that formed in Kansas City,

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

. The band has released eight studio albums, '' The Elders'', '' Pass It on Down'', ''

American Wake ''American Wake'' is the third album by Kansas City Celtic rock band The Elders. Track listing # "Moore St. Girls" # "Hardline" # "American Wake" # "St. Kevin" # "Men of Erin Erin is a Hiberno-English word for Ireland originating fr ...

'', '' Racing the Tide'', ''Gael Day'', ''Wanderin' Life & Times'', ''Story Road'', and ''True'', as well as four live albums " The Best Crowd We Ever Had", " Live at the Gem", "Alive and Live in Ireland" (which also included a documentary film of the same name by Benjamin Meade) and "The Elders: Hoolie", and one compilation album, "The Best of The Elders Volume 1" which includes some live tracks. They have toured in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. They also appeared in the 2008 Music Documentary entitled "American Music: OFF THE RECORD; alongside Jackson Browne, Johnny Winter and Les Paul; Dir. Benjamin Meade.

Career

Since forming in 1998, The Elders have released six studio albums, four live albums, one compilation album and three DVDs. The Elders are fronted by Ian Byrne, a native of

's County Wicklow, the band also consists of guitarist Steve Phillips (formerly of The Rainmakers), bassist Norm Dahlor, violinist and keyboardist Brent Hoad (formerly of The Secrets), drummer Kian Byrne, and fiddler Colin Farrell (Creel and

Gráda Gráda is a traditional Irish music band founded in 2001 whose members are a mix of Irish and New Zealand musicians. Based in Dublin and Galway, Ireland, Gráda have spent much of their time touring internationally. In 2011, members of Gráda ...

). They have played festivals, pubs and theaters across the United States, Ireland and other parts of Europe. The band has performed at festivals in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, and

Dublin, Ohio Dublin is a city in Franklin, Delaware and Union counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 49,328 in the 2020 census with a census estimate of 49,037 in 2019. Dublin is a suburb of Columbus. The city of Dublin hosts the yearly ...

and others. The Elders' songs have been played on more than 120 U.S. radio stations and have been featured live on WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour. Their "Live at the Gem" concert show was broadcast on more than 100

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

stations. In 2018, the band discontinued regular touring. On September 30, 2020, it was announced that guitarist Steve Phillips died due to

pulmonary fibrosis Pulmonary fibrosis is a condition in which the lungs become scarred over time. Symptoms include shortness of breath, a dry cough, feeling tired, weight loss, and nail clubbing. Complications may include pulmonary hypertension, respiratory failu ...

caused by

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

Members

Current members

*Ian Byrne–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

bodhrán The bodhrán (, ; plural ''bodhráin'' or ''bodhráns'') is a frame drum used in Irish music ranging from in diameter, with most drums measuring . The sides of the drum are deep. A goatskin head is tacked to one side (synthetic heads or oth ...

, percussion *Norm Dahlor – bass, banjo,

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

, vocals *Kian Byrne – drums, percussion, mandolin, bass *Diana Ladio - fiddle

Former members

*Michael Bliss – vocals, bass *Tommy Dwyer – drums *Randy Riga – accordion *Brett Gibson – accordion *Tommy Sutherland - Drums, Percussion *Joe Miquelon - keyboards *Shawn Poores - Drums *Colin Farrell - fiddle, whistles *Steve Phillips –

, mandolin, vocals

Discography

* ''The Elders'' (2000) * '' Pass It on Down'' (2002) * ''

'' (2004) * '' The Best Crowd We Ever Had'' (2004) * '' Live at the Gem'' (2005) * '' Racing the Tide'' (2006) * ''Alive and Live in Ireland'' (2007) * ''Gael Day'' (2009) * ''The Best of The Elders Volume 1'' (2010) * ''Wanderin' Life & Times" (2011) * "The Elders: Hoolie" (2012) * "Story Road" (2014) * "True" (2017)

Filmography

*" Live at the Gem" (2005) *"Alive and Live In Ireland" (2007) *"American Music: OFF THE RECORD" (2008) *"The Elders: Hoolie" (2012) *"Live at The Uptown Theater" (2014)

References

External links

The Elders' Official websiteThe Elders' Verified profile on FacebookThe Elders' Official Youtube ChannelThe Elders' Official MySpace.comCelt In A Twist
podcast that often features The Elders
PaddyRock
voted '' Racing the Tide'' their top album of 2006
Review by the Kansas City StarTour Dates
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elders, The Musical groups from Kansas City, Missouri American folk rock groups Celtic fusion groups