Wild Geese (6)

Named after an historical event called "the flight of the wild geese", that happened in Limerick, Ireland the 1600's, the Wild Geese "have been entertaining audiences throughout Central and Western New York with their rollicking, good time style since 1999. Their music is the music of Ireland. From tales of The Irish Rebellion to sing-a-longs that celebrate the camaraderie of raising a pint with friends to the immigrant's lament for his homeland to the tender ballads of the heart, their passionate, hard driving style has won them fans from Buffalo to Syracuse. Based out of Rochester N.Y. , the band features members from Dublin, Limerick and County Monroe." -from http://web.archive.org/web/20021123072848/http://wildgeeseband.com/. The band came into existence by happenstance. On St. Patrick's Day 1998, Annie Murphy, owner of Fiddler's Green in Rochester, New York, could not get an entertainment, license so had no bands lined up, so she rented out a back room and held meetings of the Tenth Ward Irish Musicians Association. Annie, however, did not have a band for St. Patrick's Day, so 3 musicians, [a10026403], Jym Ellison, and Steve Trout (2), who never played together before decided to get together and play, and thus the Wild Geese got their start. In 1999 Annie married Steve Trout (2), at which time her brother, [a10026409] had come to America to give his sister away and met [a10026484], whom he later wound up marrying. Ben joined the band, playing 4 string banjo, harmonica, mandolin, Irish fiddle, whistle, and guitar,playing 4 string banjo, harmonica, mandolin, Irish fiddle, whistle, and guitar, which added greater depth and dimension to the band, along with increasing their musicality and adding some entertaining banter, which helped to increase their popularity. In 2000, Steve left the band to pursue other musical interest, which made the band a trio again, for a short time. Kevin Reynolds (11) was then recruited to make the band a foursome once again, which allowed Jym a chance to play bass and Ben to do more rhythm and lead. At this time the band recorded their first CD, [r20213095], which was released on St. Patrick's Day, 2001 after performing for 12 hours non-stop at Fiddler's Green. In June of that year, due to scheduling conflicts with his job, and increasing family obligations, Jym left the band, leaving them once again to be a trio. Jym and Steve would occasionally join the band to play at benefits and festivals. That same year Maeve joined the band, playing bass, followed by Peg Dolan on guitar in 2007, both adding to the vocals and style. The band eventually recorded 2 more CDs, [r20213092] and Unplucked, Live at Johnny’s Irish Pub, the former featuring what is considered Eamon McCormack's signature song, a passionate rendition of "The Green Fields of France," which he always dedicates to the Men & Women in uniform.