You never know when you’ll stumble upon something great. This past weekend at the Texas Renaissance Festival I stumbled upon the Celtic group Tartanic and was immediately enthralled. I had been shooting images of a group of pirate performers on the grounds and heard high-octane bagpipes and drums in the distance.
The sound bore investigating.
I made my way over to their stage and began to take in the high-energy Celtic music. The drums were loud, the beat was strong, and the group was clearly having fun. I was hooked… so much so that I came back to catch each of their five shows throughout the day. There is something very grounding about a good drum and pipes. Thanks to a CD purchase I now have Tartanic blaring in the Subaru, the unusual sound making people scowl at me at stoplights.
Here’s the group’s description of themselves, courtesy of the Tartanic website: “Dressed in kilts and sunglasses, Tartanic gives its audiences a barrage of sound from not one but TWO Highland Bagpipes, and three percussionists. Imagine one dancer, six drums, six drones, 18 notes, fast fingers, high comedy, flying bagpipes, taste-defying stunts and scorching hot music played at over 120 beats per minute with driving speed and high-volume, all brought to you by five men without pants.”
The Houston-based group plays at a plethora of Renaissance Festivals through the year. It is all too rare to find people who really are passionate and enjoy their craft; the members of Tartanic clearly do. I’d definitely go out of my way to see this band again.
Tags: People
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Thank you for the endearing review!!
It’s my pleasure, Adrian… you all made the weekend for me! Hoping to get back one more time before the Festival is over.
The freakin’ ROCKSTARS of the Renaissance set!!! 🙂