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Home-grown talent
By Staff Writer - Tina Peplinskie
June 2004

Local Celtic band Searson is taking time out of its busy touring schedule to perform right here at home. The band will perform a regular show at G'Days in downtown Pembroke on June 12. The show begins around 9 p.m.

Searson is made up of Erin Searson, 25, on lead vocals, piano and mandolin, Heather Searson, 23, on bass, vocals and bodhran, Jamie Gardner, 22, on lead fiddle, vocals and mandolin, Colleen Searson, 20, on lead fiddle and vocals and Mike Searson on lead vocals, guitar and piano. All of the girls also step dance.

Searson has been together for the past nine years, but this will only be the sixth summer that Ms. Gardner has been a part of the group. She was asked to join the group when the old fiddler left.
All of the girls have finished school, so the group has been touring full-time. The have spent a lot of time in the north eastern United States playing at various highland and Celtic events as well as a few Irish pubs along the way to fill in the time.

"We are going 100 per cent with music right now and we are having so much fun," Ms. Gardner said during a recent interview. "The response has been unbelievable and we are making a lot of connections. So far it has been amazing and it is just the beginning for us."

She noted that the highlight of their shows for the crowds have been the stepdancing since people south of the border are not familiar with it.
"They have never seen it before and they just love the energy of it," she said. "We get crowds of all ages at our shows from kids to seniors, so it is more fun for us since we can play a broader range of tunes." When the group is not playing on the road, Ms. Gardner said they are always busy writing new material and practicing.

"We are productive in that way and it is good to keep our minds occupied on the down time," she said.

Searson is already booked to play a number of dates well into the beginning of 2005. The will spend much of their time this summer playing various festivals in Ontario and Quebec and they will head south of the border again in September. The two closest shows they will play are in Renfrew on July 22 during Valley Fest and August 28 at the Cobden Fair.

The group has enough new material for a new compact disc which they plan to record in October. It will contain all original material, similar to their second CD House Party, which was released in May 2002.
For more information, log onto www.searson.org.

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