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California Celts to play at Ska

Chris Poland has long and strong ties to Durango. He’s been playing in the area since the 1990s with his band Warsaw Poland Brothers, one of the many ska bands that started rolling through Durango right around the same time when a few young and ambitious beer makers started brewing beer under the name Ska Brewing, while also promoting the occasional ska concert, concerts that featured Chris Poland and Warsaw Poland Brothers.

But as a lover of history along with many other styles of music, Poland isn’t one to stick to a single genre: Enter California Celts, Poland’s “other” band of 20 years that dips into Celtic music and the occasional sea shanty, tunes that date back many decades that remain a 21st century soundtrack ripe for revelry.

California Celts will perform Thursday (Aug. 17) at Ska Brewing World Headquarters in Bodo Park.

Poland’s love of Celtic music came from his time in a Southern California-based band called “Johnny the Fox.” It was this band that showed him the ropes on playing in Irish pubs, along with digging into all things old Europe and Celtic – think of this as a score for a lesson on the Gold Rush-fueled European expansion into America, with plenty of beer.

If you go

WHAT: Ska music, Celtic music, Sea Shanties with California Celts.

WHEN: 4 p.m. Thursday (Aug.17).

WHERE: Ska Brewing World Headquarters, 225 Girard St.

TICKETS: No cover/general admission.

MORE INFORMATION: Visit www.skabrewing.com.

“What we’re doing is tracing the Celtic thread from the Old World to the new, through Appalachia all the way to California. Sutters Mill and the miners, Celtic descendants or Irish and Scottish rebels that never cared for government; they were always moving West,” Poland said. “So that’s what we do, we’re the soundtrack.”

Theirs is also a musical mindset that remains inspired by everything musical around them. Yes, they are playing some songs that are centuries old, but Poland and band are also influenced by the 21st century world that sits right outside their front door. With the California Celts, you get old tunes played as they were written, but also played at times with subtle influences coming from Poland’s friends and neighbors from right here in 2023.

“Anyone from Ireland is going to laugh because we are wearing kilts. They say, ‘well, you’re not Irish!’ I never claimed to be Irish; we’re Celtic. They’re saying, ‘why do you play reggae in your music?’ and I say, ‘we live in California!’ It’s the same reason we have trumpets because I hear my Mexican neighbors playing mariachi music, and that reflects in my music. I have Celtic pride, and I also hear what’s going on next door, and I happen to like tubas and trombones and trumpets, and next thing you know it appears in our music,” Poland said. “So, the California moniker of the Celts is kind of that inclusive part of the ‘California-isms,’ where we throw in everything, so everyone likes it. Latinos, African Americans, Asians, Native Americans. We want everyone to like it, so we throw out popular styles and hook them with covers and beats.”

Poland is living the best of both worlds as he plays Celtic and ska music, which will happen in Durango next week as Warsaw will perform Aug. 18 at the Durango American Legion, a night after California Celts performance at Ska. It’s two bands with many of the same ripping musicians, booking tours that can hopefully accommodate both bands.

“We’re ramping up the touring of Warsaw, and if I can get a date as the California Celts, we put on the costume and play different music,” Poland said. “It’s the same troupe.”

He also remains a constant performer, dedicated to the specifics, no matter if its Celtic or ska music.

“I’m involved with the art and craft, the scales, chord progressions and making music vibrate and resonate in the proper frequency,” Poland said. “I care about the details. I take pride in that.”

Bryant Liggett is a freelance writer and KDUR station manager. Reach him at liggett_b@fortlewis.edu.