Girsa Entertained Enthusiasts With Their Traditional Irish Music
Since their start in 2005 in their hometown of Pearl River, New York, the members of Girsa have released two albums. The first one, "Traditional Irish Music," was followed by the second, more recent release called "A Sweeter Place."
Audience members at the Woodbridge Middle School - Irish or not - were mesmerized by the girls' rhythmic music instrumental talents, and surprising vocal range.
Joan Brennan, a resident of Woodbridge who is of Irish heritage, was truly moved by the girls' show. "They are very good, I thought they were so good that I bought their CD," said Brennan, who purchased the disk from the tables outside the schoolauditorium.
"My daughter is a musician, too, so this is all interesting to me. Their particular style reminds me of the Titanic music," Brennan said.
Bill Brandenburg, who is in charge of the bookings for the Mayor's Summer Concert Series, said he aims to get diverse performances every year. "These performers are really from all over the world," said Brandenburg. As a loyal music listener, Brandenburg constantly indulges in new and different types of music.
"I am a music fanatic. I go to concerts all the time to check new music out. If I see a group and they're great, I try to bring them to Woodbridge," Brandenburg said. Girsa actually attended the Mayor's Summer Concert Series last year to see the Irish performance. "Bringing these girls here to perform was Larry's idea," he said, referring to his fellow township colleague, Larry McCullough. "When I looked at their website and heard their music, I thought, wow these girls are really good. All of them play an instrument and all of them can sing," Brandenburg said.
McCullough, who took particular interest in the girls' musical talents, previously performed traditional Irish music with some of the girls' parents. "I am Irish and the music touches me, but all the music touches me," said McCullough, who helps book acts for the Summer Concert Series.
"We try to get as many different types of music as possible. This year, aside from Irish, we also have Reggae, Latin, and African groups from the area and from around the world," he said.
Comments