News

Check back often for schedule updates, new photos and videos.

January 2011

Wow, what a year!  We are, once again, becoming new.  Our thanks to Hank Helton for helping to establish our identity in the last half of the first decade of  this new millenium.  Hank has moved on to  a different shade of green and we wish him all good things.

The Emerald Underground is pleased to announce the full time addition of Tom Irwin on acoustic guitar, bass and vocals.  If you are from central Illinois and you don't know Tom, you have been living under a shamrock and it is time you came out.  If you are from beyond, you need to know that Tom Irwin is a singer/songwriter and veteran musician of the first order.  Tom has been a guest with us during the past couple of years and we are thrilled to have him full time. 

Denny Moore has joined The Emerald  Underground on electric guitar.  He, too, has deep roots in Springfield area rock and blues history.  Denny brings tasty lead work with wonderful tone and a smooth edge.  He also  brings tasty chocolate chip cookies to rehearsals.

We will be at The Celtic Mist for six Hooleys in 2011.  Check out our website or theirs for dates.  March is shaping up to be as busy as ever with appearances at Lime Street, Marley's, Robbie's and a couple of private events.  Come out and hear The Emerald Underground in this new year as we continue the evolution.


 
St. Pat's 2010

March 11, 2010 - Very excited to begin March Madness 2010.  Tomorrow we release our fourth CD, 'An Emerald Moment,' produced by our very own Hank Helton.  This CD features original compositions by Hank, Bill McKenzie and Jack White; also original arrangements by Theresa O'Hare and lyrics by Joe Kath.  We have nine shows scheduled over the next two weeks.  We open the season with a CD release party at Frankie's 49er in Springfield and will play Lime Street, Marly's, Robbie's and several private dates culminating in the SHG Booster Club's annual Black and Gold Benefit Gala.  'An Emerald Moment' will be available soon on this website as well as www.cdbaby.com.

You can also find us three times in May in downtown Springfield at The Fat Ass 5k Run and The Old Capitol Art Fair and the Celtic Mist Hooley.  Check out our gig page for details.

Happy St. Patricks Day season everybody!!  Hope to see you at one of our shows.




The Emerald Underground ended 2008 with a bang. 

We released our third CD, 'The Emerald Underground Live:  Ruckus at The Shamrock Motel,' on New Year's Eve. Two times!  The first release was at First Night where we played to a full house at Lincoln Library.  Then, we ran down the street and set up at The Celtic Mist Pub and carried the party into the wee hours of 2009.

Through the winter, we started working on our fourth recording.  Look for the
late 2009 release of this studio CD.  Who knows, maybe we will do another New Year's Eve release.

St. Patrick's season was chocked full of gigs.  We kicked off the season at Lincoln Land Community College's Recital Series where we packed the joint once again.  What has become an annual tradition for us just became a standing offer as the good folks at Marly's Pub invited us to play every time there is a St. Pat's Parade.  We hope that will be at least once a year.  After the parade, we rushed off to Lime Street for Saturday and Tuesday nights and then played a Hooley and our 7th Sullivan Caucus Party.  The Sullivan's, who host an annual St. Pat's party for the legislative staff have had us at every one of their parties since starting the tradition in 2003.  The Sullivans are swell and their corned beef sandwiches are the best.  Believe me, I know corned beef.

May has been a busy month, starting with the Fat Ass 5K, a downtown Springfield
fun run to benefit Multiple Sclerosis Research.  The event ended with a street party at the end of the route featuring....  US!  I don't care who you are, that was 5 Ks of Fat Ass Fun.  May also included performances at The Old Capitol Art Fair, The Celtic Mist Hooley and our first festival of the year, Chicago Gaelic Park Irish Festival on Memorial Day.

The rest of 2009 will include a return trip to Hannibal to kick off Tom Sawyer Days at the Mark Twain Museum on July 2nd and then four highlights for us, which are return gigs to the Illinois State Fair Ethnic Village, Erin Feis on Peoria's riverfront, the Fox Valley Irish Festival in the western Chicago suburb of Dundee and the Washington Park Celtic Concert in Springfield in late summer.  Check our gig page for dates and times.
 
We will also return to Cheddar's Patio in the summer and Sugar Grove Nature Preserve for their October Fall Festival and continue to badger regional Irish Festivals to let us in.  Write your newspaper and blog editors, your Senators and your Congressmen and encourage them to put pressure on the folks who run every major Irish Fest in the country.  We want it all.  While we wait for it, we are happy to have our little corner of The Celtic Mist Pub every other month where we co- host their monthly Hooley. 

Thanks to Michael Conneely for his continued support of The Emerald  Underground and live music in Springfield.

Check out our Merchandise page. We have new shirts, pint glasses, Emerald  Undies and CDs.

Slainte,


The Emerald Underground.  For all your Celtic needs.