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Searson
is high-energy Celtic band The three sisters lived in rural Eganville, about a 40-minute car drive from Gardner's equally rural hometown of Pembroke in Ottawa Valley, about 90 miles from Canada's capital. "They all used to compete in group dancing. That was their forte," Gardner says during a recent phone interview. "I started in fiddling a little later, so step dancing was my main subject." When Gardner was in high school, the Searson family was already a band, and its fiddler was leaving. Gardner took her fiddle, mandolin and step-dance talents to join the Searson father, Mike, on acoustic guitar, electric guitar and vocals; and sisters Erin on piano, vocals and mandolin; Heather on bass, bodhran (an Irish drum) and step dance; and Colleen on fiddle, step dance and vocals. Searson, as theband is called, performs Friday and Saturday night at Kitty Hoynes Irish Pub and Restaurant in Syracuse's Armory Square. In May of 2004, Searson switched from a weekend-only to full-time outfit. Gardner graduated that month from Brock University, and Erin from the University of Ottawa. Heather and Colleen decided to quit college, Heather leaving St. Lawrence College in Kingston and Colleen, Trent University. "Their main goal and main focus was music anyway," Gardner says. "School was just . . . I don't know. I guess they'll go back if they need to." So far, it looks as if they won't need to. Searson's first full-length CD, "House Party," and their live show have earned kind reviews. "Strong, sensualand certainly entertaining," said Chopper McKinnon on the "Canadian Spaces" radio program. "On their new album, 'House Party,' Searson really seem to be having a ball, playing together as a family," said Cal Koat, producer of the Vancouver, British Columbia, radio program "Celt in a Twist." "This is form over dysfunction, good-time Canadian Celtic with its heart and tradition and a spirit of youthful exuberance. Mike Searson, his three daughters and their close friend rollick and reel their way through 12 vocal and instrumental tracks, showcasing marked musicianship and fresh songwriting with a decidedly female touch." Gardner says she hates to be asked to label the band's music anywhere beyond the obvious tag of Celtic. The band hopes to make its mark with its original songs. "We're finding it a little tough to describe it," Gardner says. "It's more pop-country Celtic, I'd say, just because we are younger in our lyrics and our energy is definitely high. I guess it would be more pop-rock Celtic."
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