The Moxie Strings push beyond Celtic fare with new album in works: The Local Spins St. Patrick’s Day artist spotlight

With roots in West Michigan, one of the state’s hottest string trios goes all out for St. Paddy’s hoopla while exploring bluegrass, folk and rock.

 

As any Irish-leaning band knows, March shapes up as a bonanza for live performances. And The Moxie Strings, one of Michigan’s hottest string trios, may be as busy as any around St. Patrick’s Day.

After playing two nights in a row at a pair of Indiana pubs late last week, the band performed three West Michigan shows on Saturday alone, regaling folks at Saugatuck Brewing Co.’s annual “Irish breakfast,” performing an early afternoon set at the Curragh Irish Pub in downtown Holland and closing out the evening at The Mitten Bar in Ludington. The band also played the Spring Lake Library on Sunday.

Today for St. Patrick’s Day, The Moxie Strings head to Kalamazoo to play a morning gig at Shakespeare’s Pub and a free 4 p.m. show at Bell’s Brewery. (Get more details about the Bell’s St. Paddy’s Day celebration online here.)

“We love it when people are dancing and having a good time,” says fiddler Diana Ladio, who lives in Kalamazoo.

“We kind of all agree as a band that we will never get to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on St. Patrick’s Day. That’s fine with us, because it’s one of our busiest days of the year. We consider ourselves lucky because you can’t think of too many other holidays that fill a month of shows around one holiday.”

That said, the classically trained trio of Ladio, cellist Alison Lynn and percussionist Fritz McGirr has moved well beyond the Celtic realm these days, exploring bluegrass, Americana, world music, folk and rock as part of its high-energy, knee-slapping performances.

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Much of that comes in the form of the virtuoso musicians’ own songs: The band now plays mostly original material, weaving in traditional tunes as needed.

“The show has certainly taken more of an Americana twist as most of the tunes we play are written by us,” says Lynn, a graduate of East Kentwood High School who earned a degree in cello performance from Western Michigan University.

Adds Ladio, who like McGirr earned a music degree from the University of Michigan: “We’re branching out more than ever, especially with the bluegrass and Americana scene. People love bluegrass. We love not limiting ourselves.”

Still, Ladio and Lynn retain a deep appreciation for traditional Celtic music, something Ladio first embraced in high school as a member of the Chelsea House Orchestra. She shared that passion with Lynn after they met while in college.

“I immediately became a sponge, trying to soak up whatever knowledge on the Celtic/Irish music subject she could give me,” recalls Lynn, who lives in Ann Arbor. “It only took jamming together once to realize we were meant to perform together.”

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Classical training has helped band members become “completely comfortable” with their instruments and their technique, and instilled the discipline required for rehearsals and performances. Ladio and Lynn also have leaned on that training for educational clinics they stage regularly at middle schools, high schools and small colleges.

But members of The Moxie Strings (which actually started under the name String Cheese before changing it to avoid confusion with the String Cheese Incident jam band) also didn’t want to be confined by classical music, preferring the open-ended, livelier approach of Celtic music and bluegrass.

“I think there’s something inherent about dancing to stringed music. It’s high energy,” says Ladio, noting the string band also finds itself smack dab in the middle of the folky, acoustic music revival that’s swept the country, led by groups such as the Avett Brothers, Mumford & Sons and others. “It’s getting really exciting.”

Also exciting: The band recently was selected to perform at the prestigious Milwaukee Irish Fest in mid-August. “I can’t wait,” Ladio says. “It’ll be probably the biggest crowd we’ve ever played in front of.”

To further tap into their growing appeal, The Moxie Strings are back in the studio this year to record the follow-up to their 2012 self-titled album. The new project features mostly originals with a few bluegrass and traditional Celtic tunes tossed into the mix.

“We’re so long overdue,” Ladio says of the album being recorded at Grand Rapids’ River City Studios. “We’re writing constantly. We are hoping to have a CD out by the summer and do some kind of official release in late summer or early fall.”

For more about the band and links to purchase its music, visit its official website at themoxiestrings.com.

Email John Sinkevics at jsinkevics@gmail.com.Copyright 2014, Spins on Music