Beltaine's Fire
Beltaine's Fire is a five-member Celtic Fusion collective from Oakland, California fronted by Emcee Lynx . Their music is a mix of "traditional Irish and Scottish music with rock, folk, and rap elements".
They have self-released two albums and played more than 50 shows at venues of all sizes all over California as well as parts of the East Coast. Their largest appearance to date was the 2008 KVMR Celtic Festival, one of the largest Celtic music festivals on the West Coast with over 10,000 annual attendees..
History
The band was originally formed in San Francisco, California in August of 2005 as a collaboration between Emcee Lynx and an experimental Celtic/Folk/Rock Duo called The Wills Wilde. Lynx recruited Laura Noel on Bass and Chris Darbeyshire on drums to make the group a quintet. In January of 2006 Lynx, Laura, and Chris decided to go their own way citing irreconcilable differences and keeping the name Beltaine’s Fire. The Wills Wilde broke up shortly afterward.
Beltaine’s Fire continued on as a progressive hip hop trio for the better part of a year until meeting up with John “The Electrician” Dougal in late 2006 and recruiting him, along with Michael Mullen of Tempest, to play on their first album, The Weapon of the Future which was released in 2007.
John joined the band full time in January of 2007 playing a custom modified electric Banjo. In August of that year Chris left the band and was replaced by Todd “Cozy T” Snyderman, formerly of Groundsick Productions, on drums. Kater “K8R” Murch also joined on Cello and Mandolin. They released their second album, Liberty, in August of 2008 and are currently based in Oakland, California.
Current members
- Emcee Lynx: Rap Vocals
- Laura Noel: Electric Bass
- John Dougal: Electric Banjo
- Todd "Cozy T." Snyderman: Drums
- Kater "Docta" Murch: Cello, Mandolin
Former Members
- Chris Darbeyshire: Drums
Full Albums
- Beltaine's Fire: The Weapon of the Future (2007)
- Beltaine's Fire: Liberty (2008)
Demos
- Beltaine's Fire: Live at Puck's (2009)
Compilations
- Best of KVMR Celtic Fest', Benefit for KVMR. (2009)