By Greg Chrapek
WKTV Contributor
greer@wktv.org

The sweet sound of traditional Celtic music will create an atmosphere of Saint Patrick’s Day in the middle of summer as the Kentwood Summer Concert Series welcomes On The Lash to the stage Thursday night.

The band features traditional Irish/Scottish music that it personalizes with its original voices. On The Lash not only provides new takes on classical Irish songs and Celtic music, but also features original songs in the traditional Irish/Scottish standards.

This Thursday’s concert is set to begin at 7 p.m. and last until 8:30 on the lawn behind Kentwood City Hall, 4900 Breton Ave. SE. It also will be Bike Night at the Kentwood Farmers Market as local bike organizations are featured. There also will be food trucks on hand and concertgoers are encouraged to come early and check out the Farmers Market next door from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m.

This week’s concert will have you in the mood to drink some Cream Ale or Stout while listening to some relaxing Celtic melodies.

On The Lash provides a local flavor to the Celtic music it plays as the band, which has been together for three years, is comprised of former Western Michigan University students who have West Michigan roots.

“We’ve been together for three years as a band, but we’ve known each other for a decade,” said John Robey. “We met in college at Western Michigan where we were all music majors. I grew up playing Irish and Scottish music and a couple of the other members also played this type of music.”

Robey plays the fiddle in the band which also includes Patrick Harson on guitar, Joel Myers, mandolin, and Elizabeth June, vocals and flute.

“Eizabeth is the star,” Robey said.

The band performs year-round, but is at its busiest during March, November and December. They play at concert venues during the fall and winter months and venture to outdoor festivals during the summer and early fall.

“We play a very exciting blend of classical Irish and Scottish music,” Myers said. “We play some covers of Irish and Scottish-style songs and we also have our own original music.”

Along with their performances, the band also spreads their knowledge of traditional Celtic music throughout the community.

“We also do a fair amount of work with schools teaching Irish/Scottish music and putting on workshops,” Robey said. “We like teaching Irish/Scottish music and presenting it to newcomers who want to know more about it.”

The group is excited about the upcoming show in Kentwood and looks forward to performing the Irish/Scottish variety of music to this week’s concertgoers.

“We are looking forward to playing in Kentwood,” Myers said. “It will be a really fun show. We will be playing some of the traditional staples along with some other really good Irish/Scottish music. We will also be playing some of our own songs. We bring a lot of energy and the people at the show will have a good time.”

The band will play some covers of some of the traditional Irish jigs and reels and also will cover some traditional Irish/Scottish bands of the 1970’s and 80’s including Silly Wizard, a Scottish folk band that formed in Edinburgh in 1970. Silly Wizard was one of the more popular Scottish folk bands of the 1970’s and 80’s.

On The Lash also will do some covers of The Paul McKenna Band, which is one of the top folk bands to come out of Scotland in the last 20 years.

To get a taste of what On The Lash has to offer the band has just released their first album currently available on Spotify. The five-song album is called Fireside and a preview can be found on the band’s website onthelashband.com.

Most of the music on the album is from the traditional Irish heritage that is the primary influence of the band.