April 2008
We now
have fashionable Dog Tags available with the band logo
engraved on them in our online store!
Please visit the store to view a photo of the this product.
............................................................................................................
February 7, 2008
Kitty Hoyne’s serves up a Fiery
Fiddle Fest Thursday through Saturday
(Excerpts from: Sizzling Strings)
By Russ Tarby - Syracuse City Eagle
Get ready
for three nights of hot-rockin’ Celtic fiddle tunes at Kitty
Hoyne’s Irish Pub this week.
The First
Fierce & Fiery Fiddle Fest gets underway at 8 p.m. Thursday
Feb. 7 with a four-man band from Virginia called Scythian. A
Canadian quartet named Searson performs at 9:15 p.m. on
Friday and Saturday Feb. 8-9, and its fiddler, Colleen
Searson will participate in workshops and jam sessions on
Saturday afternoon…
Searson
The
Ottawa, Ontario-based Celtic quartet Searson features
sisters Colleen, Erin and Hetaher, along with their
guitar-playing father, Mike Searson.
“They’re quite a foot-stomping family,” declares the
folk-music magazine Dirty Linen. “The largely Scottish-based
tune sets on their high-energy concert disc, ‘Live’
(self-released in 2005), feature some wonderfully wild and
melodic interplay between fiddler Colleen, who plays with an
aggressive, bow-bouncing style reminiscent of Eileen Ivers,
and pianist Erin, whose rapid-fire keyboard style is
somewhere between boogie and Cape Breton dancehall.
Heather’s bass and bodhran anchor the rhythm.”
Besides, “Live,” Searson has released two other discs,
“Follow” and “House Party.”
Erin Searson calls the band’s sound a “Celtic mix with a
rocky edge,” while Dirty Linen points out that many of the
band’s originals have a “pop-country” feel. The band
performed at the 2007 Syracuse Irish Festival in Clinton
Square.
Following
their Fiery Fiddle Fest performances here, the gals and
their dad will travel to the 16th annual Greater
Philadelphia Mid Winter Scottish and Irish Music Fair, where
they’ll perform on Feb. 15-16.
… [Then] Searson will show how those ancient tunes can be
thoroughly reheated with a rock beat and electric
arrangements when it takes the stage at 9:15 p.m. Saturday.
No matter how much the music changes over the years,
however, one thing remains constant: the fierce and fiery
fiddle.
............................................................................................................
September
20,
2007
Searson is
part of a great new compilation album Rootstomp, Volume One!
We are honoured to have had the opportunity to perform with
most of these talented bands found on the album.
Rootstomp
is a collection of progressive Celtic/Folk acts that have
come together to promote this fast-growing genre of music
and to introduce you to some fantastic bands. The album
contains 18 tracks with songs from Enter The Haggis
(Toronto, ON), Fiddler's Green (Germany), Greenwich Meantime
(Cornwall, ON), Searson (Ottawa Valley, ON), Seven Nations (Orlando,
FL), Slide Show Baby (Nashville, TN), The Clumsy Lovers
(Vancouver, BC), The Elders (Kansas City, MO) and The
Paperboys (Vancouver, BC).
Rootstomp
will be available at all of our Live performances and
through our online store. We
hope you love Rootstomp as much as we do!
Learn more at
www.rootstomp.com and
myspace.com/rootstomp
............................................................................................................
August 23,
2007
Searson family stays in harmony
By David Burke, Quad-City Times
Ask Erin
Searson how long the band that bears her name has been
together and you’ll get a quick response.
“All our
lives.”
Searson,
the band, includes the 28-year-old Erin and her two younger
sisters, with their father on the guitar. The fifth member
and only non-family member is the drummer.
After an
initial appearance in 2005, Searson returns to the Celtic
Highland Games in Davenport this weekend, taking center
stage for the ceildih on Saturday night at the Mississippi
Valley Fairgrounds.
The
Canadian-based band has played in the United States for the
past three years.
“It’s a
high-energy show, mostly original music, and all three girls
step-dance,” Erin Searson said.
Searson
said the group enjoys playing shows such as the Celtic
Highland Games.
“We always
have a great time,” she said. “These kinds of audiences
always look for a high-energy show, so that’s what we have
to give them.”
The group
performs both traditional and original music. The
Celtic-influenced sound has found its way into pop and
country-type songs by the band.
“We
started off traditional,” she said. “Our roots are in that,
but we’ve gone beyond that with the live show.”
While her
younger sisters live and go to school in Ottawa, about a
90-minute drive away, Erin Searson lives in Eganville,
Ontario, a town of about 1,300 that’s a metropolis compared
to the 100-person town where the Searson children were
raised.
Searson
said she sees the family group continuing indefinitely. It
already has a scheduled date in Dallas in 2009.
“It’s
definitely turning into a long-term commitment for us,” she
said.
David
Burke can be contacted at
dburke@qctimes.com.
Comment on this story at
www.qctimes.com.
............................................................................................................
March 15,
2007
Celtic band brings national tour to Toms River
By Kelly Meisenberger, Ocean County
Observer
"The music (Searson) plays, I
may not know it, but I like it. They're fantastic." — Jim
Reynolds, owner, McIntyre's Pub in Toms River
TOMS RIVER
— They're high-energy, they're original, and according to
the owner of a local pub where they will perform tonight,
they're the perfect way to kick off the St. Patrick's Day
season.
Searson …
a band that features a drummer, three step-dancing sisters
and their father, will bring their Celtic background to Toms
River 's McIntyre's Pub at 9:45 tonight. Playing mostly
original music, the band from Ontario, Canada, is working on
their fifth album, according to band member Erin Searson.
"It's so
much fun to be on stage and see people enjoying our music,
which is mostly all original,'' she said. "For me, that's
the best part of being on tour.''
Jim
Reynolds, an owner of McIntyre's Pub, said the band has
performed at his establishment five or six times previously,
and always draws great reactions from the crowd.
"The
problem with original music is that if people don't know it,
they aren't usually into it,'' Reynolds said. "But the music
(Searson) plays, I may not know it, but I like it. They're
fantastic.''
The band
is made up of sisters Erin, Colleen and Heather Searson;
their father, Mike; and drummer Corey Zadorozny.
Erin
Searson said music was always present in her family, and she
and her sisters began music lessons at young ages. She
personally started to play the piano when she was 4 years
old.
The
sisters play fiddle, bass guitar, mandolin, piano and banjo,
as well as step-dance and sing. Their father also plays
guitar and sings.
"We played
as volunteer work in the community, and it got to a point
where we were starting to get paid to do it,'' Erin Searson
said of the band's beginnings. "When we got older, in high
school and when we went to university, we made a conscious
decision to keep the band going.''
The
sisters put themselves through college by playing gigs on
weekends and during the summer, and three years ago decided
to pursue music full-time.
"It's been
nonstop from there,'' she said.
The band
is booked with performances through 2008. Just in March,
they will head to Pennsylvania, Indiana, Missouri, South
Carolina and New York.
In the
Ottawa Valley where they grew up, Erin Searson said, Celtic
music was a way of life.
"Fiddle
and step dance were dominant,'' she said. "Our area was
saturated with this kind of music.''
Because
this style is so uncommon in New Jersey, Reynolds said he
hopes residents will come out to experience something
different.
"In our
area, it's something you just don't see,'' he said. "And
with our first parade this weekend, it's a good way to
jump-start St. Patty's Day.''
McIntyre's
Pub is at 213 Route 37 E. in Toms River. It can be reached
by calling (732) 349-0420.
............................................................................................................
February 2007
Music Hall Teams Up With American Foundry For
St. Patrick's Day Celebration
[Read
article]
............................................................................................................
February 2007
Searson is
proud to introduce the newest venue for live music in The
Ottawa Valley. Located in Pembroke, Ontario, Cafe Ole
was awarded New Business of the Year in 2006. Their coffee
is roasted in Ontario and Cafe Ole takes care to offer local
products as much as possible. Any musicians traveling
through The Ottawa Valley are encouraged to contact Cafe Ole
to showcase their talent. To learn more about Cafe Ole
please visit their
website or phone Christine Booth at 613.732.2137
Thanks for your support Cafe Ole, we love your coffee!
............................................................................................................
GO TO ARCHIVED
NEWS
