The Young Dubliners: Half Way to St. Patrick‘s Day

Sept. 15, 2004

St. Patrick’s Day is still 175 days away. We are halfway so why wait to start celebrating? The folks at Streeters’ Ground Zero Nightclub, WKLT Double Rock Radio, WCCW Radio, Classic Hits “The Fox” and Killian’s all agree that we shouldn’t wait to start celebrating, so on September 15 they plan to launch an annual “Halfway to St. Paddy’s Day Party.”
Beer is a given at any “Halfway to St. Paddy’s Day Party.” So is great music and there is no better band to help celebrate than The Young Dubliners, or simply “The Dubs” as they are affectionately called by thousands of fans around the world. With a Celtic rockin’ sound so good that if God has a pub in heaven, these guys would headline every night-that is, if the devil doesn’t get them for his pub first.
The Dubs are no strangers to the area. In 1995 Terri Ray at WKLT was sent their debut CD and felt the band’s song, “Wash My Hands,” from their “Breathe” CD was radio worthy and began playing it. Station listeners loved the song and asked Terri if the band could come to northern Michigan.
“I will never forget that our agent called and said the radio station in northern Michigan wanted to have us come up for some shows,” said Keith Roberts, lead singer and founder. “It was November, deer season and we played both Gaylord and Traverse City and there was a snow storm and a bunch of wild women at both shows. It was great.”
Roberts and The Dubs were pleased with the sold out shows and the radio airplay.
“When you have a sound that is unique and off the mainstream you always hope that you will get the recognition you feel you deserve on the radio. Radio is such a tight format and we are so unfitted for most formats so Terri was a definite visionary,” said Roberts. “We are thankful to her and to all the fans we made up in northern Michigan. Certainly Traverse City isn’t always on the radar screen but we love it up there and whenever we get anywhere near, we try to play there.”
There was a five-year drought after that snowy November night in 1995 at Union Street Station before The Dubs returned to the area. In 2000 the band was added to the Jethro Tull tour and in July opened for Tull at the Interlochen Center for the Arts. The sold out crowd of 4,000 was unaware that The Dubs were on the bill and gave them a standing ovation and called the group back for an encore.
“It was a great night as we sold out of all of our CDs that we had at that show,” said Roberts. “Earlier that summer we opened for Jethro Tull and Ian Anderson loved us and asked us to finish his summer tour with him. It worked so well that he brought us to Europe the next summer to tour with him. We are fortunate to have made so many friends in this business.”
And not just any friends. When legendary songwriter Bernie Taupin (all those Elton John hits and plus a few hits for Rod Stewart and others) threw a 50th birthday party for himself, what band did he invite to play?
“We were actually guests at his party as we had just co-written the song ‘Red’ with him,” said Roberts. “Then all these celebrities started asking us to perform. It was a pretty wild night.”
Those celebrities who were asking included Renee Russo, Rod Stewart and Darryl Hannah. They not only asked, but were out on the dance floor for every song.
“Sure I am a fan of the band,” said Rod Stewart. “I love their version of ‘Ooh La La that I did when I was with The Faces.”
The Dubs have a huge following in LA and are nearing 50 straight sold out shows at the LA House of Blues where the Hollywood elite come to hang with the band. With so many people of power in their corner it is amazing that The Dubs are not at the top of the industry.
“Look, we are a lot further along than I ever expected.” I figured I would be playing in front of 50 people a night in small bars all my life,” said Roberts. “It is why I bought my own club-so I was guaranteed a place to play. I think our music has slipped through the cracks and it is why we decided to build a grassroots following.”
The grassroots effort worked and with over million visitors to their website, and solid sales of their CD combined with sold out shows, they landed a major deal in 1999 with Virgin’s Higher Octave label that was eventually bought by EMI. The group released their first album “Red” with the label in 2000 featuring the Bernie Taupin co-written title track. The Album never garnered much radio airplay but received positive reviews from Rolling Stone and Billboard magazines, and the band sold thousands of copies thanks in part to performing in packed houses with Jethro Tull.
The Dubs came back with their second Higher Octave release in 2002, titled “Absolutely.” Again without the support of radio but with rave reviews from the critics, coupled with their relentless touring, the group sold thousands of copies. CD sales have been so impressive that EMI re-signed the group and The Dubs are moving over to EMI’s Narada label.
“We are in the studio and will have a new album out next February,” said Roberts. “It has more of a rock edge to it and might be more radio friendly. We will definitely be introducing some of our new songs when we come to Traverse City.”
Their strong grassroots following has attracted fans of all ages, especially in the “25 to 50-year-old spend money for today” crowd. It is their appeal to this demographic that made them attractive to Killian’s. The Dubs are the official band for the brewery and travel the country in a Killian’s tour bus.
“Most sponsorships last a year and we are now in our third with them. They have been great,” said Roberts. “Pete Coors and his family are big fans of the band and we have a huge following in Colorado. Killian’s is a big reason why we are touring the Midwest and playing larger clubs this time around. The Killian’s Midwest reps would be out in Colorado for conferences that we would play at. These guys kept telling us that we needed to play Chicago, Detroit and Cleveland for them.”
This tour almost didn’t happen because Roberts was diagnosed with a node on his vocal chords and needed surgery.
“It is like a callus you would get on your finger, but in my case it developed on my vocal chords. It is a result of singing and partying my brains out all of these years,” said Roberts. “This spring I noticed some weird sounds coming from my throat and decided to have it checked out. These things can be serious if they are not taken care of so I opted for the surgery in August. I had to stay silent for two weeks and now I’m back like new.”
As for the future Roberts has his hand in many pies and plans for a major tour in 2005.
“The Uprooted tour last year with Great Big, Seven Nations and us was a huge success and we are looking at something similar for next year,” said Roberts. “We have come across so many great bands this past year that I am really confused as to what direction to take. One I am considering is to set up a really cool Uprooted Rock Tour, featuring rock bands from other countries. Collective Soul said they would like to be a part of it. So we will see. I will worry about that after the Traverse City show because we have a lot of rocking to do in that town.”
So what can people expect from the band musically?
“Our greatest hits from the past 12 years and some songs that we think will be hits,” said Roberts. “We are coming to Traverse City to party, so the town better be ready. Killian’s arranged for us to play a larger venue in Streeters to give more room for dancing, so we are looking forward to it.”
Dubliner shows are known for their “Jig Pits,” which is the Irish version of a mosh pit.
As for Irish music, while The Dubs rock out with Celtic undertones to all of their tunes like “Bodhran,” “Foggy Dew,” and “Unreel,” all have traditional Irish sounds to them. Ireland has produced many great rockers, from Van Morrison to U2 and The Young Dubliners deserve to be on that list.
The band features the vocal talents of Roberts and of equal importance is the musicianship of the rest of the guys. Chaz Waltz is by far the best rock and roll violinist on the circuit and it is his play that gives the band that old country sound. Bren Holmes on bass is also from Ireland and an original founding member. Band newcomers (since 1999) include Bob Boulding on guitar and David Ingraham from Lansing, Michigan on drums. Ingraham joined the band after being with Bruce Dickenson of Iron Maiden fame.
Local favorites Song of the Lakes will kick the night off at 6 pm with a free concert in the lounge. Proceeds from various portions of the night will benefit the Father Fred Foundation. WCCW’s Michael O’Shea will serve as the early evening master of ceremonies and will hand off the reigns to Terri Ray of WKLT for the later festivities. Local rockers BluFrog will take the stage before The Dubliners.
Tickets are $8.00 in advance and $10.00 at the door for the September 15 show by The Young Dubliners. There is no charge for the earlier festivities with Song of the Lakes. For additional information visit
www.streetersonline.com or call (231) 932-1300 for tickets. Bring dancing shoes and don’t forget to wear green. Ah, now we all can be Irish twice a year.